A long time ago in a city not so far away...

Lets go back in time about a week and catch up on this Blog a little:

Last Wednesday the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games were officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen at, funny enough, the Opening Ceremony. Anna and I had planned on staking a claim to a couple of pieces of turf on the bank of the Yarra River to enjoy the festivities and although we figured we wouldn't see a great deal we knew at least we could soak up the atmosphere -- be a part of it. The first item on our action plan for the day was to head on down to our respective side of the river at lunchtime to scout out potential locations.

At around 9:30am I got a phone call from Mum. She'd just found out she'd had been given two tickets to the actual OPENING CEREMONY! How cool was that! Mum is one of the thousands of people who have volunteered to help out during the Games. Her role as a volunteer has been that of Cast Support for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and for the last couple of months she has been working a 3-4 times a week at the numerous practises and rehearsals.

Having confirmed that Dad could not make the Ceremony I called Anna to tell her not to bother about trying to find a location. She asked if I'd already found one to which I replied: "How's the MCG grab you?" Much excitement followed. Unfortunately, at that point there was still a whole day of work ahead of us. My concentration for the rest of the day left a lot to be desired --- Especially once I realised that I would be at 'The G' with The Queen! OH! MY! GOD! (I hope Scott H. doesn't read this bit!) Not quite sure why that excited me so much. Weird...

The seats we had were terrific and they allowed us an unobstructed view of everything that was going on. Now, I'll be honest in saying that some of what was going on I didn't quite follow -- A duck? A tram with wings? However, I thought everything was fantastic! Being there I was able to appreciate it for what it was -- A spectacular performance by an incredibly hard-working cast which created an atmosphere of wonderment (or was that confusion? ;-), excitement and joy. Mum has been working so hard over the last two months and she hasn't even been involved in performing or organising so I can only imagine what the performers and behind-the-scenes people have gone through.

My absolute most favouriest part was the Ballerinas and Motorbikers, choreographed to Under the Milky Way by The Church. I was initially drawn to this part due to my long-time love of that particular song. However, what totally captivated me was despite the obvious visual contrast between the Ballerinas and Bikers they were both strikingly similar in their movement and grace. Believe me, seeing it live was awesome - Somehow Channel 9 managed to capture nothing of the magic of those few minutes...

... Actually, Channel 9 somehow managed to catch very little anything that evening and Ray 'We've been told this city is apparently called Melbourne' Martin was terrible. Surely there was a Melbournian who would have been more appropriate -- someone who would have shown pride and knowledge of their city. Anyway, moving on...

Another highlight would have to be the deafening roar that filled the MCG when the Australian athletes were finally announced! Chills, I tell you :)

The ceremony concluded with Delta Goodrum singing some song she'd written especially for the Games. Once the firework-y rollerbladers rolled into stadium all thoughts of Delta were forgotten as rollerblader after rollerblader dashed around with what looked like gigantic sparklers and Catherine wheels attached to their backs. This was all topped off with an equally impressive firework display from the Yarra River, the tops of city buildings and around the outside of MCG. Truly spectacular!

We were incredibly lucky Mum got given those tickets and I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else on that night. Thanks Mum!

I've had a few more Commonwealth Games experiences -- The Queen's Baton Relay, Rugby 7s, Weightlifting and Big colourful Fish -- but those stories will have to wait for another day.