May2013_TRAVEL TOPIC

Tennis Anyone? 

By Craig Fyfe

Fifteen – Love:  Well this was special, here I am sitting in centre court at Wimbledon.  I wasn’t planning this but when my uncle mentioned that he was going and had a spare ticket. Well that was a no brainer.

I asked who was playing – not that I cared. But it was 4th round match between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka (who?). 

Thirty – Love:  Getting out to Wimbledon I thought was going to be a bit of a drama, but my uncle and I both had London Oyster Cards (similar to the Go Card) and we got the tube out to Southfields Station and it was so easy.  The tube was crowded but nothing really worse than anything else I had expected.  There is a Wimbledon station but it is a further walk to the tennis club.  We could have got the shuttle bus up, but it was a nice day and we walked up.  It only took about 10 minutes.  

Forty – Love:  After entering the tennis precinct we had to (yes we had to!) have strawberries and cream and settled in to watch the end of a match on the big screen.  The atmosphere was just amazing – a mix of expectation for the quality tennis, and the thrill of being in the most famous tennis complex in the world.  Everyone was in such a good mood.

Forty – fifteen:  After finishing the strawberries, we moved across “the common” to the main stadium and presented our tickets to the attendant (Could they have got his steward’s coat any whiter?).  We found our seats towards the top of the stadium, on the side – not a bad view.  The announcer advised that noise should be kept to a minimum i.e. please turn off mobile phones, and cameras should be set to single shots.

Forty – Thirty:  The players make their way onto the court, and place their gear in their seats and then proceed to warm up.  The crowd was building up and taking their seats, the atmosphere was charging – almost turning into a spiritual experience.  Then the umpire announced the start of the game.  

GAME! – for the record Andy Murray won.

Is Wimbledon on your “bucket list”?  We have packages out now so pop in and see Craig for details.

Don’t forget at Maverick Travel you can redeem your American Express membership reward points to pay for your trip:  10,000 = $100.  

We are the local team with the most experience and best deals – phone 3289 3700.