Sporting Oz

We went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the premiers sporting venue in Australia.  Sport has been played here since 1863.  The much modernized facility now holds about 80 thousand spectators.  There are statues of notable Australian sports heroes around the ground.  I believe this one is of Shane Warne, an alltime great spin bowler.  We went to the Australian museum of Sport inside the MCG.  Among the many fine exhibits was a virtual reality of Warnie narrating highlights of his career...very cool!  Artifacts included Cadel Evans' Tour de France winning bicycle; Cathy Freeman's chic track suit from the 2000 Sydney Olympics; and Sir Donald Bradman's baggy green cap that he wore during test matches.  All good.

The MCG.  We ate lunch at a nice café on the grounds, overlooking the cricket pitch.  They were preparing it for the Sheffield Shield matches.

This is the house where Captain Cook grew up.  It was dismantled, shipped to Melbourne, and reassembled brick by brick here in 1932.

A fine old Melbourne Hotel.  The Windsor, I believe.

The MCG from a bridge over the River Yarra.

Downtown Melbourne.

Rod Laver, in front of his arena.  This is the main venue of the Australian Open, and Roger Federer won his 20th Grand Slam title here three weeks ago.  Meanwhile, the Rocket, going on 80, is still going strong and attends the majors.