Australian Open

Andy Murray and Roger Federer are battling it out for the men's title as I write.

Here's a pic of Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, taken when I was enjoying the earlier rounds there last week. That's Justine Henin and Elena Dementieva on court.

Below, a view of Melbourne Park (the tennis centre) and the Melbourne Cricket Ground from the top of the Eureka Tower.

Sunrise, cloudy dawn, and an afternoon

The view from our aerie on the 18th floor of the Hilton Hotel at South Wharf.
Top: Sunrise, 6:56 am (today)
Middle: Pre-sunrise, 6:30am (yesterday)
Bottom: 3:06pm

Best mates, different teams

Today we visited Melbourne's true spiritual home - the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Gound, known as "The G".

One of the great clichés about Melbourne is that the locals regard Australian football - "the footy" as a religion, and that the atmosphere at the G when two home town teams are playing is unmatched anywhere else.

Well, like all stereotypes, it's based on nothing less than truth. We joined 77 275 other people to watch Hawthorn - the Hawks - (yellow and brown) play Essendon - the Bombers - (red and black). I've been to a Rugby League Grand Final in Sydney, the Olympic soccer, cricket at the SCG (pretty damn atmospheric), The Australian Open tennis at Melbourne Park (pretty bloody atmospheric!), baseball at Dodger Stadium, ice hockey at Anaheim...and I have NEVER seen or heard anything like the roar of the crowd at The G.

It was the last round before the finals, and the Final 8 is being decided. Hawthorn and Essendon were numbers 9 and 8 on the ladder, with two points separating them. So this game mattered. It was a true nail biter - Hawthorn lead for the first three quaters and then Essendon overtook them and ran away with the match.

As exciting as it is, as passionate as the crowd is, there is no segregation of supporters in the European style. Mates barrack for different teams and argue the merits of the match at the pub afterwards, but as high spirited as the barracking is, it is amicable.

Best comment I heard: from a Bombers supporter when a Hawk went down injured : "Oh, he's injured his hair style!".

And of course we ate meat pies. What would the footy be without a pie????

Collins St, 5pm, 2009

I've always liked Melbourne artist John Brack's works. There's currently a retrospective of his work, which I missed in Melbourne...it's in Adelaide now. So when I visited the National Gallery of Victoria's Potter Centre there was not a Brack to be seen.

But as I was walking back along Collins St, I decided to stop at precisely 5pm, and snap whatever I saw. So, here, in homage to Brack's bleak view of Collins St, 5pm (1955) is my photo.

Collins St is lined with the Melbourne headquarters of most if not all the major banks present in Australia. So it is often populated by bankers and "stiffs" like in Bracks' painting. These days though they mostly carry backpacks (yes even pinstripe suit types in melb often carry a small pack - I think they often contain gym clothes for a visit before or after work) ,and many wear earphones from their iPods and are preoccupied with hand held smart phones.

In Bracks' painting, the Bank of New South Wales takes up a third of the width, so I was pleased to find myself opposite Westpac Bank, which is what the Bank of New South Wales is known as today.

Princes Bridge, St KIlda Rd, 5pm

Mad Hatter

Work brings me to Melbourne for a few days. So forgive me while I tread others' paths! The City Hatter is an institution - in Flinders St next to the station. I bought an Akubra in here many, many (30?) years ago.

Out 'n' about at the Australian Open tennis

Top row:
Left: Rod Laver Arena (the main court, named after one of Australia's most famous former players, the only two-times Grand Slam* singles winner, and one of only 2 men to do it) and Garden Square, where fans can sit and watch the action from inside RLA on a huge screen. A Grounds Pass costs as little as $30 a day, which gives you access to matches on the courts other than centre...you can still catch some great tennis.
Middle: A couple of French fans in Garden Square. The atmosphere is wonderful, with people from all over the world. And it's very relaxed and laid back (mostly)
Right: Part of the crowd inside Rod Laver Arena

Centre Row:
Left: French fans inside RLA supporting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Middle: A new star is born
Right: Margaret Court Arena (aka Margaret Court court) named after another former great and Grand Slam winner - and she won two Mixed Doubles Grand Slams as well! The buildings in the background are in central Melbourne. One of Melbourne's great assets is the proximity of its great sporting venues to the city...just a short tram ride or easy walk.

