Australian Open 2006

On Monday we went to the 4th round day of the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena. It was a fantastic experience and the day flew by. We mainly watched Dominik Hrbaty vs Nikolay Davydenko in a 5 set match over about 3.5 hrs. Davydenko won after loosing the first 2 sets and goes on to play Roger Federer (and therefore probably get knocked out!). We also saw the start of Francesca Schiavone vs Kim Clijsters, nicking some seats in the players enclosure in the process which was a much better view!

The extreme weather policy was enforced at the open over the previous three days due to the heat. It was in the 40's over the weekend, reaching 44 degree's C on Sunday. All you can do is stay in the house when it gets that hot, its unreal....

Ethan and Skippy

Last weekend we went to Balarat (about 100Kms North West of Melbourne), one of the big gold rush towns from the 1850's. This picture is from the wildlife park there where the kangaroo's roam around and you can feed them. Ethan absolutely loved it as you can tell. We also got to feed some Koala's which was pretty cool....most places don't let you get anywhere near them (they may look cute but they have massive claws !).

We also went to a place called Soverign Hill which is a village replicating the gold rush town of 1854. We panned for gold but unfortunately came away without any nuggets...consequently had to go back to work on Monday. Hey ho.

Fitzroy Gardens

Here's a pic from the other weekend .. a stroll through Fitzroy Gardens in the centre of Melbourne. Captain Cooks cottage from Yorkshire was transported brick by brick and plonked in the park. Very odd. Apparently in 1960's the government wanted to knock it down to build a by-pass, so the Aussies bought it and shipped it here. English Heritage must of been on holiday that day...

Today bought tickets for centre court next Monday at the Australian Tennis Open ...... so keep an eye for me & Maxine on the telly. I would of worn my Tim Henman T-shirt but unfortunately the pillock got knocked out in the first round yesterday. Compeletly useless. Should be good as it's the 4th round day and we should get to see some of the major players as it's down to the last 16. Whoo hooo.

Me & Ethan in the city

As predicited it hit 42 degrees on NYE. Man it was hot. Here's a pic from that night ... we went into the city to watch the fireworks beside the river in the end. Ethan nearly had kittens when they went off..... and now "he doesn't like fireworks" to quote directly. Melbourne was buzzing, it was a good (if very sober) night !