WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

[lemmon]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Bolivia. Amazing

That's a very good friend of mine. He's cut short his trip by four months

[Throughandthrough]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

That would have been pretty cool.

Not from my view it wasn't!

3 hours to get home, celebrated wife's birthday by eating sandwiches using solar lights from our garden to see what we were doing.

[Topdog]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Sorry but the thought of that made me laugh.

[choconmientay]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Sorry to bump this old thread up but reading the Internet and found this {behind paywall} guy travelled from Costa Rica to attend the GF.

It was all worthwhile.

Western Bulldogs big moment lures fans from far and wide

Rob Whitwell and Andrew Whitwell with Kieran Geier are pumped for the Grand Final.

AFTER travelling for 38 hours to spend 47 hours in Melbourne, Andrew Whitwell is ready to see his beloved Western Bulldogs roar.

A lifelong Doggies fan, Mr Whitwell was never going to let the fact he was working in Costa Rica get in the way of his Grand Final dream.

So, seconds after the Bulldogs qualified for their first Premiership decider in 55 years, he booked a ticket home to Melbourne — stopping all stations.

He drove an hour to the nearest airport to board an eight-seat plane to San Jose, praying a nearby volcano did not erupt.

Touching down in Houston, he changed planes for Los Angeles, then a 16 hour direct flight to Melbourne landing at 7.30am on Friday in a pair of thongs.


Jet-lagged but jubilant, Mr Whitwell said it was all worth it to have a parmigiana, pot of Carlton Draught and take in the Grand Final.

“There are just waves of emotion and win, lose or draw it doesn’t matter because it’s all about being in it,’’ he said.

“It’s wonderful to see everyone with Doggies scarfs on and to see everyone adopt the Doggies for the day.’’

Mr Whitwell is not the only Doggies fan clocking up frequent flyer points to watch today’s game.

Kevin Miller’s dad Walter played for Footscray and Fitzroy, his uncle Jim was Bulldogs president and he was at the MCG with his family for the 1954 flag.


So he knew he needed to be in Melbourne when his team reached its first Grand Final in 55 years. He and son Dean travelled from Queensland to soak up the atmosphere.

“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about for 62 years,’’ he said.

Dean said it was “an absolute dream’’.

“Dad has been telling me all my life what it was like to be at a Doggies’ Grand Final and now I will get to experience it with him,’’ he said.

Cerebral palsy sufferer Kobe Malloy, 10, will also be at today’s game, courtesy of the Herald Sun.

He will be joined by 91-year-old Gordon Leslie from Spotswood who has barracked for the Bulldogs all his life and been a member for 40 years.

Mr Leslie saw the Bulldogs win their only premiership in 1954, and has hopes of seeing a second today.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

I heard on Saturday, a member came in from Saudi Arabia for the GF last year. Some of our members need civilian medals, or Tony Abbott back to recommence Knights & Dames to award these guys.

[merantau]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

I left Hu'u Beach in east Sumbawa on my motorcycle and made it home to Kuta, Lombok after a 14 hour trip. Luckily only the last two hours were in the dark, through heavy traffic and driving rain.
During the first part of the ride traffic was light and the weather balmy. I was able to ride along with visions of our magnificent victory over GWS replaying in my mind's eye on a continuous loop: Clay's running goal to get the ball rolling , Dicko's superb effort getting to his feet to beat two opponents and goal, the manic efforts that saw Caleb snap a major at the end of the third and JJ's run and delivery into the path of the "Irresistible One" -"BONTEMPELLI!!!. There's no one between him and the goals. He lopes in, he paddles the ball, he gathers, he closes, 30m, 25m ... HE GOALS!!! The Bulldogs have hit the front!"
And of course the last minute. Who can forget the roar that went up when Stringer centres the ball - the roar that begins when the ball is in mid-air and reaches a crescendo when it lands in the safe arms of Dead Eye Dickson. It was a magic ride. Unforgettable.

