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We have survived an Australian heatwave!!!!
It got bloody hot! We had four consecutive days of 40+ degrees celsius, the hottest it got in the city was 43.9 and believe me when I say it felt like we were going to spontaneously set into flames. The hot wind stings your eyes and burns your nostrils when you breathe, there was no respite from it even in the shade, the best place to be was in an air conditioned building but of course that then felt like we were 'wasting' the weather (that must be our British mentality kicking in - "oh look there's the sun we must stip off and spend all day in it because we don't know when it'll be back!") so we didn't let it stop us getting and and about when we weren't working, even if it did mean having a trillion showers over the week! Anyway, we had absolutely nothing to moan about really as there were people out in the country facing the very grim reality of bush fires causing them to lose their homes, livelyhood and in some very sad cases their lives.
On a happier note here's our weekly roundup:
Williamstown
A few kilometres away from the city but it feels alot further than that as it is much more peaceful and hardly any hustle and bustle - except in the gelato where sharp elbows come in handy!! It was a beautiful sunny day when we went to Williamstown, as it was before the heatwave began, so there were alot of old folk and families lulling around on the harbour front and on the parks so it had a nice chilled atmosphere to it.
We had a walk along Gem Pier and took in the views of the harbour and the city skyline on the other side of the bay. We also had a look inside H.M.A.S Castlemaine (1942) which was one of the sixty Australian minesweepers built during WW2, they've turned it into a museaum now so we got to see all sorts of memorabilia but we enjoyed playing with the big guns the most!
After that we went for fish and chips, which for the record has nothing on English seaside fish and chips, we followed that up with gelato and a little sunbathe in the park. When we were feeling suitably rested we went for a lovely scenic coastal walk, along Phillip Bay, back to the train station.
AAMI Park
On Tuesday in the middle of the heatwave we went to AAMI Park to watch a soccer (football to us Brits) game. Melbourne Victory versus Western Sydney Wanderers were the teams so we were of course gunning for Melbourne Victory.
The stadium was great; it was buillt for the alternate ball games so the likes of football, rugby union and rugby league which means the staduim is tiny compared to the 'round' stadiums like the MCG but this also means you are much closer to the action. Also, AAMI Park is pretty steep so even though we were on the top tier it still felt like we were right on top of the pitch. There are also great views of the city and the MCG from where we were sitting, unforetunately, for us we were on the side facing the sun so were quite literally boiling alive.
The crowd didn't stop singing all the way through so it was a great atmosphere and we even joined in for a few of the chants. What really amused me was the bench was made up of those white plastic garden chairs that everyone had in the 90's, there is nowhere near as much 'pampering' of the players as there is in the English premiership.
The first half was a little boring as there were no goals but the second half was much more entertaining with four goals; three to Melbourne and one for Sydney so we left happy.
Queen Victoria Night Market
On Wednesday we went along to the night market with Steve and Maria. The market has a great atmosphere to it, the stalls are full of homemade crafts and vintage finds. There's live music and there are loads and loads of food vendors. It took us a long time to choose what we wanted to eat but in the end we went for paella which we followed up with churros (Spanish doughnuts) yummy!
Australian Open Tennis
On Saturday we were planning on getting an after 5pm grounds pass for the tennis but when we went to book the tickets they were all sold out so we had a look at the schedule and decided we'd splash out on an evening ticket for the Rod Laver Arena instead and I'm so glad we did because we had an amazing time. With the arena ticket we also had access to the Margaret arena as well as the showgrounds so when the gates open at 5pm we had a wander around and got as many feebies as we could - flavoured water by getting our photo took in a Mount Franklin water advertising board, sweeties when we got dressed up as animals for the natural confectionary company. We also faced two virtual tennis serves from a professional player - I returned both and Davie returned one woo, but we won't talk about that incase he goes mardy teehee! After exploring we took in the end of a men's doubles match in the Margaret arena.
At 7pm we took our seats in the Rod Laver Arena and we were both wowed, we were expecting to be miles away but we actually had pretty good seats so our view was fantastic and we felt really close to the action. The first match was Meusburger V Azarenka and for the first five minutes we both got the giggles at Azarenka's screams - she doesn't half make a racket, excuse the pun! There were some good rallies and we were both enthralled doing the noddy head thing from side to side. In the end Azarenka won easily. Oh we also got to see Redfoo from LMFAO because he's Azarenka's boyfriend, at some point during the match someone shouted "Vicky you're sexy and you know it!" so that entertained the crowd for a while.
After the ladies it was time for the men's match - Nadal V Monfils and oh my you can tell the the difference in power and speed between the men and ladies - I almost strained my neck trying to keep up with the ball, especially Monfils he was just slogging them down the court. The pair of them had some great rallies going and although Nadal dominated Monfils won some good points. He's also a great showman so the crowd were really behind him. Talking of the crowd, a fair few people were very merry by this point so the atmosphere was very lively in between play. There was ALOT of noise when both players changed their shirts!!
After Nadal won and it was time to leave we were both pleased as punch that we'd bought the tickets, we definitely got our moneys worth, even if it does mean we'll be living on bread and water for the rest of the trip - only joking we're not that poor just yet!!
So our time in Melbourne is coming to an end, Davie finishes work on the 22nd and I finish on the 31st, so we're in the middle of planning our roadtrip up the East Coast. We'll both be very sad to say "Bye" to Melbourne as we've had some great times here but alas everything must come to an end I guess and at least we've got new adventures to look forward to!
Bye for now xxxxx
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