The 2014 Aussie Open

After missing last year's Australian Open due to travel I was pretty excited to return to our family tradition of Days 1 and 2 at Melbourne Park for as much Grand Slam tennis as we could all possibly squeeze in. Mum and I stayed down at The Blackman for a couple of nights, and my sisters came over on the Sunday night to plot out our days ahead - which involves studying the schedule, deciding on which games each of us want to see as priorities, and pick a court to meet at in the morning. This is a serious operation!

So my pick for the first morning was Court 7, and the battle between Finnish Nieminen and Israeli Sela. A great pick and start to almost 48 hours of live tennis! We gritted through the first 3 sets of this match, oscillating between who we thought would take it out - stunned to see the end result after 5 sets later in the day.

Whilst over at Court 7, we had kept our eye on the proceedings of the Women's match on Court 2, and managed to time our court switch over there to settle in for the start of Aussie Ebden take on Frenchman Mahut.

One of the newest features of the Open was the sight of the roof on Margaret Court Arena (MCA), and from here we could see nothing without the Buddhist-temple-like roof filling our view!

The Aussie crowd were very good and vocal, and really powered the local hope along, watching him grab the first 2 sets with all his might!

By this time we were well and truly melting in the heatwave that Melbourne weather put on for that first week, and rejoiced at the fact that we always get Centre Court tickets for these days. We abandoned one Aussie working his way to a Round 1 win to watch another - a long time favourite, Stosur.

This 2 sets match inside gave us a sun break, if not really a heat break, as inside was just as stifling as outside with very little breeze. This year the heat policy, which we have seen enacted before, was not put into play until later in the week.

With Stosur through, I then went to watch an old favourite of mine - all one and a half sets of Germany's Haas before he retired hurt, and said goodbye to Melbourne Park. I met up again with the girls for another old favourite of ours, Cypriot Baghdatis, inside the new look MCA. Always the battler, Marcos just couldn't get much right in this match, and we saw he fall out of the tournament in this match, in straight sets.

Back fresh for Day 2, we went straight to Court 2 for Japanese Nishikori taking on young Aussie hope Matosevic. Another 5-setter, we again plotted our timing for a switch to Centre Court out of the sun and heat, for the Federer and Aussie Duckworth match.

My hope for this Open had been to watch my new fav player on the circuit, Delpo, play, although the gamble of getting Centre Court rather than mixing it up with a Hisense day loomed as an obstacle. When the schedule for Day 2 was released, I was delighted to see the big Argentinian slotted for the MCA. I ducked away to see the start of this match, as Federer was performing his standard magic!

I made it back into Centre Court after the Delpo win, in time to watch Hewitt and Italian Seppi battle out the final throws of their 5 set match....with the Aussie just not clinching it in the end. From what I saw, looked like another epic game.

Spilling out into the air, as the temperature had dropped a little, we all found our way to the Heineken Bar area and settled in for some wine and beer, a short break from the tennis, and some music - we had watched Saskwatch the night before, and World's End Press were on this second night.

When the Night 2 schedule was announced over the weekend prior, we had decided that we would cave in and buy the additional session. The return of Nadal to Melbourne Park, taking on Aussie Tomic, was too good to miss.

Making our way in, we settled in for what promised to be a good match, as the air got cooler, and everything was more comfortable. Nadal looked fit and determined and took the first set without too much bother.

And then, it wasn't really clear from our seats, but Tomic then spoke to the umpire, shook the Spaniard's hand, and waved to the crowd. He got a bit of a muffled boo as the full house realised he was retiring hurt. Not quite what we had imagined as the ending to our massive two days of tennis and heat.

Man, I love the Aussie Open! We are so lucky here in Melbourne to have it, and for it to be so amazing each year! I also love the family tradition we have of going along and soaking it all in. So good!

US Open: Day 2

For the second day of my visit to the US Open this year, I took a gamble and grabbed seats to Arthur Ashe Stadium. Katie agreed to come along with me for the day, and she did well with a day of tennis, as a non-sports fan!

When we got there we took in the sights from the walk into the Flushing Meadow complex from the South Gate, before checking out some play on the bigger Court 17, as we kept our eye on the scores on the big stadium. Once the first match looked like wrapping up, we made our way into the infamous bowl of seating, to catch Andy Roddick.

During the warm-up I climbed to the top of the Promenade section so I could take in the full view - you can see Manhattan from those seats! It must look amazing at night!

The A-Rod, who later that week announced his retirement and that this would be his last tournament, played young American Rhyne Williams, and won in comfortable 3 sets.

With the end of this match, we took a much needed shade break within the South Plaza area, before managing to time our shift perfectly to score front row seats in the shade for Marcos Baghdatis' game.