Bottom Row:
Left: View of Melbourne Park and the Yarra River from the 19th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Next door to the tennis centre is the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which was the Olympic Stadium in 1956
Middle: Players Box seats before the Tsonga/Blake match. We were sitting right near them, and during the match Tsonga's people occupied them.
Right: Line umpires and ball kids.

To see these photos enlarged, and others I haven't loaded from elsewhere, visit Sydney Daily Photo Extra.

* Grand Slam - winning the Australian, French, US Opens and Wimbeldon in one calendar year. A "Golden Slam" means winning those 4 AND an Olympic Gold. Does anyone know who the only player to achieve that feat was?

Tomorrow: back to Bronte

We interrupt transmission from Bronte....

...to bring you pictures from the Australian Open tennis in Melbourne.
Here's a collage showing some of the players I watched over two days.
Your mission: see if you can name them all - top left to bottom right. Warning: There's an "odd one out" in there!
I may be able to offer a small prize to the first complete entry (eg a postcard.

If you need to see the photos in larger form, click here on Sydney Daily Photo Extra.

Let me tell you about the experience. Back in decemeber I entered a contest on the Qantas Frequent Flyer site - all I had to do was enter my name and details. Mid way through January I was contacted and told that I'd won! Me and three friends would be flown (business class) to melbourne and as guests of Tennis Australia spend two days there. After the initial shock, I . . . well, stayed shocked!

We left Sydney at 8am, flying up the front of the place. For those who haven't done this, let me assure you that it IS better in the pointy end. The seats are more comfortable, there's real lef and foot rests, you do get proper food, and while the toilet is the same cramped space there's a posy of fresh flora to contemplete. And there's still ridiculous plastic knives, which will do nought to prevent a potential terrorist poking your eye out with the metal fork.

We got met in Melbourne by one of the official fleet of cars (KIA) which ferry the seeded players, officials and other Big Wigs back and forth (unseeded players and others have shuttle buses), and taken direct to the tennis centre. Met our Tennis Australia host, a marvellous young man named Karl, who provided us with tickets for the Rod Laver Arena for that day's and night's sessions. Four matches in all, plus there's open access to matches on the outer courts, where we saw part of a few more matches.

We were transferred to the Grand Hyatt hotel for the night, the official player hotel. Didn't rub shoulders with any tennis stars, but we did see mark Woodford setting up an interview.

Second day we were taken back to Melbourne Park, where we were accredited as "Players For The Day", which meant we were able to be accompanied through various areas "backstage". We had to sign a pledge that we wouldn't approach players, ask for autographs or take photos without permission. We got kitted out with racquets (Wilson) and clothing (Nike) and taken to Court 4, where we managed a bit of hit and giggle for an hour. A couple of famous players arrived for their practice session following us. I'd like to report that they showed fascination with our progress, but it was more truthful to suggest that they noticed us not at all! I did ask permission to take photos and that was okay'ed for a couple (they're included in the collage).

After that "humiliation" we retreated to the audience again for a doubles match, with our "practice partners" displaying their skill.

Next was lunch in the Players' Lounge...a lovely retreat into air conditioning as the temperature climbed outside. We ate from the same good selection of food - not at all ostentatious or pretentious either in food or setting - but good, nutritious fare, lots of carbs for those seekign them, and high quality fresh food from salads to sandwiches, wraps, an hot food, and plastic tables and chairs. It was a considerable step up, however, from the plethora of over-priced mainly junk food available to the punters outside.

Thus ended our Player "experience" and we retreated to "Garden Square", the outdoor area with the huge screen of inside Rod Laver Arena, some shady trees, and tables and chairs...and a grassed area to lie or sit on (more of that tomorrow), then transfer back to the airport and home.

So, no skill was required other than the capacity to fill out a form online, and an experience to remember.

So who are the players above??????

Tomorrow - some more scenes around Melbourne Park.

You can't take photos of Sydney...

