As the lift doors opened, I stood for a moment to shake off that dizzy feeling, having just shot upwards 55 floors. I was standing on the Melbourne Observation Deck, the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, looking out at the most amazing 360 degree views of the city.

Down below, I could see the regal looking Flinders Street Station and Federation Square, which was packed with people watching the tennis on huge outdoor screens. In the distance was the Formula 1 race track at Albert Park and out near the horizon, the beach at St Kilda. Looking through one of the telescopes, I could just about make out the tennis players at The Australian Open. This was Melbourne on a clear, summer´s day and the vista was spectacular.

My memories of Melbourne are of funky cafés, stylish boutiques, trams (which I found tricky to start with) and the heat. I have never experienced such extreme heat before, not even in the hot, humid tropics of Northern Australia!

I was fortunate enough to be staying with some friends, who had managed to get us ground passes to the Australian Open in the early stages of the competition. We all got up early and caught the train into the city and even in the early morning sunshine the heat was stifling. Having found ourselves seats half way through a match on an outdoor court, we were soon informed that all play had been cancelled due to the extreme heat. It really was sweltering!

The rest of the day was spent sitting on the floor inside the Rod Laver Arena, desperately trying to keep cool and spending a small fortune on bottles of very expensive water. The centre court matches were still being played, as the arena roof had been closed and the air conditioning pumped up, but despite our best efforts we couldn´t get in without tickets.

Just as we had decided to give up and head home, a match on centre court finished and the spectators came streaming out. We must have been looking pretty pathetic and forlorn at this point, as a group of people approached us and very kindly offered us their corporate tickets for the final match.

In an excited flurry, we found our seats right at the front of centre court and watched the match. The tennis was brilliant and the atmosphere buzzing, but perhaps best of all, it was blissfully cool and refreshing!