We arrived in Melbourne on 16 January, probably the hottest day of the year there at 44 C. The Jasper Hotel was located near the Victoria Street Market. In general, central Melbourne was rather boring from a sightseeing point of view, but perhaps it was just the heat! Thanks to all my friends for the bucket list money you gave me for my birthday, Neil and I had tickets to High Sense Arena for four days. Going to all four Grand Slam Tennis Championships is def. on my bucket list.
After the first day, where tempretures got up to 42 C, it cooled down nicely. We saw plenty of excellent tennis players, including Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Kevin Anderson, David Ferrer, Li Na and Jelena Jankowitz. We also saw the men's doubles team, with South African Raven Klaasen, take out the defending champions, the Bryan brothers. Klaasen and Butorac went on the reach the final. We kept up with everything else on the big screens and we loved the whole Aussie Open experience. In the evenings we enjoyed the Fitzroy area and had some wonderful meals. Everything seemed rather quiet though, without much of a party going on anywhere. On the 21st we picked up a hire car and then collected Bob and Jane for a 4 day coastal road trip to Sydney. The route is generally very scenic and the towns are just small, beachy places, mostly pretty quiet at night. We stayed in Lakes Entrance, Mallacoota and Mollymook. We did some great beach walks but no swimming because the water's pretty cold. We had great fun with Bob and Jane, fabulous road trip companions. We all arrived in Sydney for a BOC reunion dinner at the Felix. Neil, Ben and I had a very late night after hanging out in pubs with youngsters in The Rocks. We enjoyed a day of Sydney sightseeing and on Sunday 26, Australia Day, we went across to stay with Richard and Sharon for a few days. We really loved spending Australia Day at a huge family/friends BBQ. Thanks mates! Monday was a holiday, so we had lunch at the Beach Pavilion at Balmoral Beach and then had a great spa and wine evening with Richard and Sharon at home. On Tuesday we left for 3 nights in the Hunter Valley and on Friday we headed back to Sydney to spend the weekend at Colin's place. We braaied on his verandah, which has wonderful views and the next day we all went out on his boat around the bays. That evening Jenny organized a great night out at a Vodka restaurant serving Eastern European food, followed by cocktails at the very cool Owl House. On Sunday Jenny took us on a tour of some of Sydney's less touristy neighbourhoods and in the evening we went to 20/20 cricket at the Olympic Stadium.
After the first day, where tempretures got up to 42 C, it cooled down nicely. We saw plenty of excellent tennis players, including Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Kevin Anderson, David Ferrer, Li Na and Jelena Jankowitz. We also saw the men's doubles team, with South African Raven Klaasen, take out the defending champions, the Bryan brothers. Klaasen and Butorac went on the reach the final. We kept up with everything else on the big screens and we loved the whole Aussie Open experience. In the evenings we enjoyed the Fitzroy area and had some wonderful meals. Everything seemed rather quiet though, without much of a party going on anywhere. On the 21st we picked up a hire car and then collected Bob and Jane for a 4 day coastal road trip to Sydney. The route is generally very scenic and the towns are just small, beachy places, mostly pretty quiet at night. We stayed in Lakes Entrance, Mallacoota and Mollymook. We did some great beach walks but no swimming because the water's pretty cold. We had great fun with Bob and Jane, fabulous road trip companions. We all arrived in Sydney for a BOC reunion dinner at the Felix. Neil, Ben and I had a very late night after hanging out in pubs with youngsters in The Rocks. We enjoyed a day of Sydney sightseeing and on Sunday 26, Australia Day, we went across to stay with Richard and Sharon for a few days. We really loved spending Australia Day at a huge family/friends BBQ. Thanks mates! Monday was a holiday, so we had lunch at the Beach Pavilion at Balmoral Beach and then had a great spa and wine evening with Richard and Sharon at home. On Tuesday we left for 3 nights in the Hunter Valley and on Friday we headed back to Sydney to spend the weekend at Colin's place. We braaied on his verandah, which has wonderful views and the next day we all went out on his boat around the bays. That evening Jenny organized a great night out at a Vodka restaurant serving Eastern European food, followed by cocktails at the very cool Owl House. On Sunday Jenny took us on a tour of some of Sydney's less touristy neighbourhoods and in the evening we went to 20/20 cricket at the Olympic Stadium.
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