Struggling to a set all, Katie and I then left this court, had some silly and fun photos taken with the Fan Wall, before scoring seats at the mini-grandstand at Court 13.

Aussie Bernard Tomic started his US Open out here by dropping the first set, and then clawing his way back to a 4-set win well into the evening and under the lights of night. As we cheered him on, we could not help but be captivated by the sight of Pat Rafter courtside. Getting a photo with him at the end of the match may well have been the highlight of my trip away! Ha!

I loved the excitement of being at the event that I have watched from home for so many years, and be able to soak it all in across these two days, while comparing the ways and differences to the other 3 Grand Slams.

US Open: Day 1

The US Open was the last of the Grand Slam tournaments for me to get along to, and last week I completed the dream of going to Flushing Meadows. Getting tickets was easy as booking online, and after lining up at will call to pick them up on the morning of Day 1, I was there.

I went straight to Louis Armstrong, being the second biggest court, and grabbed to seat to see James Blake play some convincing tennis as part of his recent return from injury.

Whilst the American got to work on court, Talia and I found each other in the stands, and we got to catch up on the last few (four!) years since I was in town last. We chatted between points, as we saw the rain clouds start rolling in...

Blake took the 2nd set as the rain started very lightly and stopped play, before it bucketed down as we started making a dash for it with the rest of the crowd. Getting completely soaked in the stairwells of the stands, there was really nothing we could do about it but laugh!

When the rain subsided to less than torrential, we made a dash for the Food Village, and found the Grey Goose Bar for the signature cocktail of the US Open, the Honey Deuce.

Served in a souvenir cup with all past Men's and Women's US Open winners listed, this drink was perfect to while away the rain delay - very refreshing! The green honeydew balls were a cute touch!

As we caught up on each other's lives properly, huddled under a canopy in the Food Village, we did not fully realise, but this ended up being a 2.5 hour rain delay!

Once the sun was out again, and the courts had been dried, we made our way to the Grandstand court, which sits in the shadow of the Louis Armstrong, to watch a young US hopeful. Jack Sock played a pretty impressive brand of tennis for the 2 and a half sets he was winning against the German Mayer, before the seeded played retired hurt, giving the American the match.

In total contrast to the belting rain earlier, the NY sun packed some heat while we took this game in, and then decided on the next match to watch. We made our way to Court 4 to watch American Ginepri for a bit.

Keeping my eye on the progress of the match on Court 14, however, I then made the switch to watch Aussie Matt Ebden take the first 2 sets of this 3 set win. I then joined Talia back at Louis Armstrong to see Mardy Fish start his campaign, before we called it a day and headed back into the city.

That night, after meeting up with Katie in Times Square, the 3 of us met up with Rich for dinner and drinks, and a little mini-Medley Hall reunion. It was so good to see these guys again!

Marcos And My Grand Slam

As Katie and I sat in the front row of Court 7 of Day 2 of this US Open, I was telling her how I thought that I had seen Marcos Baghdatis play at every Slam around the world, upon completing my very own visit to all 4 tournaments.

Last week I attended Day 1 and Day 2 of the US Open at Flushing Meadows, out in Queens in New York, completing the lap of Grand Slams around the world. This has been a dream of mine for some time, on a travel and sports fan level, and I was so excited to be walking around the complex and sitting watching matches at the courts I have watched on tv for years and years.


It occurred to me that I have very much being watching the same set of players around the world for the last few years. Baghdatis being one of them. Marcos is the exact type of player that I love watching play - he plays with such grit and determination, the never-say-die, heart on his sleeve manner, and the fight in him that so often gets him out of being 2 sets down and into a tie-break in the third, and then win in a thrilling 5 set match!

Upon reviewing my photos, and posts from the years however, I see that I didn't see him play on the two days I went to Wimbledon after all! Oops! He reached the semi-final in 2006 when I was there, but I didn't see a match of his out on the smaller courts that year, nor the year before.

I remember him vividly from the French, as I snapped this photo of his flashing his belly! Ha!

As I sat in the top section of the Authur Ashe Stadium watching Andy Roddick, who's career ended with retirement overnight, and had memories of the electricity of this stadium as it beamed out to me from the tv in the wee hours of many mornings during the Men's Singles Final, I think I developed a new wanderlust goal. I think I really want to try and complete the circuit of Men's Finals in a year - like Grand Slam Girl has done this year, but save up a gazillion dollars, and do all 4 finals. Would be amazing - a new tennis fan dream!

Rogers Cup

The Rogers Cup here in Toronto is one of the warm up events on the tour, leading up to the US Open. This year the Men's tournament was here, and the Women's in Montreal, which worked out very nicely for me. I staked out tickets some time ago for the Semi Final day.

