Stadium crowd

How the stadium is prepared for the Footie League Season

In Australia, the Toyota AFL Premiership Season is a big event for football fans. As every football enthusiast looks forward to an amazing time at the stadium. There are some must-watch ‘home and away’ matches that will be exciting this season. However, it’s not easy to keep track of every fixture with a busy schedule. The stadium is quite a busy venue during competitions and training. So, this article shows how to prepare stadiums for the AFL season.

What is A Stadium?

For the benefit of people that are not football fans, the stadium is a venue for sports events. Usually, it’s a big roofless structure with hundreds of seats for spectators. These tiers of seats are well-arranged for easy movement in and out of the main bowl. Most football matches are played outdoors on a field in the main bowl. In Australia, many stadiums are venues for cricket, football and rugby leagues. Apart from teams in the Australian football leagues (AFL), the national team uses different stadiums for their games.

What Makes the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) Unique?

At the start of every season, the stadium offer opportunities for fans to see their favourite teams. Normally, stadium managements ensure the maintenance of pitches to handle the next season fixtures. Access to the stadium is often restricted after the season to restore the ground’s surface to its league standard. It’s one of the processes of preparing the stadium and corporate box for AFL seasons.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is unique because of its impressive turf. It was reconstructed by the HG Sports Turf in 2014. Since the stadium was to host the 2015 Cricket World Cup at this venue, the contractor needed to use only high-quality materials. During the project, special sand and synthetic materials with shock pad were installed. However, regular maintenance is needed to boost the turf’s quality and performance of players.

What Makes The Marvel Stadium’s Ground Impressive?

The Marvel Stadium is Australia’s busiest sports venue with natural grass pitches. It has an impressive design of retractable roof that’s suitable for big international sporting events. During unfavourable weather conditions, the retractable roof opens and closes in less than seven minutes. With its natural and synthetic turf, playing on this 17,600-square meter pitch is always a delight. Also, Marvel Stadium makes every footy event seamless.

Footie ball

Exposing the natural grass to sufficient water and sunlight keeps the roots in the ground firmly. AFL sports fans are impressed with this multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility. Additionally, Marvel Stadium has many WiFi access points for spectators to share activities of live matches online. Any AFL stadium that technologically enhances creates excitement on match days.

In 2008, a high-end installation for conserving water was added to the Marvel Stadium. This feature saves water loss by about 25 per cent and helps the lush green grass retain their properties. The stadium uses 17 tanks to store a million litres of rainwater. This volume is enough for the pneumatic valves to irrigate the grass and distribute water to its vast network of toilets.

The Adelaide Oval Stadium

The Adelaide Oval has a 54,000 (approximately) seating capacity with modern architecture. Located in South Australia, it’s the fourth largest AFL stadium for multi-sport activities. According to the AOSMA (Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority) management, this stadium is used for rugby, soccer, and tennis leagues. So, preparing it for league matches is a priority. However, the Adelaide Oval was renovated between 2008 and 2014. This multi-purpose sports facility is suitable for all-season fixtures because the turf sits on a large area of compact soil.


wine table

The Best Designed Restaurants in Melbourne

Melbourne is a favourite tourist destination in Australia that has breathtaking scenic views. According to most travel agencies, Melbourne is a top-rated city for foreigners that love the taste of local Australian food and drinks. Over 20 restaurants in Melbourne were shortlisted for tourist visits during the 2017 Food Festival. Usually, the owners of these restaurants attract first-time guests with colourful storefront designs, creative interior wall finishes or themes and delicious meals. The surrounding location and ambience are what makes a restaurant stand out from another. It’s not just about the food anymore. People don’t walk into a restaurant because they just like the food and the ambience is average. They want the best of taste with a view that makes their experience more memorable. Melbourne food and beverage industry has been facing a cut-throat competition in terms of offering their customers with the best choice of food, beverage and an ambience to die for. Every other day you will come across a distinctly themed eatery that has been designed to leave an impression. With this growing competition to please their crowd, Melbourne has become the destination for luxurious and decadent restaurants that every Melbournian adds to their list of places to visit.  Here are some best-designed restaurants in Melbourne, and hot-spots of great dining experiences. 

No35 Restaurant

In Melbourne, most of the sophisticated restaurants are located in the central business district (CBD) and are designed with eye-catching artwork. The No35 Restaurant has a seating capacity of 150 guests. It’s a modern dining location for upscale dishes and great-tasting wine selections. One of the striking aesthetic designs of this restaurant is the glass walls that allow guests to savour the breathtaking views of Melbourne along with the restaurant’s unique interiors of fresh polished concrete. The indoor space is enhanced with two bright colour accents of blue and red furniture. You can’t miss these colourful seats as they rest on wooden board floors. However, a portion of the floor space has multi-coloured rug carpets, and the ambiance brings some joyous experience.

