Every summer we've been spending a week or so in Sydney to break up the summer, and have some fun with my brother Chrish. We always have a great time, but the last few summers we've been saying that we should go to Melbourne sometime instead and go to the Australian Open. We hadn't been before and it always looks like heaps of fun.
I booked cheap flights to Melbourne mid-year when there was a sale, and surprised Mum with it for Christmas, as I knew she has always wanted to go to the Open as well. We couldn't wait to go and were stressing out that it was going to be super hot while we are there, because whenever the Open is on, it always seems to be 40 degrees. We are used to that in Sydney, but that's always what we hate about Sydney at the same time - that it's just too hot to enjoy it sometimes.
We went to Melbourne last week for five days, and were pleasantly surprised that the weather was actually cool. We only really had one really nice day, and I actually wish it were a bit warmer but at least we could enjoy our tine there without dying from the heat.
Other than the tennis, the boys all had things they wanted to do in Melbourne. Kobe wanted to go to the Harry Potter stores, Jay wanted to go to Taco Bell as it has only just opened up four stores in Australia and he's always wanted to try it, and Harri wanted to shop and spend his hard earned money he earned at Maccas.
We knew about the Harry Potter store in Myer, but a friend who lives in Melbourne also suggested that that we should visit the Store of Requirement in Collingwood. We headed straight there on the afternoon that we arrived. I'm so glad we did as it was much cooler than the store in Myer. I haven't even read or watched any Harry Potter movies, but still appreciated how good it was.
Kobe loved all the different broomsticks.
Kobe was so excited to try their version of butterbeer or 'butterbrew' as they call it there for legal reasons :) He also loved playing Harry Potter trivia with one of the shop assistants.
We then went to the Harry Potter store in Myer.
We dragged Harri and Jay into getting photos with us. One of the workers would get us set up in different poses and would take pics for us on my phone. He was so enthusiastic and had everyone laughing.
Harri was really keen to go to Culture Kings as he always buys clothes from there online, but he was disappointed that he couldn't find anything he wanted there.
We always love going to Hosier Lane.
It was a bit of a tram ride out to the Taco Bell store, but it was fun to go and try it. I posted some pics on Instagram and I got lots of messages from Americans with different thoughts about Taco Bell. Some people were saying that it's terrible there, some people were saying it was a great, cheap feed and others were commenting that they would never have 'fries' with tacos there.
As a part of the menu they offered a meal deal which included your main Mexican item, chips and a drink, so I guess the menu is different in Australia. The store was really cool and it was obviously popular as it was very busy. We were surprised how cheap it was and really liked the food.
Harri was excited to try out the electronic 'juke box'.
The second day we were there we had day passes for the Australian Open. We had no clue what we were doing but quickly learnt that the AO app told us everything we needed to know. On the AO Insta we saw that you could pay $2 to get a ball that had been used in a match, so that was the first thing on Kobe's list to do.
We were there as soon as gates opened, and saw on the app that Serena Williams was training on the practise courts, so we raced down there to see if we could see her. When we got there, there was hardly anyone there to see her so we got front row seats. She has such a huge presence.
After that we had a good look around and had to take the opportunity to get pics at all the different photos spots.
We were excited to watch Caroline Wozniaki's last game ever as she lost her match and was retiring. The boys loved it whenever there was a review and would get into clapping before the result came up on the screen. Even Jay (who only really likes basketball) was getting into it.
They had a special presentation for Caroline after the match with a video of all the big tennis players saying something nice about her. She was very emotional and they played the song 'Sweet Caroline' and the whole crowd got into singing it.
A couple of years ago I met Jelena Dokic when we both spoke at an International Women's Day event together. We have kept in contact since and it was nice to be able to say a quick hi to her in between her commentating games and practising for her Women's Legends Doubles match. We watched her train and at the same time Harri ran over to another practise court and got to see Naomi Osaka train.
We were excited that we could also watch Novak Djokovic train. We waited for ages for him to come out and it was really hard to see him as there was a huge crowd there, but we got some good spots high up.
