I leave Melbourne each year with something of a heavy heart. It is still my favourite race of the year, moreso now that Montreal is gone. It’s a terrific city with a nice cosmopolitan mix of people, cultures and foods. The people are always helpful and friendly, even if one or two of them suffer from concessionaire-itis and feel the need to uphold silly little rules that make no sense… But one can live with that… Today I wandered around for an hour or so and enjoyed the gentle rattling of the trams and the occasional clang of their warning bells. It was a warm and sunny afternoon and the school kids were heading home in their uniforms. You don’t see much of that these days in Europe. Society out here is much more relaxed and safe. There are plenty of parks, beaches and much more… and the people seem much healthier thanks to their outdoor lifestyles.
Australians who whinge about life (and yes, it is not just the Poms that whinge) need to get out and see the world so they can appreciate just how good they have things…
Im an Aussie and you just made me miss my gorgeous country so much!
However Fantastic race, really thrilling right till the end. Safety car stayed out a bit long but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the first race of the season and cant wait for Malaysia!
Hi Joe
Glad to hear your sentiments about Australia, I couldn’t agree more.
I grew up in Liverpool, handy for Aintree and Oulton Park. I lived in London for quite a long time and then spent a few years in San Francisco. Come the time to finish up in the US my wife and I, she’s a Kiwi, decided to keep going west and we moved to Sydney.
The day I arrived in Australia it was a bit like coming home whereas in San Francisco I was always a foreigner! or at least I felt like one. We even have three day race weekends here with lots of track time. Google FOSC to see the upcoming Bathurst meeting.
Would I move back? Never.
You could do most of your job from here Joe….think about it.
Cheers Leslie.
My fiance and I are planning to attend next year’s Australian Grand Prix, thereby fulfilling two dreams; hers, to visit Australia, and mine, to attend an F1 race. Any advice for a couple of rookies?
By the way, I love the online magazine. I can’t believe the amount of information packed into an issue that comes out so quickly following the end of the race; and the photography! Amazing. Thanks.
Joe, thanks a bunch for the time you took to talk to sidepodcast.com – I really appreciated it. Your thoughts and comments are well received.
Dave.
G’day Joe,
Just a small error in your article. It’s the Pommy immigrants that we couldn’t keep out that do the wingeing. For example the bloke who fronts the ‘Save Albert Park’ mob, have you noticed his accent?
Also you neglected to mention that Aussies are the biggest and best stirrers in the world (and pit lane).
beers,
build
Phil re:Australian GP – the general admission tickets are pretty good, and can be had for reasonable money.
If you can convince your wife to go to 4 days of racing – I recommend the ‘four corners’ stand tickets. You get to see a different part of the track each day. Just make sure you pick it so your favourite stand is on raceday. The main straight is okay on Thurs./Fri. but I wouldn’t do it on raceday.
Hotels are cheaper the further away you go – but Melb. is massive and the public transport is awesome, so don’t worry about travel distance or time.
It hasn’t rained there for more than 10 years, so don’t worry about a coat.