Ahead of the Games

ON your marks.. get set...go! That's the best advice I can give sports fans tempted to go to the Commonwealth Games in three years time.

Start saving your cash now as hosts Melbourne aim to make your journey to the other side of the world well worthwhile.

Manchester deservedly won plaudits for the way it staged last year's Games - and the Australian city is on track to make sure 2006 is another big hit.

Top class facilities are already in place to satisfy the sports-mad Aussie public - the famous Melbourne Cricket ground (currently under going a facelift), state-of-the art Colonial Stadium, Rod Laver Arena and Vodafone Arena are the jewels in the Victoria state city's crown.

If you enjoyed the Games in Manchester then you'll love them in Melbourne, a dynamic city steeped in culture and bathed in sunshine.

Australia's a place where politics comes a poor second best to sport on the nightly news bulletins with Prime Minister John Howard managing only a few soundbites while every word from cricket stars like Steve Waugh and tennis hero Lleyton Hewitt are treated with reverence.

Sport is taken seriously and Melbourne knows it has a tough act to follow after the spectacular success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics when sports-hungry Australians packed out just about every venue.

On our 14-mile drive from the airport to the centre of Melbourne our taxi driver, an ex-pat from Lancashire, was bursting with pride. As we eased down the freeway under an azure-blue sky and a scorching sun he was quick to extol the virtues of Melbourne over the rival city, Sydney.

"We've a better road system and a lot more culture here," he said, beaming. It was a boast we put to the test during our short stay.

As first-time visitors we reckoned the Melbourne Observation Deck was a good place to start with a geography lesson. Sited in the heart of the city, a 40-second lift ride whisked us 55 storeys up the tallest building in town, Melbourne's Rialto Towers. It provided spectacular 360 degree views of the city through which the Yarra River lazily meanders from Port Phillip Bay five kilometres away.

The biggest hive of activity below centred on the Docklands area which is undergoing a massive facelift to provide waterfront and entertainment facilities in abundance ahead of the Games.

Back on ground level, the free city circle tram which skirts round the city centre - laid out in a grid about a mile long and half a mile wide - is another good way to get orientated.

Inside what is known as the Golden Mile are Melbourne's commercial district and extensive shopping malls, many of which are connected by walkways over the main streets.

Hugging the fringe of the centre is the vibrant Federation Square next to Flinders Street Railway Station. A bold, controversial structure, designed by London-based architects, its like a massive geometric military camouflage bunker, all odd shapes and angles with an airy spacious glass atrium at its hub.

Deep in its bowels is a mine of information - Melbourne's magnificent tourism information centre, all touch-screen wizardry and subdued lighting.

Federation Square's main draws are the Ian Potter Centre housing the National Gallery's collection of Australian art, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image with cinemas, restaurants and designer shops - including an ice cream parlour which boasts chocolate and chilli among its astonishing diverse list of flavours.

Just a few minutes walk away are parks and gardens and, just over the St Kilda Road bridge, the core of Melbourne's cultural life - Southbank. The area houses a huge arts and leisure precinct, including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Victorian Arts Centre, the Melbourne Concert Hall, Performing Arts Museum and the Theatres Building which is topped by a spire which is lit up at night. Aussie culture really does offer a bit more than Kylie Minogue and Dame Edna Everage.

Southbank is a great place to people watch, particularly at lunchtime as workers pour out of their offices for a spot of power-walking, roller-blading or to snatch lunch at one of the city's largest food halls.

The Southbank area offers the best views of the city skyline by night. Take an evening riverside stroll towards the remarkable Crown Entertainment Complex which is home to a luxury hotel, casino, designer stores, tiers of up-market restaurants and bars - its all shiny brass, twinkling lights and broad sweeping stairways and was worth a visit to see the son et lumiere show on the ceiling.

But life was not this extravagant in Melbourne a little over a century ago.

A trip to the gruesome Old Melbourne Gaol is a graphic reminder of that. Built in 1841 it housed most of Victoria's notorious criminals and more than 100 people were hanged there - by volunteer inmates - including the outlaw Ned Kelly.

Death masks of most infamous inmates were taken to enable scientists to study the victim's brain to gain a greater understanding of the reasons they turned to crime. But you did not have to be a master criminal or serial killer to end up in one of the cells.

In Victorian times, being poor was simply enough to get you banged up.

What is clear from the gaol is that Melbourne was an early dumping ground of lowlife from numerous countries - British and Irish convicts, Chinese criminals, fearsome Aborigines and Indian chancers who came in search of gold.

Today, Melbourne has developed into a wonderful modern multi-cultural blend of peoples - the sort of place 'Cool Britannia' strives to be.

But while London has been left with the wasted legacy of the Dome, Melbourne seems to know how to put on a contemporary show that will last the course.

Take, for example, the innovative open-plan Melbourne Museum, a few minutes walk from the gaol. Light and spacious, it includes an Aboriginal centre, living forest, a gallery of Australian life and plenty of hands-on educational interaction activities in the natural history and science sections.

It can take the best part of a day to reach Melbourne from Britain but for those with a thirst for sport, culture and a sense of adventure it is a city already firmly on the global map - well ahead of 2006.

Updated: 15:47 Friday, March 21, 2003