From January 2001 until May 2002 we were living in  Melbourne, Australia. I was working for IBM on a project called MICA at Telstra. It is the system that runs and maintains all the customer records and billing for Mobiles in the largest Telecoms company in Australia. I was Manager of Architecture and Design on the project. Our surroundings in Melbourne were rather pleasant as you can see from the pictures ! We lived in a 2 bed apartment in Southbank, just south of the Melbourne CBD. It was just a 5 minute tram ride into the city (and therefore to work) and close to many local attractions.   A 15 minute walk to the MCG, 2 minutes to the Royal Botanic Gardens, 15 minutes to the Casino, 5 minutes to Southbank with it's great restaurants and 15 minutes to the Albert Park Sports Centre, Driving Range etc. Albert Park, shown here, is where the Australian Grand Prix takes place, and where we played hockey for Powerhouse St Kilda Hockey Club. The path around it makes a pleasant 5km run, but you can't take shortcuts.  Not too far from the beaches, shown here is Brighton Beach, with its much photographed beach huts. These beaches are within Port Phillip bay and therefore don't get the surf waves that you want for a proper beach. They do however provide plenty of room for volleyball and other sandy fun. This picture shows the respective buildings where we lived (bottom arrow) and where I worked (top arrow). In the foreground is the Shrine of Remembrance and on the right of that are the Royal Botanic Gardens, another favourite running track.  These remaining pictures are shots around our apartment complex which had great facilities for keeping Sue busy during the long summer days ! As you can see there is a pleasant outdoor swimming pool, gym, golf net, tennis court, sauna etc, if you fancy a holiday though, you're too late as we've moved on !!! Look what you missed ! The lounge, suitably fitted out with large TV, surround sound, and leather recliners provided the perfect place to relax and take in a movie after a long hard day at the office !