Aussie Open!

Another seriously long journey - again, totally worth it! - out to Melbourne for the Australian Open Tennis. Fiona Robertson picked me up and we spent the next day biking along the coast to Black Rock (lesson #1, remember to reapply sunscreen in the Aussie summer). It was beautiful weather, a nice breeze, and great views along the coast.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday I was at the Grand Slam Coaches Conference in Melbourne Park. I ran in from Fee's place taking a different route each day - along the River Yarra, through Albert Park or through Faulkner Park - so many options and of course perfect weather for being outdoors! There seems to be a really active atmosphere around Melbourne - people exercising all over the place whether its running, walking, biking, playing games or doing aerobics in the park - it's great to see!



I went round to Fiona Flett's on Saturday night for a barbeque which was great fun, she's got a great apartment really near the beach at Port Melbourne. Sunday we went to the spin & abs class at her gym (perfect, I didn't want to admit I was missing RPM :) ) and I spent the rest of the day being a total tourist around the city. I walked round all the main areas in the centre of town, and out to Victoria Market.



Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday I spent at the Grand Slam which was magic - the atmosphere was fantastic, and even with a ground pass you can see all the big courts except for Rod Laver & Hisense so I got to watch masses of great matches. Judy kindly got me a ticket for Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday so I got to watch Andy, Serena Williams, and Hewitt vs Gonzales. On the outside courts I saw Santoro (total highlight - he's such a legend!), Ferrero, Monfils, Karlovic, Ferrer, and Haas, as well as supporting all the British girls! It was brilliant.