Melbourne #4

As someone who enjoys their sport, Melbourne is a great place to be spending a year abroad. Known as the sports capital of Australia, it is home to a wide variety of sporting events so suit all interests. I've managed to start making use of this in the 2 months that I've been here, with this blog sharing some of those events.

Albert Park F1 Grand Prix

The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix has been held at Melbourne’s Albert Park since 1996, and took place at the end of March this year. I don't follow F1 and had only watched 1 race prior to the Melbourne GP, but decided to go for the day with some friends. We got the Park Passes for Friday, which were $42 each (without student discount they're $70).

Getting to Albert Park was pretty easy via tram, with additional special service trams running from the CBD straight to Albert Park. I would recommend that if you do plan on going, to leave early in the morning before the queues for the tram and at the gates get too big. We left at around 8am to get to the park for 9am, and the queues were fine. Also Thursday and Friday will have smaller queues than if you go on the weekend - in short get there early!

The Albert Park Circuit is 5.303km long, with drivers completing 58 laps on raceday to finish the race. However around the track there is lots going on too, with an interactive map produced by F1 that helped guide us around. The event schedule for each day is released before, so try to plan where you'd like to be in advance. There's a whole variety of food and drink available, showrooms, and stages with live entertainment as well as sessions speaking to the F1 drivers and their teams. Just a heads up, purchasing items inside the Park can get quite pricey, so I would advise bringing your own packed lunch, drinks and snacks.

Now, onto the actual racing! On the Friday when I went there were F2 and F3 qualifiers, as well as the practice sessions for F1. There was also a supercar race, a classic car show and an air show by the RAAF, meaning there was always something to keep you occupied. It was my first time seeing live motorsport, and it's a completely different atmosphere and experience to watching it on TV. The cars are much faster in real life, you get the huge roar as they zoom past and the smell of petrol and rubber. The crowd also add to the whole experience and we even saw a few crashes happen! An eventful day of racing, but even as someone who didn't follow F1, I could still appreciate and enjoy it (probably more from an engineering POV!). My friends who I went with luckily had more of a clue about what was going on, so after asking many questions over the day I think I understand how the world of F1 works.

A few days later we then watched the actual Grand Prix race at a sports bar in the CBD. Going to the F1 live beforehand definitely made me more invested in what was going on, and it was also really interesting to learn about a new sport and everything that comes with it.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The MCG is an iconic Victorian landmark and was established in 1853, not long after the establishment of Melbourne itself! Hosting regular Australian Football Games (AFL), it was also the main stadium for the 1956 Olympic Games and 2006 Commonwealth Games.

If you're interested in your sport, I definitely reccommend going on the MCG stadium tour and paying a visit to the Melbourne Sports Museum (also located in the MCG). Both give you a really good insight into the importance of sport in Australia, and it's rich sporting background.

The tour + museum ticket cost $30 (with student concession), and I would say it's defintely worth it. The tour was very thorough and took you through a lot of the MCG, from the changing rooms to the highest level of viewing. Try to plan it during dry weather, as the stadium is only partially covered.

Parkrun

When I don't have ultimate frisbee training on Saturday mornings, I like to do the Parkville Parkrun, a 5km route in a nearby park. I did my first parkrun back in the UK when I was working in Aberdeen, Scotland, and was happy to know that they have them down here too :). I find Parkrun a good way to get a run in and also the chance to run with others at 8am in the morning, giving me that bit of motivation that I sometimes need. It's completely run by volunteers and free to join - a great way of getting involved with the local running community.

The above are just a small handful of sporty things that happen in Melbourne. There's a lot more on offer in the city all year round, and over the coming months I'm hoping I can experience more of them. Notable mentions include:

• FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup - happening over Aus and NZ in July & August this year, I'm hoping to catch some of the action as a few games will be played in Melbourne. I haven't been to a live football game before so looking forward to that!
• The Australian Open (tennis) - in January
• AFL - the season runs from March to Sept, so there's plenty of opportunities to catch a game
• MotoGP Motorcycle Grand Prix - if you didn't get enough of F1, the MotoGP comes to Phillip Island in October.
• Boxing Day Test Match (cricket) - at the MCG in December.

If there's any sporting events you think I should check out, let me know in the comments section!

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