With Wimbledon the talk of the town in the tennis world at the moment, and the rain staying away from Melbourne this afternoon, I thought I’d take a walk down to Rod Laver Arena to get into the spirit of tennis and to be honest, try and make me remember summer!!!

Upon arrival at Olympic Park I was surprised at the amount of work that’s already going on in preparation for Australian Open 2012. Construction workers everywhere, bobcats, hardhats, all sorts. It shouldn’t be a shock really though should it? Australia, and Melbourne in particular is renowned for hosting the best sporting events in the world, and Australian Open 2012 will be no different. The fact that it’s the players favourite is no surprise either and I think it has as much to with what’s on offer OFF court as it does at Rod Laver Arena itself.

Melbourne…what can you say? For starters you will find some of the best restaurants in Australia offering cuisine from every corner of the globe complemented by the finest wines on the planet. A few of my personal favourites include Pearl, Taxi Dining Room, Mr Wolf, Jims Greek Tavern (regular haunt of Marcos Baghdatis) and Bottega. Being summer however, you simply cannot go past the Stokehouse in the beachside suburb of St Kilda. With a casual chic ‘Beach Bar & Grill’ downstairs for the best summer cocktails and pizzas in town and the a la carte fine dining upstairs you won’t find better. Being St Kilda beach, it’s also one of the great ‘people-watching’ locations in Melbourne and all these elements combine to deliver you a funky, classy, relaxed experience suited to all tastes.

But restaurants are only the start. Fine fashion and the arts can be found down any number of Melbourne’s famous laneways along with jazz bars, cosy cafes, beautiful gardens and some incredible architecture. I’ll keep you posted with some cool options for each category moving forward, maybe I’ll even stumble on a new gem in my travels.

As I was daydreaming all this (and completely forgetting my lunch hour was up LONG ago!) I was brought back to reality by the news that Lleyton may be pulling out of Wimbledon. Is this it for the little South Aussie champ? Is there any chance that Lley Lley, Bernard, Sammy, Casey or Anastasia  can actually penetrate the second week of our own Grand Slam? It’s been over 30 years since an Aussie won a singles crown here and I think that needs to change…fast!

So it was a bittersweet afternoon. I was relieved however that I have my Australian Open 2012 tickets sorted already and suggest you all do the same. No, I cannot afford the finals, but the middle weekend is a cracker and I love the buzz with all courts running full cards. If you’re coming from interstate, let me know and I’ll use all my Sportsnet Holidays resources to provide you with not only an Australian Open 2012 experience, but a full on, all action Melbourne experience you won’t ever forget!