Rallies, Reefs, and Red Rocks: My Epic Australian Journey
When I’m not in my sewing room, you can find me indulging in my other obsession- Tennis. From playing to watching, I am a huge fanatic. I love when I can combine my loves of tennis, sewing and travel. Australia has been on my bucket list and was the perfect setting for this. For the sewing, my intention was an entirely DIY vacation wardrobe. I didn’t quite reach that goal but I did serve a lot of DIY fashion. For a summary of the fabric shopping I did Down Under, check out my previous post. At the heart of this journey was the desire to move one step closer to completing my mission of making it to all 4 Grand Slams (the US Open is already checked off!!).
I managed to plan this two week trip to Australia in just one month and wanted to share what I learned along the way. This post will cover the AO and my time in Melbourne. Make sure you come back for the ventures to the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and Sydney.
The Australian Open
Outside of Rod Laver Arena in a DIY dress
I decided attend the first week to increase my chances of seeing all the players I wanted to see. I got my tickets directly from Ticketmaster Australia which was incredibly easy to navigate. A fun fact about purchasing from Ticketmaster Australia: they DO NOT allow a more than 10% markup for ticket resale. This is so much better than buying tickets for the U.S. Open, which is marred by all of the heavily marked up resale tickets that appear within 30 minutes of the tickets going on sale. Overall, the Australian Open tickets were less expensive. For instance, I got courtside second row seats for a night match at Rod Laver for arena for $297US. Comparable tickets Arthur Ashe for the US Open would have easily been in the thousands of dollars. I made the Rod Laver ticket purchase about a week before the draw came out but discovered that I could have waited until the draw came out because there were plenty of great seats available right up until a couple of days before the tournament started. Though I chose to sit courtside, Rod Laver’s size would have still allowed for great views from the upper level.
The weather in Melbourne has some serious mood swings but don’t be fooled- that sun can ROAST you. The time of day and where the sun is at that time will factor into the comfort of your seat. Ticketmaster did label seats that were exposed to the sun but this website went into much greater detail.
https://www.shadedseats.com/shaded-seats-rod-laver-arena/
Margaret Court Arena is Rod Laver’s smaller next door neighbor. Both have roofs so play continues rain or shine. Both of them require tickets to reserve a seat.
John Cain Arena also has a roof. There is a section that is reserved but you can also get in with a grounds pass. The caveat is that this arena fills up quickly. Despite multiple attempts, I was unable to see a match there.
The Kia Arena is an uncovered arena where anyone with a ticket can get a seat. It is a great venue, located close to multiple food options and where I had the opportunity to see Naomi Osaka. I also visited the outer courts and enjoyed seeing the matches there.
There were a myriad of food options. I was glad to not be relegated to eating junk food. I enjoyed everything I ate there.
Getting to Melbourne Park is really easy. I stayed at the Le Meridien which was just about a 20-30 minute walk. I felt completely comfortable and safe walking back to the hotel alone from Melbourne Park when matches ended after midnight. Within a certain section of Melbourne, the tram service is free and the AO adds extra tram service to help patrons get to and from the tournament. Cabs are readily available to get there but I am not quite sure how it is for leaving.
One thing I missed: I heard about this after the fact but there is a “backstage” tour of Rod Laver arena that I would have loved to have done if I had known.
Melbourne
I really could have spent all day every day at the AO but I didn’t want to miss the rest of what Melbourne had to offer. Melbourne is a really walkable city that is set up on a grid. It is easy to navigate- so much so that I was able to get around and not get lost despite not having cell service for the 1st 3 days. Do you remember those paper things called maps we used to use back in the day? Yep, that’s what I used. They also have good public transporation.
There was so much to do in Melbourne and the surrounding areas that I it would have taken me at least a week to see everything I wanted to see. Here are some of the things I did get to:
Eating
Well, this was a no-brainer. I couldn’t miss out on the food. Melbourne has some great restaurants and there is a very heavy Asian influence even outside of the Chinatown area. One of my favorite stops was the Queen Victoria Night Market. It only occurs on Wednesdays from 5pm to 10 pm. It is a dizzying collection of booths with street food from all over the world. There is live music performances and also great specialty shopping.
Queen Victoria Market
Shopping
If you are into luxury shopping, Collins Street and Little Collins Street have ALLLL the luxury shops. This is where Hermes, Gucci, Christian Louboutin, etc, etc were located. I didn’t indulge but that doesn’t mean that you can’t. I also got some great fabrics.
Other Sites and Excursions
The Parliament of Queen Victoria was less than a block from my hotel so I made it a point to make sure I did the tour. The architecture of the building is phenomenal and the tour guides were informative. I enjoyed learning about how the parliamentarian system works and how their political parties work. . .ahem. . .collaboratively for the good of the Australian citizens. These public tours are free and are first come, first served. The run from 9am to 4 pm Monday to Friday only when Parliament is not in session. These tours are popular so make sure you get in line way ahead of time to secure a spot.
Royal Botanical Garden
This is a site where words just won’t do it justice. Here are the pics:
Phillips Island
One of the highlights of the trip was the excursion to Phillips Island. The Penguin Parade was definitely one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. The parade was the final destination of our packed whole day tour. The tour included a stop at Cape Woolamai where we watched surfers, a wine tasting and lunch at The Phillip Island Winery, breathtaking views of the Nobbies Centre and a visit with the adorable Koalas at the Conservation reserve. Our tour operator was Local Way Tours and I highly recommend them.
Things I really wanted to do but didn’t have the time to get to: Yarra River Tour, Healsville Sanctuary, Aboriginal Cultural Walk at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Whew!!! That was a lot. Here is a sneak peak of what is to come in the posts about Uluru, Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef!
