Yesterday was spent at the 100th Australian Open Tennis Championship with Becky, Jen, Siobhan and 2 friends of theirs from home, Kate and Steve. We were up early and at the arena just after the gates opened at 1000, having got the tram into town and back out. We had ground passes, which allowed us access to all courts except the main Rod Laver Arena, so we headed for the 2nd court in the Vodafone Arena. Once there we spent ages faffing and trying to find seats that encompassed all our needs - out of the blistering sunshine, with a reasonably unrestricted view and all 6 seats together. We attempted to sit in the sun at first, but gave that up as a very bad idea after all of 5 minutes. Probably a wise move as the ambulance people were kept very busy with people fainting and the PA system kept warning the crowd that it was 36 degrees and to remember the sunscreen, drink lots of water and go outside into the shade occassionally. I don't know how the players managed. Play started at 1100 and first up was the number 2 women's seed, Amelie Mauresmo against Dinara Safina, which was really good as the underdog won the first set, making a game of it before succumbing to the French girl's dominance. Next came Serena Williams in her new Nike trendy get up, who was playing Dally Randriantefy and won in straight sets. Venus was in the crowd watching not far from us and so managed to get photos of her as well. After these 2 games came the men and the way they hit the ball is phenomenal - so hard, although I kept expecting to see the replay in slow motion! Paradorn Srichaphan (very cute Thai player seeded 27, who I managed to get a picture of when he changed tops! Sad, I know) played Jarkko Nieminen and lost to the unseeded man and then came Marat Safin against Bohdan Ulihrach and Safin won. This was the last game on our court for the day so we decided to have a wander and found the Garnier tent (one of the sponsors). There was a queue outside, so we decided to join it and see what was on offer. It turned out to be either a massage, mini facial or hair styling session, which was good enough in itself, but the added bonus was the bag of freebies we were given as we left the tent - it contained shampoo, conditioner, body moisturiser, fake tan and facial wipes, worth about $50 total. Not bad when the ground passes only cost us $25!! It was a fabulous day and I'm so glad we weren't in the sun as I think I would have melted and we also did well to get seats in the arena as it was full by 1045. We were also very organised and took a picnic with us, thereby saving money, which we then blew on a Mexican back in the city on our way home. I took loads of photographs, but have forgotten the cable to upload them, so I'll try and do that later. Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of today, but I've booked a trip along the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles for tomorrow, before heading out Saturday afternoon. Sherry xx