Vue De Monde

Vue De Monde is a luxury restaurant that has dedicated areas for private dining and events like engagements and wedding parties. As stated earlier, Melbourne’s CBD is home to some of the well-designed restaurants, and Rialto tower has one. At night you can enjoy the skyline of Melbourne and spectacular city views from this restaurant. The opulence of Vue De Monde’s interior decor is intriguing. The interior space of this restaurant has neon light sculptures on its walls, and furniture is covered with black roo hides. It seems the interior designer’s concept was to use an out-of-this-world style and eco-friendly decor ideas including natural stone finishes. However, Vue de Monde’s entire floor can accommodate 138 seated guests. Other attractive decor accents in this restaurant are well-polished grey river stones and centrepieces that are made from twisted tree roots.

Kisumé

Kisumé is a three-story building on 175 Flinders Lane in Melbourne. It’s an Asian restaurant with classic Japanese and contemporary interior designs. Melbourne, being a destination for a large percentage of international population, serves its demographic well with this adopted theme. According to restaurant critics, this unconventional Japanese restaurant is a place where hospitality meets art. The interior is embellished in pink curtains and impressive optical arrangement of dimmable ceiling lights. Generally, this restaurant reflects its ‘luxe’ finishes and blond timber counters and stone tiles. Don’t forget to enjoy the great taste of Asian cuisine when you visit the sushi bar in Kisumé. The chefs offer standout dishes like spicy seafood, chili yuzu ponzu, and a range of specialty rolls. You get to satiate your hunger for a variety of sushi’s in here.

Rosetta Ristorante

You’ll locate Rosetta Ristorante on Crown Complex, at Southbank in Melbourne. It’s one of the few Australian canteen-style restaurants with timber panelling and high ceilings. At Rosetta Ristorante, the floor-to-ceiling windows allow diners to look out of the restaurant. Its interior space is enhanced with some domed ceiling chandeliers, and they shine on the floor tiles brightly. Business owners often advice restaurants to lay a considerable amount of focus on their interior design, over and above what they serve as ambience sells first and the review about good food follows.  Hence Rosetta Ristorante has worked its way up amongst the other restaurants due to their ambience and unique choice of interior design like none other.

Atlas Dining 

Apart from the delicious cuisine, Atlas Dining has many positive online reviews because of its unique decor features. As the name implies, this restaurant has decor elements of navigation tools. While it’s interior concrete walls stretch from one end to another, and its wide ceiling contains a brass compass. Other designs include the white birch timber and leather banquettes. Even with menus that change every week, the designs in Atlas Dining are old and sleek. It has succeeded to maintain that vintage vibe everybody loves and cherishes. Melbourne has well-designed dining, but many of these restaurants have minimalistic interior designs. However, architects are often happy to create and redesign these artistic features that boost the satisfaction of dinners as advised by high quality business advisors in the food and beverage industry.

Hence, we can say that Melbourne has plenty to offer its people which exceeds normal standards of luxury and decadence. The concept of serving the needs is no longer a trend. Creating those ideas that are a subconscious need for every customer is what has been followed by every innovator in the food and beverage industry in Melbourne. The crowd is slowly moving from take outs and ordering in towards dining in, in order to experience the variety of choices Melbourne has to offer. Just the sheer joy of getting dressed up to enjoy a nice glass of wine with your partner, have an elegant girl’s night out with your mates or even satisfy the art loving self in you by combining appreciation towards art and delicious food are all just a matter of researching for the right place in Melbourne. You think of a theme, and its there. That’s how progressive this industry has become and never fails to please the Melbournian crowd and their everchanging tastes.


Interior design

Creating that Artistic Finish to your Home

When there’s a living room furniture that’s the center of attraction, you can create an appealing style of any home design. Sometimes, replacing an old cushion and throw pillows might be all that’s needed to make your giant sofa look new. When you find versatile pieces of furniture arrangement, buy them because they must-haves that can pass for unique new home design ideas. Adding in new and improved furniture can really change the entire vibe of a house and make you feel like you’ve moved into a new and improved home. All this requires is a bit of investment and a lot of creative thoughts. 

Kitchen Cabinets for Teapots and Mugs

Chinawares are available in different shapes and sizes, but tea cups and pots are dining accessories for every home. The ideal piece of furniture that can keep your teapots and cups safe is a kitchen cabinet. You don’t want particles of dust to compromise the quality of your clay teapots or the aroma and taste of your warm beverage. So, the kitchen cabinet is a must-have for your home. Moreover, having a terrazzo tile finish can add that simplistic yet elegant finish to our kitchen layout and a perfect platform for your kitchen cabinet.

Buy Closet Organizers

Your closet organizer is a private storage space for fashion accessories. Shelves and drawers are components of closet organizers. They might take large spaces in the bedroom, but their functionality helps to organize the stacking of your belongings. Sometimes closet organisers will already be included as part of your home design plans. If not, ask your carpenter to make a special vertical or horizontal closet organizer that maximizes storage space. While you keep your bags and books on the shelves, the drawers can accommodate other fashion accessories such as your shoes, hats, and belts. An organized house makes one feel a lot more in control and provides ease to find anything and everything. 

Armchairs for Close Conversations

Unlike bulky armchairs, small armchairs conserve space for other decor arrangements. Using small armchairs to design your home might be cozy, but they also create an ambiance for a perfect conversation with visitors. While planning to make your living room compact, the only drawback with using small armchairs is the visibility of extra floor space. However, you’ll need to fill the space with extra seating options like a sofa, shelf or a console table. A recliner is something that has been in the trend off late and a man’s best friend for matches and other recreational views. Consider one for your empty space for a more cozier impact after your busy scheduled day. 

