Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games

[nowandagain]

Is anyone else looking forward to the 2006 Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne, Australia [au]?

The opening ceremony is tonight (Melbourne time) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground...I can't wait!!! 10 days of celebrations in the city of Melbourne!!!

I was lucky enough to see the Queen's Baton Relay, not once but twice! I saw it yesterday because I was in the right place at the right time (I was actually going home at the time and didn't realise when I got off the tram to go to the train station that the relay was going to be there in a few moments, so I hung around.) Today I saw it because it went by right near my house (I live just off the main road where it was going.) Here are a few pictures of the event earlier today:



Good luck to all the nations competing in the next 10 or so days!

nowandagain [rockon]

[TheCollector]

Hi nowandagain

It is fab I have the opening ceremony on TV right now (it is 11am Wednesday UK time).

Really weird torch/baton thing isn't it? Kind of got lights that go up and down inside it The Queen is looking very tiny as usual Better stop otherwise I could be off to the tower!!!!

Delta Goodrem just sang the "games" song she wrote with Brian McFadden, with a cool fireworks display. Great opening ceremony Melbourne {thumb2}

Likewise, good luck to all nations of the commonwealth

Ian

More info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/commonw ... 805592.stm
You can actually watch it from there!

[nowandagain]

It was a great ceremony wasn't it? The ceremony just finished about 15 minutes ago (it's about 10:45pm right now).

The baton is different to other batons we've seen previously. The Queen actually put her message in the torch and when it was put on the stand, her message came up on the screen nearby. Talk about technology today!

The fireworks were great . Since the MCG is so close to the city (within a few kilometers,) the firework display was able to be spread over such a large area.

Best of luck to all the teams competing in the Commonwealth Games!

nowandagain [rockon]

[TheCollector]

Yes, that message thing was clever wasn't it?

The fireworks were really good, they even had them on the roofs of the tower blocks and other buildings didn't they? It looked cool from an aerial view.

Well, it is just approaching midday here, so I am guessing you must be 11 hours ahead of us in the UK.

I'm just looking forward to the actual games starting now

Good night!

Ian

[nowandagain]

Beautiful fireworks .

The fireworks were at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (where the opening ceremony was,) on the Yarra River (the river that passes through the city) and on top of the buildings in the city. It was really well co-ordinated and looked great! A lot of the attractions are close to the Melbourne city area - for example the Formula 1 Grand Prix (which will be held at the end of this month) is also a short distance out of the city.

I also am looking forward to seeing the athletes in action tomorrow and for the next 10 or so days.

We are about 11 hours ahead of where you are Ian, so it's probably a good time for me to log off now. I've got to get up at 5:30am tomorrow morning :x.

nowandagain [rockon]