After a brief panic trying to find some accommodation ( all the budget places were full, so we had to go mid-range - $120 a night !!! Talk about wallet-throb !! ) we settled into life in Melbourne. Sorry to say this in front of the Sydney Skippies, but we really like Melbourne. Yes, Syndey has the beaches and the harbour, but the city centre isn't really up
to Melbourne's standard. The buildings, both old and new are more spectacular, the way the centre is laid out is much more pedestrian friendly, the parks are beautiful and plenty, but most importantly, THEY SELL BEER. Finding decent grog in the beer desert that is Australia has been difficult, but Melbourne just about cuts the mustard with several micro-brewary pubs. It's not Yorkshire or Belgium, but it was pretty good. Check out the smile below !
While we were in town, it would have been a shame not to pop along to the Australian Open Tennis. We got tickets for the opening day in the Rod Laver Arena ( equivalent of centre court ) where we saw Serena Williams beat Jarmila Gajdosova, world number one Justine Henin beat Aiko Nakamura and then Jo Tsonga beat Scottish world number nine, Andy Murray. Great entertainment. Can't figure out how Serena Williams, who looks like she could play for Wigan at the back of the scrum, and Justine Henin, who looks like she'd be left on the bench for the Wigan Ladies Tiddywinks team, can both be top ranking players in the same sport...
After a brief panic trying to find some accommodation ( all the budget places were full, so we had to go mid-range - $120 a night !!! Talk about wallet-throb !! ) we settled into life in Melbourne. Sorry to say this in front of the Sydney Skippies, but we really like Melbourne. Yes, Syndey has the beaches and the harbour, but the city centre isn't really up
to Melbourne's standard. The buildings, both old and new are more spectacular, the way the centre is laid out is much more pedestrian friendly, the parks are beautiful and plenty, but most importantly, THEY SELL BEER. Finding decent grog in the beer desert that is Australia has been difficult, but Melbourne just about cuts the mustard with several micro-brewary pubs. It's not Yorkshire or Belgium, but it was pretty good. Check out the smile below !
While we were in town, it would have been a shame not to pop along to the Australian Open Tennis. We got tickets for the opening day in the Rod Laver Arena ( equivalent of centre court ) where we saw Serena Williams beat Jarmila Gajdosova, world number one Justine Henin beat Aiko Nakamura and then Jo Tsonga beat Scottish world number nine, Andy Murray. Great entertainment. Can't figure out how Serena Williams, who looks like she could play for Wigan at the back of the scrum, and Justine Henin, who looks like she'd be left on the bench for the Wigan Ladies Tiddywinks team, can both be top ranking players in the same sport...