Despite being there when gates opened and leaving at 5.45 pm we ran out of time to do all the things we wanted to do. I was surprised at how fast the day went. Kobe was disappointed that we didn't get to do any of the kid's stuff that day, but I promised him we would come back so he could get to do all the things he wanted to do.
We had to leave then because I had bought tickets to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that night. Mum and I went to have dinner in China Town on the way and quickly realised it was Chinese New Year. There was a Chinese dragon going into all the shops dancing and they were letting off hundreds of firecrackers all over the streets. The boys were so close at one stage, that Jay got sore ears from the firecrackers!
We were tired after a long day at the tennis, so I wasn't really thinking much about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Because I bought the tickets as an afterthought, I got the cheapest ones I could, which were right at the back of the theatre in the restricted viewing section. As we handed the woman on the door our tickets, she said 'I think I can give you better seats than those' and went through a pile of tickets in her hand and found five seats up near the front and centre! We were so lucky, especially after I paid for the cheap seats.
The show was absolutely incredible and it would've been worth the trip to Melbourne just to go to that! The actors were so good and the sets, effects and costumes were awesome. It was one of the highlights of the whole trip and all the boys loved it as well. I knew that Jay and Kobe would like it as they like stage shows, but Harri not so much, but he really loved it too and was laughing throughout the whole show. We loved it at the end when they did the curtain call that streamers and confetti came out from the ceiling.
My brother Eden talked to me a week ago about going to the Open and said he looked into going, but it was impossible to get accommodation as it was so busy. I told him he was welcome to come and stay with us, as our Airbnb had a sofa bed which no one was using, so we were so happy when he messaged me to say that him and his son Hugh were going to come over for a couple of nights. They arrived while we were at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and watched the tennis on the big screen at Federation Square till the show finished.
The next morning Kobe and I showed them around the apartment complex and went for a quick swim with them, before the tennis.
We bought day passes again and the first thing we did was go and watch Ash Barty train.
We all then went to Melbourne Arena to watch the Mens Legends Doubles match. It was actually my favourite thing to watch the whole time we were at the tennis. They were absolutely hilarious - making jokes the whole time, doing trick shots, 'abusing' the chair umpire, pretending to yell at the ball kids and hitting the balls up in the air so high and catching them in their pockets. It was so fun.
That night Nick Kygrios was playing in Melbourne Arena which you only need a day pass for. Eden, Hugh and Harri were really keen to watch him play, but knew they would have to sit there most of the day to make sure they got a seat for the game. Mum decided she also wanted to watch him, so they all decided to sit in the arena for the rest of the day, to ensure they could watch his game.
Once you have a seat you can get a pass out for half an hour at a time, so they decided they'd watch the other two games before his game and take turns having breaks and saving seats before his match. There was no way that I am that committed to get a seat, and I just get so restless after sitting for long periods, so I told Kobe that we would go and do some fun stuff instead.
At first he was upset as he also wanted to watch the Kygrios game, but I knew there was no way that he would cope sitting there for 6-7 hours, especially as the first hour was in the sun. Jay didn't want to sit all day either, so the three of us went and did some of the kid's stuff that Kobe didn't get to do the day before.
The first thing we did was line up for the Mastercard Escape Room. We were going to do it the day before, and they told us the wait was an hour and a half to get in. This time the wait was only 45 minutes which wasn't too bad, and it was totally worth it as each player got a lucky dip at the end for some amazing prizes. The escape room itself was really cool. It had three challenges which you had to complete in under 6 minutes.
We completed it in under six minutes, but weren't very good at it. I think it took us a while to actually figure out what was going on and how to actually work the technology. We had lots of fun though.
When you came out there was a vending machine with lots of different envelopes in them. You could choose any number and won the prize in that envelope. I won a $25 gift voucher for Chemist Warehouse, Jay won a $25 2XU hat and Kobe won a $69 Country Road bag! We were all jealous of the Country Road bag. We worked out that we almost won enough prizes to cover the cost of our tickets to get into the Open!
On the AO Insta we also saw that Nick Kyrgios' family were selling bands for his foundation which were made out of tennis racquet strings, from racquets which had been restrung during the first and second round of the Open. The bands had two balls on them - one with Nick's logo and the other had the Yonex logo on it. We bought it from Nick's brother who said they were very nervous about the match that night. He was very friendly and Kobe was so excited to get a band.
