Returned to the tennis yesterday as had previously bought centre court (Rod Laver Arena) tickets for the evening session. As I bought the tickets in October it was always going to be pot luck which players we would see and I missed out as none of my favourite players were on. Fairly good men's singles match though which didn't end until 11.30 pm. Great atmosphere, lots of vocal support for the Aussie, Matt Ebdon, who was playing but lost. Again plenty of trams...

Monday, 1st day of the Australian Open Tennis. David and I arrived at midday, having left the apartment less than 30 mins earlier. Free shuttle tram, no queuing, minimal search of bags and great atmosphere - c'mon Wimbledon this is the way to run a Grand Slam tournament! Had ground passes for first day so wandered around outside courts and watched some great matches. I had previously taken out AO membership which meant we could use a members only lounge area ...

Yesterday, David and I cycled to the Melbourne Tennis Centre to pick up our tickets for the Australian Open which commences on Monday, 13 Jan. we had already ordered seats for the Rod Laver court and some day passes which is the equivalent of NOT having to queue up for Wimbledon! As Melbourne's botanical gardens are directly opposite the Tennis Centre, just across the river, we visited there next. An oasis is a busy city, the gardens are tranquil and very popula...

After a relaxing few hours by and in the pool at Tom and Sarah's apartment we set off to begin our New Year celebrations. We had been invited to watch The 10 pm fireworks from the roof top of an apartment block which has a spectacular view of Melbourne city skyline. We were entertained and fed by Mat and Kristy with another of Mat's wonderful barbecues. Their friend, Sammy has recently moved into the brand new apartment block and we were delighted to be able ...

We drove to Ballarat today with the intention of visiting Sovereign Hill, a reproduction of an early township during the Australia gold rush. We quickly realised that thousands of families had the same idea as we drove into the overflow car park - and then out. We will do this attraction when the school holidays end! Ballarat is a beautiful city about 100 kilometres west of Melbourne. It has many attractions, and we visited the Botanical gardens, a huge lake (...