Growing up in the San Francisco bay area in a sports-mad family meant I was a huge supporter of all the local professional teams, including the San Francisco Giants (baseball) and the San Francisco 49ers (American football).  But living in Australia means usually I have to cheer from afar (usually to no avail).  And then, unbelievably, not only did the NFL schedule a regular-season game in Australia but it pits the two big California rivals – the 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.  So of course Julie and I had to be there.

The game was to be played in the huge Melbourne Cricket Ground, a stadium which holds 100,000 fans, in a city that is absolutely mad about any sport.  Tickets were hard to get and we thought we would have to sell the garage to pay for them but our kids shouted us for my milestone birthday.  And lucky too because Julie and I needed a little camping road trip so we packed our beloved Wanda and headed south. 

We also had a long list of people we knew in Victoria, or who were going to the game, that we wanted to catch up with, so it also became a very social trip as we lined up visits to various friends and relatives before and after the game.  Let’s see, travel, camping, friends, family and football.  Yeah, that’ll do it.

After a delightful night with our granddaughters in Cooma we pointed Wanda onto the Barry Way, a narrow winding road – which turned into a narrow winding dirt track – that crossed over the Snowy Mountains and followed the Snowy River.

The Snowy River, famous in song and legend and poem and movie, flows from Lake Jindabyne and weaves it’s magical way through the mountains before crossing into Victoria and eventually spilling out into the ocean.  We had lunch on one of it’s sandy shores and after crossing into Victoria and following more narrow steep dirt tracks we set up camp near the banks of the river.  We were visited by wallaroos and a fat healthy wombat but the sky full of stars and the sounds of the river nearby were the highlights.

Our mission the next day was to visit Terry, an old friend of ours down in the Gippsland Plains east of Melbourne.  We dropped out of the mountains and crossed the rich green and flat grazing and dairy land of East Gippsland.  In the small community of Yinnar we had lunch with Terry, who I had met and worked with in Europe back in the late 1970’s.  Terry has had some health challenges lately but it was great to catch up with him, share stories and offer support.  Terry, mate, we’re thinking of you.

We edged closer to Melbourne and camped the night in Bunyip State Park amongst beautiful tall ribbon barks, the forest wet and soggy from recent rain. 

The following morning we headed into Melbourne, fighting the traffic and finding a park near Federation Square, absolutely smack-dab in the centre of the action.  We had tickets to attend a 49er Faithful party at the Transport Hotel and after queuing for almost two hours with fellow 49er fans, most dressed up in 49er red and some having flown in from the States, we joined the throng of football fans who were ready to go wild. 

We were packed literally shoulder to shoulder with a thousand 49er fans, embracing the noise, hype, guest speakers and general fanfare which makes American football so great.  It was a little surreal to think we were in Melbourne but surrounded by 49er fanatics but that’s what we signed up for.

We staggered out of the pub three hours later and made our way to our hotel where we would enjoy hot showers, clean sheets and housekeeping for two days.  For dinner that night we caught one of Melbourne’s famous trams down to Southbank and took in the festive scene along the Yarra River.  Just great.

We woke the next morning to Game Day when the 49ers would be playing the Los Angeles Rams in a huge California rivalry about 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) from California.  The setting was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or the MCG, one of the largest and most iconic sporting stadiums in the world. 

The MCG, whose ground is oval-shaped and usually hosts Australian Rules football or cricket, holds a staggering 100,000 people and this game was already a sellout. We were in the grounds two hours before kick-off and couldn’t believe the size of the crowds or the obvious passion showed by the fans for American football.  The atmosphere was absolutely electric, a once in a lifetime experience.

As we took our seats and enjoyed the pre-game entertainment we were surrounded by fans wearing their favourite sporting jersey – usually the 49er Red or the Rams Blue but every other American football team’s jersey was also there, and a few basketball and baseball jerseys as well.  It didn’t seem to matter, everyone was there for a very special event – the first regular season American football game ever played in Australia.

And the 49ers rose to the challenge of playing a highly favoured team, easily winning the game and adding many tens of thousands of new fans in the process.   Melbourne put on a beautiful blue-sky day, the fans were rocking, the football was awesome and the whole experience couldn’t have been any better.

After the game Julie and I made our way back to the Transport Hotel which was awash in 49er Red and heaving from sardine-packed crowds of exuberant fans.  We met up with some friends at the pub and had a couple more celebration drinks, as you do, before heading back to the hotel via the number 75 tram.  What a special day it had been.

With ample victorious after-glow the next day we packed up and headed west after having breakfast with a great family friend.  Our target for the morning was the handsome regional city of Ballarat and to get there we passed through Beaufort (home to the inventor of Vegemite!) and Ararat (the only Australian town founded by Chinese gold prosectors!).  In Ballarat we had a delightful lunch with Russell and Josie, friends who share our love of travel and camping…as well as having an identical Trayon camper. 

We then headed further west to the Grampians, a wonderful, isolated mountain range of sandstone and granite, now a popular national park.  We tried to make it to our prebooked campsite high in the mountains but Karen, our occasionally-reliable GPS, led us down closed tracks and far from our camp.  Never mind, we set up in a cleared area and had a wonderful night around the fire under the stars.

The next day we explored the central area of the Grampians, doing four walks to various places, the longest being a 4.2 km (2.6 miles) return walk up to the Pinnacle lookout from which we could see almost forever.

That night we camped in the northern Grampians, another beautiful setting, another winner.  This national park is criss-crossed in walking trails of all lengths and levels, wonderful viewpoints and fascinating geology.  If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, definitely check it out.

But we were on a new mission.  We were meeting good friends up near Goulburn NSW in a couple of days so we made tracks northward, initially through beautiful rich green agricultural land of western Victoria, then through their historic gold fields area near Bendigo and Rutherglen, finally ending the day on the banks of the wonderful Murray River, whose wide twisted path forms the boundary between Victoria and New South Wales.

The next day we climbed on the M31, the main artery connecting Sydney and Melbourne, and within no time found ourselves in Bungonia National Park where we met up with Bernie and Andrew, fellow Trayon owners who share our zeal for camping travel and are a hoot to spend time with.

Bungonia National Park features deep canyons carved by Bungonia Creek and sports two outstanding viewpoints to take in these scenes as well as a network of walking trails for those so inclined.  We enjoyed an evening with Bernie and Andrew, caught up on all the news, played cards, had a laugh.  Great fun.

The next day we were back home, already reminiscing about this wonderful short trip to Victoria and in particular to see the 49ers win the first ever NFL regular season game in Australia in the jam-packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.  A once-in-a-lifetime experience for sure and one for the ages.