...when you're in Melbourne, which is where I have been (work). When I went to sleep, Will Smith was watching over me, and he was still there when I awoke.

Five ways you can tell you are in Melbourne, not Sydney

Part Five: Trams, of course!

The most obvious saved for last.
Sydney's last tram ran in 1961. Lines had begun closing in 1939, line by line.
By contrast, Melbourne was sensible and reatined its tram network, a great form of public transport, which makes Melbourne easy to get around, particularly the inner and middle distance suburbs. Like most cities which have grown phenomenally in the past few decades, public transport has not kept pace with suburban sprawl.

Five ways you can tell you are in Melbourne, not Sydney

Part Four: Hook Turns

To accommodate trams, and allow them to move smoothly through intersections, some of Melbourne's city streets require motorists turning right to move to the far left to wait to turn. (Don't forget we drive on the left, so normally would position ourselves in the centre, or just left of centre, of the road to turn right). It's easy once you get the hang of it, but the first few times can be a bit unnerving.

Five ways you can tell you are in Melbourne, not Sydney

Part Three: Fences, weatherboards and bricks



I've rarely seen these woven wire fences in Sydney, and weatherboard is not a particularly common building material. For cheap building material fibro is more prevalent in Sydney (and rarely seen in Melbourne). There are of course some weatherboard houses in Sydney, but it is rare to see them lovingly restored; these days they are more likely to be knocked down and replaced by a McMansion. Many inner suburbs of Melbourne have beautifully restored examples of Victorian and Edwardian weatherboard houses.

Now to the peak-capped brick fences. Common in 1950s Melbourne fences; unknown in Sydney.
The colour of bricks depends on the clay you have for raw material. This particular shade of red brick is a Melbourne special, as is the blonde brick. Having lived in both Melbourne and Sydney, show me a traditional commons brick from either city and I reckon I'd have a pretty good chance of getting its origin right. Weird, but there you are!

Five ways you can tell you are in Melbourne, not Sydney

Part Two: Easy-access stations
Aligned with yesterday's level crossing, is the fact that access to Melbourne train stations is usually via a minimal number of steps, or a ramp. Contrast this with my local station in Sydney, which you can only get to the platforms by going up a whole heap of stairs, and down another heap of stairs. Makes it really hard for mums with prams, anyone with physical challenges, older people and so on.

Five ways you can tell you are in Melbourne, not Sydney

Part One: Level Crossings
Suburban railway "level crossings" don't exist in Sydney (maybe there are one or two?). There is always a road overpass or underpass. They remain very much part of the Melbourne suburban landscape. Bells and lights start, the boom gates come down, and the pedestrian gates across the tracks close automatically.

Apparently Melbourne stopped its program of replacing level crossings in the early 1970s, to divert money to construction of the Eastern Freeway.

Melbourne City Baths

I'm in Melbourne for a meeting, and taking the opportunity to visit a frend for the weekend. Yesterday I swam out the crinkles at the historical Melbourne City Baths. It was fabulous; I've been wanting to swim here for a long time. The pool is 30m in length, which is fairly unusual - they are more commonly 50m or 25m.

These beautiful Edwardian Baths started off as public baths (for washing) and urinals. After dereliction, and closure in 1899 they were re-designed and re-opened, to include two swimming pools, in March 1904. Men and women had separate entrances (the signs are still seen on the facade), and there were first class baths upstairs, and second class in the basement.There were also Turkish and vapour baths, a Jewish ceremonial bath - Mikvah bath and a laundry.Mixed bathing was introduced in 1947.In the 1980s, in disrepair, they were nearly closed, but were saved in 1983 by a public campaign and $4 million refurbishment.

My mum (now aged 79) tells me that when she was a young, single woman, workign in the city in the late 1940s/early 1950s, she used sometimes to use the washing facilities here after work, to freshen up beofre going out with a young man or friends.

Here's something you WON'T see in Sydney

Bathing boxes at Aspendale in Melbourne

...but then I have been missing from Sydney for a few days too. I took mum on a little 'nostalgia trip' to Melbourne, where she lived her first 40 years.

'Course you don't see trams in Sydney either, but these English-style bathing boxes are far more colourful than trams.