[Twodogs]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

It took me longer than usual because the train went through the bloody loop! Usually it's a half hour to Richmond station from West Footscray but the loop can add 30-45 minutes to the trip after going around the bloody thing and then sitting waiting at Flinders st.

What a nightmare.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

It took me longer than usual because the train went through the bloody loop! Usually it's a half hour to Richmond station from West Footscray but the loop can add 30-45 minutes to the trip after going around the bloody thing and then sitting waiting at Flinders st.

What a nightmare.

A true hero, Sir. You don't mind if I call you Sir, do you?

[Twodogs]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

A true hero, Sir. You don't mind if I call you Sir, do you?

It's OK I guess.

I just thought of how the players would probably be doing it almost as tough as I was when they got out on the field and it sort of inspired me to keep going. Or just keep sitting there for the bit we sat at Flinders st for.

[Scraggers]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

It took me 6.5 hours to travel from my door step in Perth to the G. Thanks to numerous ales with EasternWest after the greatest game ever, it took me 11 hours to get back to the house in Melbourne I was staying at that night (next morning).

[Chicago1]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Yes, I did travel from Chicago for last year's Grand Final. Best day of my life.

This year I will only have to travel from Keilor East. I will be arriving in Melbourne on Tues May 2 and living not too far from the Whitten Oval. My possessions left on Friday. I will leave on Sunday. I plan on going over to the club and getting my 40th membership next week.

I had intended to leave the US sooner, but it has been very difficult for personal reasons. But now, I'm feeling well and ready to go.

My biggest regret is that my cat, Lily, a Western Bulldogs Pet Member for the past five years, will not be coming with me. I shall be bringing her back on Thursday to the non-kill shelter I adopted her from almost seven years ago. I will demand that her new adopted parents be Cubs fans.

See youse at the match against my most hated team - Richmond!

[Bornadog]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Yes, I did travel from Chicago for last year's Grand Final. Best day of my life.

This year I will only have to travel from Keilor East. I will be arriving in Melbourne on Tues May 2 and living not too far from the Whitten Oval. My possessions left on Friday. I will leave on Sunday. I plan on going over to the club and getting my 40th membership next week.

I had intended to leave the US sooner, but it has been very difficult for personal reasons. But now, I'm feeling well and ready to go.

My biggest regret is that my cat, Lily, a Western Bulldogs Pet Member for the past five years, will not be coming with me. I shall be bringing her back on Thursday to the non-kill shelter I adopted her from almost seven years ago. I will demand that her new adopted parents be Cubs fans.

See youse at the match against my most hated team - Richmond!

Why not bring Lily? We need all the pet members we can get.

[Chicago1]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

Why not bring Lily? We need all the pet members we can get.

It's a six month process to go through and six months ago I was not in a good place at all. Also it would cost over $3000 to get her through all of the injections, multiple visits to the vet and quarantine. If only I would have been successful in Las Vegas...

[Bornadog]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

It's a six month process to go through and six months ago I was not in a good place at all. Also it would cost over $3000 to get her through all of the injections, multiple visits to the vet and quarantine. If only I would have been successful in Las Vegas...

Wow costly

[Chicago1]

Re: WOOFER travelling the furthest & longest to attend the Grand Final.

It's because of the absence of rabies in Australia and I fully agree with the policy. It was harder to take my Aussie born cat out of Australia in 2000 than it was to get him into the US. According to Australian export laws, I had to take the cat to a federally licensed vet, have him checked out and make sure he had his appropriate shots up to date and then get a certificate of export. It only cost $125 to take him on the plane as an extra bag and he went straight into the country. I had to collect him at LAX and then they transferred him to my flight to Chicago. After about 24 hours flying, Jordan had no idea what had happened. He stayed in my bedroom the first month, too scared to come out. Eventually he got used to everything. I even took him out into the snow. His ashes are now in one of my boxes on its way to Melbourne. He's coming home, too.