The event this year had been plagued with bad luck before it had even began, with the withdrawal of some very big names like Nadal and then Federer. The tournament also suffered from being schedule just a few days after the end of the Olympics in London, and then tennis competition for a medal.

And then to top these factors off, this week has had the worst weather Toronto has had for the Summer. In fact, Thursday was a complete washout, and Friday consisted of both Round 3 matches and the Quarter Finals, meaning several players played twice on that day.

I made the trek out to the site, which is out on the York University campus, taking the subway to Downsview and then a bus. It was raining while I made this trip, and the volunteers were set to work with the blower machines as soon as it stopped, to allow play to get started as soon as possible.

The first match on the main court for the day was between the Frenchman Richard Gasquet and the giant American John Isner. A slight delayed start, and all around me on the very top level there seemed to be stormy looking clouds coming the way of the stadium, but it held off and allowed this match to get going.

Despite the hype and might of the Isner serve, he was ordinary at his returns, and Gasquet owned this match. A good match to watch, with many even rallies, but the Frenchman had it wrapped up in 2 sets, and earned his place in the final.

A couple of hours to kill between the two sessions of the day, I took in the practice courts, the Grandstand Court, and the retail sections. I brought a sweater (look at me, using the North American lingo!), after freezing my way through the last set because of the wind at the top of the stand. Lindt chocolate is one of the sponsors of the tournament, so I scored a free sample, made right there at the little stand.

Just as the time grew closer to take our seats and be ready for the second Semi of the day, the threatened thunderstorm arrived overhead, with belting rain, thunder and full lightening. The whole crowd waited this out in the undercover tiers of the stadium, before it stopped.

The amazing volunteers managed to get the court looking very close to being ready for play again, and the rain started again. Just a shower, it didn't last too long, and then they were back to it, getting the water off the court. This amazingly happened one more time, before the players could come out for the match, which is a tribute to those guys and girls doing all that work, and not giving up!

Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarovic, both from Serbia, took to the court under lights for this match. There were many clusters of Serbians fans all around the stadiums, as the players got serious on court early on.

Janko put up a good fight during the first set against the World Number 2 (although he is ranked 9 himself), but a few errors made him angry at himself come the start of the second set, and Nole just put the foot down, really! An easy ride into the final set for the next day, although not before another rain delay, making this a very late night for the players, and also those spectators who waited it out.

I feel completely warmed up to complete my Slam now, with the US Open at the end of the month. Canada put on a good tournament, with many of the crowd demonstrating the patience that is needed for the love of this sport!

Australian Open '12: Day 2

Backing up for a second day at the Australian Open, for a full 11 hours of tennis on Tuesday, we returned to Melbourne Park to do it all again! Wow! Love that we get this chance, with the Slam event right here in Melbourne.

Starting again out on Margaret Court, Melissa, Mum and I joined Belinda, and Jessica and Marea to watch Spaniard Ferrer take an easy 2 set lead of his first round match. Ensuring we were sun smart in the baking heat, we soon escaped again, to get into the shade of Rod Laver Arena.

Defending Champ Novak Djokovic was next up, and completed a seemingly effortless and clinical 3 set match.

Our luck with the draw and our Centre Court tickets continued, with Aussie Sam Stosur scheduled as the last match for the day inside. We settled in with such great expectations, given the last time we saw her and her success in that Slam.

But Romanian Sorana Cirstea was just too good, with Sam barely putting up a challenge. So disappointing for the US Open winner from last year, and our highest ranked Aussie on the circuit. At the after match interview, Sorana said she knew that she was disliked at the moment by the crowd for putting out our Sam, but given her performance, and charming comments, she won us over right there! Ha!

A gap in our schedule here, we all met up with Katrina, Mark and Caitlin at the Jacob's Creek bar, for some chilled time in air-conditioned comfort with some white wine. Keeping on eye on the matches around us, and the time for the scheduled band, we soon split up and I worked my way back into Margaret Court Arena, with persistence and patience. Always very important and necessary tools at the tennis!

Here, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga was in the process of losing the second set, in a surprise situation for the 6th seed, against Uzbekistan Istomi.

As the sun set behind the city, with the MCG and Rod Laver looking impressive in the twilight, and the birds and bugs joined the packed crowd out in the elements, Jo worked his way back to claim the match. Reaching almost 3 hours of match time, the French star collected the 3rd set with ease, and then worked hard for the 4th.

Fist pumps and a commando roll, Jo put on an impressive and energetic show, and even managed to dance around and stir the crowd up in thanks at the end of this epic and entertaining match.

What a great, and epic, two days of tennis! These first 2 days of the tournament are always amazing because you have the full spread of the Draw playing on all courts, and so there are awesome games on everywhere, all the time. Got to love the Open!

