Martin & Anneliese's Olympic Diary

We didn't know quite what to expect of this - it's a modern dance theatre piece by a radical British group. However, we were blown away - it was outstanding, and anyone who has a chance to see it when it transfers back to London (Royal Festival Hall) should go.

It was great fun - all the performers are aged 10-19 years. At times there was a bit too much going on in different parts of the arena so it was difficult to watch, but the technique and flexibility on show was outstanding. The Chinese performers were especially impressive.  Think Cirque du Soleil performed by children.

Another "don't know what to expect" - Bang On A Can All-Stars are a New York ensemble who "combine the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble". It will be our first visit to the Opera House.

This was very weird! At one point, the leader of the Bang On A Can All-Stars remarked "That concludes the 'screaming in Chinese' portion of the program"!! At times it was quite breathtaking - some very talented musicians bringing together different rhythms and melodies. At others it sounded like a bunch of five year olds let loose in a musical instrument shop!

Not something we'd go and see every week, but certainly an eye-opening experience. And it was great fun to be in the Opera House. Not many theatre bars could have a view as good as that one!

Martin walked across the Harbour Bridge, soaking up the atmosphere. Here are some photos he took from the Bridge looking across the harbour.

Anneliese worked late and had a few drinks and nibbles with the boss, his family and a few of his friends.  The Torch Relay than came right past the front door of our building and we got a wonderful close up view of the torch.  The Olympic 'bug' finally caught Anneliese and she began to get very excited about the coming weeks.

And a very good Opening Ceremony it was. Typically Australian, although we did have to ask some of our Australian friends to explain some of the stranger bits to us (remember the lawnmowers??!!). 

It culminated with the lighting of the cauldron, a point of great debate in Sydney for weeks (i.e. who was going to do it). In the end I think they made a good choice - Cathy Freeman (400m runner and, importantly, of Aboriginal descent) lit a circle of fire in a pool of water, which then rose up around her. Our hearts were in our mouths when the disc quite obviously got stuck, but eventually it trundled up the slope to the tower at the top of the stadium.

The thing I'll remember most about this is how cold it was! The weather had been glorious since Thursday night, but inside the stadium it was so cold I had to buy an extra (long-sleeved) T-shirt!

The atmosphere was great, but unfortunately the results weren't. The Matildas could only draw 1-1 with Sweden, despite scoring a wonderful goal, and the Olyroos were beaten by Nigeria, which effectively put them out of the competition.

I didn't know a great deal about Equestrian events but luckily a colleague of Martin's did and he also had a ticket.  So we went along together with picnic & sunscreen in hand and enjoyed a glorious sunny day.  We didn't see anyone fall in the water but there were certainly a few close calls.  I also finally realised quite how big a challenge it is - the jumps looked huge! Although I didn't get to see as much as I would have on the TV I really enjoyed the day and am glad I have experienced a Cross-Country event first hand.

Martin at Hockey @ Homebush. Women's preliminaries - Great Britain vs. Argentina, China vs. New Zealand.

Obviously a lot of people had chosen this event as one to go to so they could say they'd been to something at the Olympics! A lot of people who didn't understand fencing. Since I'd fenced at school, I did at least know the rules.

All the neutrals in the crowd were cheering for anybody except the French, which was good to see! Some pretty exciting competition too.

The one thing that sticks in my mind is that the male sabre fencers have been watching too much cricket - there appeals to the refereee for points would make a fast bowler proud!

Afterwards I stuck around to watch the medal ceremonies and I was glad I did - it's an important part of the whole Olympic thing.

This was an evening session, and our first visit to Stadium Australia. Luckily we were under cover, because the weather chose tonight to finally break. Torrential rain drenched the athletes and the poor spectators in the open ends.

We got to see some great athletes - Cathy Freeman in the women's 400m, Michael Johnson in the men's 400m, Colin Jackson in the hurdles and (most importantly) Denise Lewis winning a gold medal in the heptathlon for Great Britain.

We took some pictures around the stadium and you can see those here.

All I really know about Showjumping is the aim is to get round without knocking any jumps down & within the time limit.  Overhearing more knowlegable spectators I gather it was a tight course & time limit so quite a challenge for the competitors.  The weather wasn't brilliant with some drizzly rain but nothing that couldn't be put up with.  However it did cause traction problems for two horses who slipped and unseated their riders.  Unfortunately I timed my break for food rather badly and missed some of the competition whilst queuing for lunch and the mechandise tent!  Again, I'm really please I have experienced this event first hand as I have always loved to watch it on the TV.  GB didn't do that badly either!

Here are some photos of the showjumping arena and a few riders in action.

In evening, both at New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with Evelyn Glennie - Antarctica @ Sydney Opera House. A combination of film of Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole, combined with a performance of Vaughan Williams' Sinfonia Antarctica.

This was really interesting. The first half consisted of pieces featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with Evelyn Glennie on percussion. The energy and precision was incredible and breath-taking.

A fairly unspectacular session, but interesting nonetheless. One of the great experiences of the Olympics was the 100,000 strong crowd rising to their feet to acclaim the British walker as he arrived in the stadium to finish last, half an hour behind the rest.

We also saw the British men screw up a baton change in the 4x100m relay and get disqualified, as did the Aussie women in their relay. The USA won their 4x400m relay heat without appearing to break sweat!

While we were out at the Stadium we took some more photos.

Martin at Soccer @ Sydney Football Stadium. Men's bronze medal match.

The match was between Cameroon and Spain. All the neutrals (in a pretty full Stadium) were cheering for Cameroon! It was a match which had everything - Spain went ahead in the 2nd minute, then had a penalty saved before going 2-0 up by half-time. In the second half Cameroon came back to 2-2 before Spain had 2 players sent off. No golden goal was scored in extra time, so the match went to penalties, which Cameroon won, sparking scenes of jubilation. It was Cameroon' first ever Olympic medal.

We didn't have a big screen, so we caught bits of the ceremony on the radio. Then at 10.30pm (1/2 hr later than scheduled) the fireworks started. There was a sequence of fireworks going off at 500m intervals all the way from the Olympic Stadium at Homebush down to the Harbour Bridge. We couldn't see all the fireworks themselves, but we could see the sky lighting up as they got closer. Then as they reached the bridge an F1-11 jet fighter flew over with afterburners on full and the Bridge exploded with fireworks!

The display went on for about 20 minutes with some breathtaking effects, and culminated with even more fireworks going off on the bridge. On the news afterwards they said it was the largest firework display anywhere in the world ever, and we can believe it. It even topped the New Years Eve display with 40% more fireworks.

Afterwards we retired to a friend's flat for a party which went on pretty late. The following day we watched a repeat of the Closing Ceremony on the TV - it was really funny and very Australian. We had to laugh at the sight of Greg Norman emerging from a giant shark (Great White we presume!) and hitting golf balls into the crowd!