Buy a Coffee Table

You might like to drink tea if coffee isn’t your favorite beverage. However, a home-styled coffee table is a must-have for contemporary living. Usually, homeowners place little floral vases on coffee tables that are at the center of living rooms. Apart from placing cups of hot beverages on coffee tables, they could serve as support for your feet. While sitting on the living room sofa, your guests can also place their drinks on the chest-style coffee table. Regardless of your furniture arrangement, the coffee table can either be a good fit for covering the space at the center of your living room or between chairs. Regardless of your choice of carpets, be it vorwerk, furry, patterned or simplistic design, a coffee table compliments to it and creates a different feel for the room coupled with comfort. Additionally, coffee tables with built-in storage compartments can hold magazines and newspaper.

You’ll need a Nightstand

The nightstand is often referred to as bedside cabinet; even with twin bed furniture, it stays at the middle. With built-in nightstands to hold a book, it’s easy to read on the bed before falling asleep every day. The nightstand is a bedroom décor that can also accommodate your alarm clock, mobile phone, or a cup of water. This sheds a beautiful light onto your interior wall finishes that can give an entirely different vibe to your room. 

The Dining Table and Chairs

Dining tables with and chairs are very practical pieces of furniture because they provide comfort. While eating, homeowners, their family members, and guests can use a small dining area comfortably. This set of dining furniture can also serve as working areas for homeowners. Having simple long chairs next your laminam finish kitchen table tops can also be another effective way to add an elegance or creative touch to your home. 

Mirrors with Wooden Frames Are Important

One furniture essential that can fit onto any wall space of your home is a mirror. Apart from using them to dress up and check your style, full-length mirrors often make a small living space appear bigger. Also, you can hang mirrors at strategic parts of your home to boost the reflection of light. Normally, big mirrors with wooden frames are decor ideas that give the home a natural appeal.


bear street art

A quick guide to Melbourne street art.

Much of the inner city’s goodness is hidden Inside the Melbourne Laneways: secret coffee shops, rooftop bars, soup kitchens, boutique stores and obviously, world-class road art. If you are in Melbourne and haven’t taken a selfie in the local street art at two of the most popular Melbourne graffiti hot spots — Hosier Lane or DeGraves Street you still have a lot to cover. However, the thing about Melbourne is, the town is all about identity and creativity.

Melbourne’s ‘secret’ hot spots are infinite and fresh and funky Places are popping up throughout the CBD every month. What exactly does that mean? Melbourne is the best town to pack your camera, strap your feet into a comfy walking shoes and get lost! So, get your ‘Melbourne’ on and check out these five lesser-known graffiti artwork laneways…

Caledonian Lane

This small (and we mean little) laneway is only 4m wide and Runs between Little Bourke and Lonsdale Street. It can be said that Caledonian lane is the birthplace for internationally acclaimed music festival and once was home to the famous laneway drinking holes. Even though the graffiti artwork along Caledonian Lane might not be as daring and substantial as Hosier and DeGraves, you may grab the unique masterpiece here and there. Because the tiny laneway still oozes a feeling of Melbourne’s love for all things artistic and underground.

ACDC lane & Duckboard Place

It has been home to some of the favourite drinking holes; it is named after the Aussie Rock Gods ACDC. The road is off Flinders lane and along the rear entrance to a number of Restaurants and Pubs. The tall brick walls play background to old posters and advertisements and a number of graffiti pieces well worth a look. It is not as ‘lively’ as other popular laneways in Melbourne, ACDC Lane has rather an eerie and abandoned feel to it adding to the feeling of secrecy which Melbourne is so renown for. Continue walking across ACDC Lane, and you will head towards Duckboard Place – another place to get some cool Instagram clicks!

Johnson Street – Fitzroy

Start your walk on the corner of Johnston Street and Fitzroy Street to gaze at the brilliant piece from the AWOL, a dream team of Slicer, Li-Hill, Lucy Lucy and others. Have a pleasant walk through Fitzroy street and peep behind every nook and cranny because there is always something to see.

Rose Street – Fitzroy

Stroll towards the Rose Street celebrity markets and Lune Croissanterie; it is Fitzroy’s casual home to art, design and emerging talent. The street has everything starting from tiny stencils to towering murals.

Cubitt Street – Cremorne

This may be the most iconic wall art that you might come across. In greying office buildings and cottage-style homes, you can see a painting of butt-naked Kanye West in bed with Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. This is a must-hit in your artwork list. Obviously.

Easey’s – Collingwood

This might be the most hipster joint in Melbourne, along with renovated trams and graffiti-filled gardens, Easey’s is home to a five-story painting of Beyoncé in all her pregnant, flowery glory.

Hosier Lane – CBD

Hosier Lane is known for its ever-changing exhibition of Melbourne’s greatest street art. House to the iconic unnamed Native boy by Adnate; this arresting, towering, 23-metre tall mural (very) intentionally overlooks Birrarung Marr.