When he met us we went to watch Jelena Dokic play in the Women's Legends Doubles match. It was exciting to see that she was playing against Martina Navratilova. The boys had no idea who she was, and I had to explain that she was one of the best tennis players in the world, back in her time.
We had tickets to the BBL cricket match at the MCG that night, so it was very handy as we just had to walk over the footbridge and were there.
Mum, Eden and Hugh were all very excited to finally be able to watch the Kygrios match after waiting all day. They came back to the apartment after midnight absolutely buzzing because he won. The next day was Australia Day (the day that Aaron passed away) and we were wanting a break from the tennis. I wanted to do something fun, and was really hoping for a day of nice weather so we could go for a swim at the beach.
We went to the National Gallery of Victoria first. It didn't really feel like Australia Day and it was so different to anything here as Melbourne is so multicultural, so there were lots of different culture groups performing and in their national dress.
The last time we went there there were so many awesome free exhibits that we all loved, but I knew that the boys wouldn't like the free ones that were there this time, so I paid for us to go into the KAWS exhibit, while Mum looked around the rest of the gallery (she loved what she saw and said she couldn't spent hours in there).
Jay and Harri both loved the KAWS exhibition, and Kobe walked around like he couldn't wait to get out of there :)
Mum and I went back to China Town for more delicious food...we probably should've been eating a meat pie instead for Australia Day ;)
We then caught the tram to St Kilda (which was really tricky because of the protests, as the trams couldn't run right in the city) hoping that it would be nice enough for a swim but it was way too cold and windy to even be tempted to go in the water.
We all said we preferred the one which turned out to be Pepsi Max. I'm sure Aaron was happy about that! We also got a free can of Pepsi Max for doing the challenge.
That night we went down to Docklands and got tea at some food trucks and were waiting for the Australia Day fireworks with lots of others, when a security guard informed us that the fireworks had been cancelled a while back because of the bushfires. We didn't mind as we had a yummy tea and got to listen to some live music.
The next day I woke up to four messages from different people and seeing the news on social media that Kobe Bryant had died. Everyone knew that Aaron was a big NBA fan and of course we have our own Kobe. I had suggested the name after hearing Kobe Bryant's name one day. Aaron wasn't a fan of Kobe Bryant and said no way at first, but then half an hour later he said he really liked the name and we stuck with it since then.
When Harri got out of bed I was surprised as to how upset he was about it. There were a few tears and he said that all the good people die young. He was really upset all day, but had moments throughout the day when he cheered up for a bit, but then it would hit him again.
I knew that the only thing we could do, was to try to have some fun. We went shopping first (we hadn't really done any shopping before then and I don't love shopping myself. I only ever go shopping if I really need something) and then went to the games arcade at the Crown Casino.
We spent way more money there than we probably should've, but I had planned on taking the boys there the whole time and knew that they would all love it. I even ended up buying my own game card (you tap them on the different games and it takes credit off your card and adds the tickets that you've won) as it looked like so much fun.
One day while we were at the tennis Jay said 'I love tennis!' which made me almost fall off my seat! He was really getting into all the games and was loving the atmosphere.
The is an ad that keeps coming on the TV that says 'you don't have to know tennis, to love the tennis' and once when I heard it I looked at Jay and we laughed and I said 'well that's true'.
We had such a fun trip and when we arrived back in Launceston Kobe said it was his favourite holiday we have been on.
Some random thoughts about Melbourne:
It's a very cool city.
It's so busy.
I love that it's so multicultural.
I love that everywhere you look you know that you're there for the tennis.
The crowds at the tennis are very different to the crowds at the cricket.
There's so many homeless people.
There's so many people with obvious mental illnesses.
It's easy to get around once you work out the trams.
There's so much to see and do.
There's so many great places to eat.
It has very cool street art.
There's so many great places to shop.
You can start to feel claustrophobic after a while because there's so many people.
It's a fun place to visit.
I'm so glad that we finally decided to go to Melbourne for the Australian Open and I'm sure we will go back. Time to start saving up for it again!
This was our trip using the 1 Second Everyday app.