Australian Open '12: Day 1

A hot day at Melbourne Park was the opening of the Australian Open this year, with a full day of tennis, sun and heat, beer and music.

We all congregated at Margaret Court for the first game, coming from all different directions of Melbourne and Ballarat for our first day of the Open. Taking our seats, with our backs to the morning sun, we watched Aussie Casey Dellacqua complete a classy win for her first round.

Melbourne put on the perfect day, without a cloud in the sky, and the city glistening in the background. Melissa, Mum, Belinda and I plotted out our plan for the day, and at the end of this first game sought shelter from the heat and sun, and took our seats inside Rod Laver Arena for the next match.

A big match up, Australia's Bernard Tomic took on a usual favourite of ours, Spanish Verdasco. Tomic was nowhere in this match for the first 2 sets, as Fernando blitzed in his bright fluro outfit.

Our young countryman started to claw back in the third set, and then took the fourth also, a little easier as he started to hit his shots, and step up to the task. Almost 4 hours in duration, Tomic pulled off what seemed impossible at the beginning, to emerge the winner and move into the next round. He also won over the crowd with his humble and polished post-match interview, as he becomes our most exciting current tennis player.

This match completed Belinda's international Grand Slam of seeing an Aussie play on Centre Court in all 4 tournaments....very jealous!

Back outside, and coming to terms with the time, we grabbed some beer and waited the patient wait to grab seats in Show Court 2 to see most of the second set of Marcos Baghdatis.

The Cypriot struggled in this set, taking it to a tiebreak, but snatching it in the end. Watching the time, we saw this out to the change, and then made our escape to get to the other side of the park and the Heineken Bar for the musical act of the night.

Being slightly disorientated given the shift of the Bar this year, we grabbed a spot to see Tim Freedman and the Half Idle, with a few more beers. The stage was set up with Tim looking into the sun, the lead singer from The Whitlams played a set bulked with tracks from the band, with just a sprinkling of his recent solo tracks.

Half Idle indeed, these 2 lads being Tim's band for the night didn't seem to know The Whitlams' songs and their parts, and he was certainly missing the female additions of his solo release tour. Nevertheless, Tim was chatty with a fairly non-involved crowd, as we were joined by Cass and Flash for a few more drinks.

Around 6 hours of live tennis under our belts for the day, we called it a night, and walked back over to the MCG and the car, with the light fading completely over the Melbourne night sky.

Gotta Love the Aussie Open!

Just one full day at the Australian Open for me this year, looking over the draw the day before, it seemed I had lucked out on the days...which, in typical form, was totally not the case. The Open delivers great matches all over the complex - you can't lose!!

I drove down in the morning, and met up with Melissa, Mum, and Jessie, for our day at Melbourne Park. We first made our way to Court 6, coping a peek at Rafa practicing on the court next door, thinking that it presented with a potentially even match up. The Frenchman had been swapped for a German, to meet the 26th seeded Argentinian, Monaco. Proved right, a couple of us stayed for the whole match, which was a close and entertaining game, with 2 tiebreak sets.

At the end of the 3 sets win for Monaco, Jessie and I changed to Court 7 to sit with Melissa, and watch a disappointing Davydenko lose his first 2 sets way too easily. We then decided we would pop into Centre Court and use our tickets, for a look at Roger Federer before his first round match was all over.

Next, finding James as we left the big court, we went to Show Court 2, for Berdych's match against an Italian qualifier. The crowd made it more interesting, with a bunch of Czech Aussies singing and chanting for their countryman.

Monday's bonus was the music act scheduled for the Heineken stage, being Clare Bowditch. We ducked back to the beer tent, grabbing a beer, and took in Clare's talent. Charming the crowd with her stories and chats, and also interacting with the kids up front dancing, and the tennis clad beer-carrying lads walking past the stage, she played from her new album, and also some of the gems of her back catalogue. Lips Like Oranges and Divorcee by 23, plus the sexy You Looked So Good. I Thought You Were God, and Running, in an ode to sport, ha! The beautiful Lucky Life and Your Own Kind Of Girl, and ending with Bigger Than The Money. Clare is so amazing!

Back to the tennis after her hour set, we grabbed dinner and watched a couple of sets of Luczak against commanding Croatian Ljubicic. The fun police kept a watchful, unnecessary eye on the Ivan's fans. As the temperature dropped, and the Aussie's hopes dropped, we called it a day. And what a great day!

Roland Garros

The starting point for my big trip this year was the desire to go to the French Open. In fact, several of us had been talking about it constantly for months (I am looking at you, Rooey!). So as the group grew for this little idea of meeting up with Jessie at Roland Garros, we played on the website for tickets, and booked our two days, almost entirely in French. They are quite particular with names and ID for the tickets, which is quite...well, French, isn't it!

We were up and rode the metro out to the Roland Garros complex for Day 1 (actually techncally Day 2, cos they play some matches on Sunday to get through the matches of Round 1), where we found our first Aussie at play. Here was where being at the French Open really hit me, and it was all I could do to contain the excitement of it all, as we watched Jelana Dokic for a set.

A ground pass for each of the 7 of us, we wondered around the complex, taking it all in. We sat courtside and watched Carson Ball struggle through a couple of sets, before making our way to see Marcos Baghdatis up close on one of the mini-big courts.

Meeting in the middle of the complex for a beer, we discovered that Ball was in the last throws of a 5 set match, and managed to squeeze in to hear (not see!) the last game, before I headed off to further courts to watch Chilian Gonzalos. The bigger group joined up again as we watch Sam Stoser win through the first round (attributing her later success in the tournament to our support!), and watching a bit of the Molik game.

After our very full first day at the tennis, we made our way to the foot of the Eiffel, and took a cruise along the Seine, to take in Paris at night. So pretty!

At it again the next day, but this time we had taken a punt on booking a couple of seats in each of the main courts for the day. Belinda, Jess, and I saw the end of the first men's match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and then Safina coast along before having a tantrum and finding her older Japanese opponent beating her. We then watched Nadal make easy work of his first match to his eventual tournament win. This was the match the French fans filled the venue for, for the first set and a half....I don't actually know where they were for the rest of the day, apart from clogging every walkway around the courts!

Jessie, Heath, Rhys and Hemant had their seats on Court Philippe Chatrier for the day, but we did manage to do some creative ticket swaps and tag teams, to mean that we each got a set in each of the venues. I joined this court to see the first set of Hewitt, and soak up the French centre court feel, before Rooey and I returned to Suzanne Lenglen for Sharapova.

Hewitt completed match point just as the rains started, and we were all trapped somewhere around the complex as torrential rains hit Paris. Being here for these 2 days was such a great experience, adding to the Grand Slam collection, and taking in some great tennis.

Aussie Open '10

Arriving at Melbourne Park for our annual dose of the Australian Open, Mum, Melissa and I took our seats in Centre Court to watch the opening set of Sharapova and her younger Russian opponent, Kirilenko. The chiffon over her dress and much publicised expensive dress earrings did nothing for Maria's grunt or tennis, and she was out....as we had relocated to watch a more intense match over on Court 2.

Gonzalez, an Open favourite of ours, played Rochus, and was stretched to 4 sets, with a couple of rain delays. Not having a rain interrupted Open for as long as we could remember, Melissa and I huddled under an umbrella during a short, sharp shower, before the sun came blazing out and dried the court off, and play resumed.

Melissa and I joined Mum back in Centre Court, to watch the end of the Clijsters match, as rain stopped all play out on the other outdoor courts. Andy Murray took to court, and played out a fairly easy match to get through to the next round.

As the cold had seeped in, Melissa and I braved it out in the wind on Margaret Court Arena to catch the end of young, tall Aussie hopeful Tomic get through the first round also.

With a new set up this year, to try and separate the "family area" of Garden Square from the Heineken Tent, the oval between Rod Laver Arena and HiSense has been transformed into Grand Slam Oval, with the Garnier replacement Cussons Oasis (with a much smaller goodie bag, and just a freezing pond for dipping your feet in as the treat inside!), all the trade show style set-ups, and the bar area and band stage. Great viewing areas for watching the matches going on inside, we popped in here for a few beers, to watch the Nadal match going on for the night session. With most of the days play postponed due to the weather, we were plotting out our Day 2 to get it all in!

Back for the next day, we spoke to the Box Office after viewing the schedule, and swapped our Centre Court for HiSense Arena, and found our sets for the first 2 sets of Verdasco verses Aussie Ball. At a set apiece, we left the Arena for the sunshine, and worked our way to Court 6 for the postponed Blake game from the day before. Dan joined me, and we watched Blake take the first two sets comfortably, setting up his Round 1 win.

Here, we had a scheduling dilemma/bliss with 3 matches we watched to see all happening at once. Melissa and I found Court 7, and watched a disappointing set from Moya, who went on to lose too easily. We then watched another disappointing set, this time from Tommy Haas, who just didn't seem to be into his match (who must have found his way, winning the next 3 and the match). Gaining entry into Margaret Court, and finding Mum, we then took joy in the energy of Marcos Baghdatis, and his stadium of devoted compatriots. Another Open favourite of ours, Marcos was all heart, and got through to his traditional kissing of the surface and saluting his fans.

Refreshments were taken in the Heiniken area as we watched the start of the Hewitt match of the night session on Centre Court, before Djokovic was on on HiSense. Mum and I got a set in here, before we needed to hit the road and pick up a traveling Katrina from the airport. A very big second day of tennis, so good!

St Jerome's Laneway Festival

Yesterday I went along to the St Jerome's Laneway Festival, in the laneways of Melbourne. After 4 sweltering days of heat, yesterday promised to be a cool 31C...hmmm, perfect for battling the crowds at a music festival!!

Upon arrival I did a quick wander about to figure out the lay of the land. One stage was set up in Little Lonsdale Street, with one entrance from Swanston Street. Another stage was set up in Lonsdale Street, again with an entrance from Swanston Street. Both with long lines. Having studied the line up, I joined the queue to get my wristband, and into the Little Lon stage, for the first of the bands on my list.

The John Steel Singers were first up here, and I settled in just back from the stage and enjoyed a new band to my ears. At the end of their set I went out to grab some food, and to meet Dan.

Back in to Little Lon for a few beers, we watched and were impressed by Canadian Born Ruffians. The drummer calls the shot for the band, and they had a great presence with the audience.

We left the fenced off area then, for the Library stage and little Melbourne band Oh Mercy. Having seen these guys last year, they were one of my main attractions for the festival. So cute, and a great sound. Seemed Like A Good Idea was a stand out....but I still want Eliza to sing to us!!

Here we caught up with Mary and Anna, and consulted on our plans for the day. Dan and I parked on the grass and took in a chilled set by Pikelet, before working our way back into Little Lon stage for more beer and Cut Off Your Hands.

A Kiwi band that comes recommended, sadly from halfway down the lane, we couldn't hear much of them. Back to the bar, and then out of the sectioned off area again to the Library Stage, we sat on the grass as the sun started to set behind the city buildings for Holly Throsby. Having heard One Of You For Me, hearing in live just made me love this track more. She was great, very folkie, and sweet.

Next up was the main dilemma for me for the day, with AIH and Augie March scheduled at different stages at the same time. Having seen AIH many times, I chose Augie, having never seen them live before and not really hearing any of their new album.

Slightly bigger stage over at the Lonsdale Street set up, it was clear when making our way through crowded Swanston Street that the Little Lon set up was packed, to overflowing, with a massive line all the way down the street. We got into Lonsdale with ease, plenty of room, and time for another beer.

As twilight descended, Augie came on stage and mixed new album with their big release from 2007. Stumbling over words for the first few tracks, Glenn admitting to being hungover and almost with it, The Cold Acre stood out from their country flavoured new tracks. Ending their set with the disarming One Crowded Hour.

Dan and I then worked our way down Caledonian Lane, where the festival started 5 years ago, to get a look at the Red Bull stage, and what the concept was all about. Inadvertently bypassing the line up for this section, we walked down the back alleys to an near empty and eerie little stage pocket. The sweeping lighting and music here painted a picture of what the festival was like when it was all back here.

Back to the big stage within the Lonsdale side of the festival, an announcement urged patrons to stay for The Hold Steady, as the Little Lonsdale stage area was now full and closed - to the boos of clearly tired, hot and frustrated fans disappointed at not getting in on the other side. We stayed for maybe half of this final set of the night.

American, this band had an assertive and abrasive presence and manner. Loads of crowd participation here. We stayed till Sequestered In Memphis, which has a great sound, before we left the festival.

Down the road to Fed Square, we sat with some couple of hundred people, and I watched a set and a half of the Men's Final of the Australian Open between Federer and Nadal, before making a dash for home and the last set. Great match, and a new champion...

Aus Open Day Two

Second day of tennis for the year, Mum and I headed into Melbourne Park, bracing ourselves for the high 30s temperatures predicted. We headed into Centre Court planning to settle into the match with Andy Murray.

Half an hour into his match, his French opponent started having issues with his back, and retired mere games after. Feeling the heat, even in the shade inside the big court, I sat through a Williams sister's match, just to avoid the heat!

The third match of the day on Rod Laver Arena was Aussie Hewitt against Chilean Gonzalez. A former runner up, we watch Gonzalez last year in a fiery match, and with Hewitt on a comeback trail, the match was poised as a big one.

Tension, a timely injury time for Gonzalez, and the Aussie crowd and Hewitt passion...5 sets later the Chilean was the victor in a hard fought match. The Melbourne weather having dropped down a little during the long match, Mum and I headed out to the outer courts.

We found seats in Court Two as Monfils was finishing his match, ready for the start of Tommy Haas. Perfect timing. Our plan was to watch this one, and then jump over to Margeret Court Arena for the Blake match - keeping one ear on the Aussie girl's match on that court, we watched Haas work his way through a 3 set win.

Our change over for courts worked in nicely with the matches, and Mum and I grabbed seats for Blake just as he was warming up - finding Bumble and Lizby in our aisle for the match also! As twilight decended, and the air got much cooler, Blake breezed through the first two sets, before having the Canadian seems to take control on court and through the crowd. The eventual 3 set win for Blake didn't reflect the efforts of the Canadian, under lights after a hot summer day.

Aus Open Day One

Yesterday, after Mum arrived into town from Ballarat, we both headed in to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open.

With our tickets into Rod Laver Arena, we headed straight in for the first match, being Andy Roddick. An easy match for him, with the 191 ranked Swede not causing any trouble for the Seventh seed. The Swedish fans chanted from one side of the arena to the other, but the crowd were enjoying the A-Rod's super fast serves, and all business demeanor.

Outside after that, to the start of the Baghdatis match...and we started to bake out in the mid 30C heat. It took Marcos almost three hours to win his first round match, in a less than convincing display. On the court next door, massive cheers were heard for the youngest Aussie and his first round victory.

Managing to score a seat with shade for the next match, I watched Moya dawdle through his three set loss. One gets the feeling this will be the last time we see Carlos in Melbourne.

A touch sunburnt, Mum and I wondered around to take in this year's Open set up, before calling it a day and making our way to Lygon Street for dinner, and then ice-cream at Brunetti.

Australian Open

Monday and Tuesday, we went to the tennis, as per our usual family tradition of Day 1 and 2. Awesome! Leilah came along for Day 1, and was so excited to be going for the first time.

Blue courts this year, but still the action packed days. Back to back big matches, the Open is such a treat! Centre Court tickets, Mum had managed to get us seats in the shade, 7 and 6 rows from the front, quite close to the player’s box. Very impressive.

Day 1 we watched ‘newly-naturalised’ Aussie Gajdosova take on S Williams (our one and only women’s match!), before heading our to watch the last 3 sets of a 5 set match between Robredo and Zverev – which was some great tennis! Heading back into Centre Court, we watched Tsonga beat British hopeful Andy Murray, again in some great tennis. And topped our day with some Carlos no-so-Destroyer Moya bow out too easily.

Backing up for Day 2, Melissa Mum and I met in our seats in Centre Court, and watched impressive Djokovic take on B Becker. Melissa and I then watched two sets of the man verses giant match of Nalbandian and little Aussie Smeets, before working out way in to watch a disappointing Guccione. Oh! After seeing the A-Rod on a practice court – wow! The Aussie fans were out in force on Day 2, with their colours, fully dressed up, and their chants.

A shade break inside Centre Court to watch Lleyton Hewitt, before returning to Margeret Court Arena for some patient waiting for a seat to watch Luczak play Zabaleta. Luczak did very well, and advanced to the next round, keeping the Aussie hope alive.

Another patient wait to gain a seat in Court 2 to watch Marat Safin, as the sun was going down. Marat was a little underdone, and out of match fitness, but managed to win, much to the delight of the packed stadium. Melissa and I then worked our way in to seats at the twilight match between Greek Economidis and last year’s Open runner up, Chilean Gonzalez.

Sitting down, the atmosphere was awesome. Melissa and I talked about how lucky we are to live in such a multi-cultural city, where a match like this can attract clusters of Chilean fans, dressed in their colours and waving their flags. Chanting, singing and dancing, cheering their compatriot on. And then to also have a bay of blue and white dressed Greek fans, also flag waving, standing, clapping, cheering, supporting their player. This is what tennis is all about.

But this then turned ugly, with no antecedent that we could see. There developed a strong presence of security, and then police officer around the Greek group, which soon developed into a shoving match between police and the Greek fans. Pepper spray was used, of which we could see from the other end of the court, and the police proceeded to cart of most of the Greek fans. The ugliness and the injustice of it swept an angry feeling across the court, where play had stopped because of the commotion. A blatant racial over reaction, that spoilt a great atmosphere, and a great match between two passionate nationalities.

Hola in Melbourne

Last night after work, Jenny (my current housing provider) and I headed out to South Yarra for a film as part of the Spanish Film Festival.

We headed out and secured our (free) tickets at the Como Theatre, before backtracking back toward the train station for dinner and sangria at Fiesta, dinner destination of the tennis stars during the Open. Jenny chose the Hewitt Burrito, and I took the Agassi - apparently developed with the respective tennis star's input, but I really don't think there was any different between the two! The sangria was great though - a dinner very reminiscent of dinners in London with Jenny.

Our film for the evening, 53 Winter Nights, selected based on it's synopsis and screening time, was a look at three people's lives after a chance and incedental intersection one night at a bus stop. Interesting look at circumstances and consequences.

Cricket Farse

I traveled down to Melbourne on the train on Friday, to get to the MCG for the first One Day International Final, between Australia and England.

The crowd was low, and just 10 minutes into the start of play, the first people from the bottom of the Southern Stand were evicted. The Fun Police were out in force! Two girls were escorted out for skulling a beer each, after the encouragement of the yobs around them - surely this is not an evictable offence! The mexican wave, although newly banned from the MCG, has never had so much participation, and has never been so easy to get going!

Brad come and joined me after work, and soon Ash did too, as we watched a fairly slow limited overs of cricket. I haven't been to a One Day match for years, although the prospect of no cricket for at least 10 months, and the fact that I had attended a whole 30 days of test cricket in 2006, I was a little worried about withdrawal! But the One Day game is just not the same.

I also haven't seen Australia lose for a long time, in fact, not since that dreaded day at The Oval. Friday night saw the emergence of ugly sore loser yobs spilling out of the MCG after the match. Much of a nothingness to me though, and a reminder that the real game in played in white, during the day, over five days!

I met up with Jessie and Heath after the game, and we headed back to his place for the night, and some Davis Cup action on TV. We three went over to Carlton North in the morning, and then met Jenny and Little Miss Ella for brunch in Fitzroy at Tin Pot, before I made it back on the train to the 'Rat.

Two years ago

Two years ago today I was packing up life as I knew it in Australia, ready for the big adventure in Europe and London.

During my two years away, I managed to visit 20 countries, most of them completely new to me. Managed to have many amazing and unforgetable adventures (had a magical White Christmas, attended the ANZAC service in Gallipoli, hot air ballooning in Turkey, watched Australia lose and then regain The Ashes, go to Wimbledon (twice)). Managed to work in a new occupation (rehabilitation) and sector (profit). Managed to meet a host of wonderful people, and make new and lasting friendships. Managed to see countless music gigs, theatre and art in Europe.

But now it's time to get my London style lifestyle that I loved, happening in the city that I love - Melbourne! Time to get started!

I am looking forward to setting up a new place to live. Looking forward to getting into the footy again. Looking forward to hanging out with my sisters. And with all my mates here in Melbourne and Ballarat. Looking forward to getting an ace job, and working towards my Psychologist registration. Looking forward to teaching myself how to cook, or at least to enjoy cooking! Looking forward to meeting new people, and finding new cool spots in Melbourne.

Bring it!

Sweltering Aussie Open

Smokey and overcast Melbourne met Mum and I as we drove down for the tennis on Monday, from Ballarat. We met Melissa, Clinton, and Jessie for the start of Day One of the Australian Open, a family tradition.

Jessie and I went across to little Court 7 for the start of the days play, and watched Juan Carlos Ferrero play three games before his opponent retired hurt. We then joined the others to watch Wayne Arthurs play some of his last tennis before retirement, before heading into Centre Court for Federer and Baghdatis put on class performances.

I then sat out a five set match of Bjorkman (who you can never give up on!!), before watching another Swede Johansson's last two of five sets to end the day.

Arriving at the tennis centre just after 10am the next day, Melissa and I thought we would join the line for the Garnier tent early, before any tennis was played. No such luck, as the line was aleady 3 hours long, and closed, at that early time - at the blazing temperature of around 34C. Madness. Instead, I went and watched new Aussie Robert Smeets in little outside Court 7.

As the temperature and humidity rose, Mum, Clinton and Melissa made their way to Centre Court for relief - but with the little Aussie at one set all, I couldn't leave it! Sweating it out, and seeing the other courts around us stop play after their first finished games in line with the Extreme Heat Policy, I was melting!!

Feeling the dehydration kicking in, the deminishing crowd were cheering louder for 'Smeetesy' - or were we just hoping for him to win faster so we could get out of the sun?! Luckily the lad won, beating the youngest player in the main draw, in four sets, and much needed shelter, cooler conditions, and more liquids was found inside Centre Court.

With no play on the outside courts, I watched the struggling Sharapova finally win her match, then ripped Nadal put on a show. Another women's match in Centre Court followed, although with conditions outside still suffocatingly hot, and no other play happening outside, I sat through Clijsters to the end.

A little cooler outside by then, we sat out on the grass waiting for word about the recommencement of play. Melissa and I finally joined the queue and got our free facials and goody bags from the Garnier tent, and after this, at about 8.15pm play resumed.

We watched Aussie Sam Stoser win as the sun went down, and the city lit up behind the court. We then watched as Aussie Davis Cup hero from last year, Luczuk lose the first set. This at 11pm, we were feeling sleepy, and tennis-ed out! The drive home to Ballarat beckoned, and we finally called it a day. After 12 hours of tennis! Love it!