North Melbourne's high hopes - The Age

Snow business: Brad Scott and North players at their Utah training camp. Photo: kangaroos.com.au

SOMETIMES in AFL football you have to go that extra mile. It's what North Melbourne's players have been doing at their training camp in Utah this past fortnight. And it's what their coach Brad Scott has done, too. Literally.

Scott was there with the Kangaroos to kick things off upon their arrival in Deer Valley, Park City on a Friday night after 17-odd hours in the air. The next Monday evening, with the national draft looming, he headed home again.

The return flight arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday. The next morning, Scott caught a flight to the Gold Coast for the draft that evening, and first thing Friday drove to Brisbane to catch a plane to head back to Salt Lake City, via Los Angeles. Needless to say, he's now the full bottle on the latest movie releases.

“No big deal. It's just a schedule,” says the North Melbourne coach, once again in Deer Valley, of his own version of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

“I was really strong on everyone being here on day one. I wanted our leaders to set the right example, and it would have been hypocritical of me to say I was going to wait for the draft, then come over. This camp is critical, but so is the draft, and I wanted to be there to support our recruiters as well.”

Scott is speaking a couple of hours before the half-dozen products of that draft mission – Taylor Garner, Ben Jacobs, Mason Wood, Mitchell Wilkins, Daniel Currie and Taylor Hine – arrive to join the rest of the group for the remainder of the annual gruelling three-week mission, now in its third year, and a selling point to them Scott was proud to use.

“One of the first things I did when I arrived at the club was to make a commitment to the players to come into an environment where we were genuinely going to provide them with the best opportunity to win and to provide the resources for that,” he says.

“I was concerned years ago that if a young 18-year-old listened to the draft and heard his name called out by North Melbourne, he'd be disappointed and wishing he went to a bigger Melbourne club. Whereas now, I think we provide them with great facilities and terrific resources to be the best they can be.

“Everyone who has played AFL footy remembers their first training session. It's a pretty daunting experience, but to be able to immerse themselves in this environment for two weeks, I think they'll come back from Utah feeling like they've been at the club six months.”

Soon after their arrival, while the rest of the group are preparing for another intense day of skills and running, the kids are out in the elements, setting out at 7am for a three-hour hike through deep snow alongside Scott and assistant coach Darren Crocker.

Utah has become like a second pre-season home for the Roos, one in which they have formed tremendous working relationships with the US ski team and other elite athletes who use the high-altitude settings as a training base.

Scott concedes that in the AFL, high-altitude training camps in the US have become almost a cliche.

This off-season, Essendon and St Kilda have done theirs in Colorado, Carlton and Gold Coast were in Arizona, while Collingwood, after years training in Arizona, is about to become the second AFL club to make Utah a training base after the Roos.

“I suppose we could be flattered by that,” he chuckles.

“I can't speak for other clubs, but we come here for very specific reasons, and all I can say is that I've had experience at different clubs, and what we're doing here is very different to what I've experienced in the past.

“Our focus has evolved a little bit. Originally, because we had such a young group, the camp was designed around educating them about how we wanted them to live their lives, and because being so young, aerobically we weren't as good as we needed to be. We wanted to fix that, and I think we've made some pretty significant improvements. But while still a key focus for us, now it's more of a pure football camp rather than just an aerobic base building camp.”

The Roos have had the footballs out a lot more this time, four days out of five, leading to an obvious question, couldn't they do the same thing at home? Scott is prepared for that one before it arrives, pointing out for good measure that this trip is funded largely by players and staff, costing the club itself “next to nothing”. “And we're here for the right reasons. If it was just about bonding, we'd be down at Torquay or somewhere.

“We're probably working at a higher intensity this time than we in have previous camps. A lot of our physiological testing has shown that the improvements we've made, the altitude has had a significant effect on. So, you're looking to pick up your program, take it over here and do what we'd be doing in a football sense at high altitude. The guys are tolerating a higher workload at even higher altitude than they've been at in the past, so the improvements are really clear to us.”

Scott notes a resolve among the group to continue to build on the form last season, which took North Melbourne into its first finals series for four years, apparent in the efforts of a 30-year-old, 12-season veteran in Drew Petrie, and other leaders like Andrew Swallow and Jack Ziebell.

“You'd think that this time of year someone like Drew is probably not looking forward to it and just thinking: 'Mentally, how can I get through another pre-season', but he and the others are really driving what we're doing here, not just getting through but really driving the direction in which we want to head, and the other guys are really following that lead.”

There's been enough time, too, for the odd social activity, many of the players having a few days ago taken in an NBA game between Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets.

Mostly, though, it's been work and more work. Enough rest as is possible when you're trying to build fitness levels good enough to cope with the increasing demands of an AFL season. And the inevitable, for this time of year, lingering feeling of fatigue.

“You can take all the scientific markers which gauge players' recovery,” says Scott, “but as one of our great contacts here said, If you really want to know how your players are feeling, by far the best test you can do is to ask them'. So I'm doing that all the time. Most of the time they're a bit sore or a bit tired, but the most common response I get is: 'It's pre-season, I'm feeling how I'm supposed to feel'.”

Scott says North isn't kidding itself that having made finals, it now sits indisputably among the best teams in the AFL.

“We proved in the second half of the year that we can play some good footy, we beat Collingwood, Adelaide and some good sides, but I still think there's a lot of work to do before we talk about ourselves being in the top half of the competition.” But the Roos intend to do everything humanly possible to be able to say that sooner than later.

“If you speak to any club this time of year, they'll say they're training really hard and fitter than they've ever been,” Scott says. “But the game continues to evolve, and the changes to the rules are going to make it even more demanding on players, so in terms of improving their ability to run, it's a never-ending battle.”

One, though, that North Melbourne, now an old pro when it comes to a concept only a few years ago a complete novelty in the AFL, is giving itself every chance of coming closer to winning.

school arsonists strike again - The Australian

INVESTIGATIONS are under way into repeated arson attacks on an abandoned primary school in Melbourne's north.

A blaze which destroyed four classrooms and caused at least $200,000 damage on Thursday night was the latest in a string of fires at the former Ruthven Primary School site at Reservoir.

It took 27 firefighters half-an-hour to bring the blaze under control.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said there had been six deliberately-lit fires at the school since September.

"Police have serious concerns about the fires as the school contains asbestos material and the building is no longer structurally sound," she said.

Anyone who has witnessed suspicious behaviour in the area is being urged to contact police.

The William Ruthven Primary School has since moved to another address at Merrilands Road.

Smoke billows from Melbourne rubbish fire - The Australian

RESIDENTS in Melbourne's east are being warned to stay indoors as smoke billows from a large out-of-control fire burning at a local recycling centre.

The 20-metre high blaze is burning on top of a large pile of rubbish, including car bodies and metal scraps, at the Eastern Recycling Centre on Palmerston Road West at Ringwood.

Emergency services were called to the scene by concerned motorists who saw the smoke while travelling along the EastLink motorway before 7am (AEDT) on Saturday.

A Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (MFB) spokeswoman said the fire was large, stretching about 40 metres, and was still out of control at 9.30am.

Another MFB spokesman Trevor Woodward said there were 10 trucks and 50 firefighters battling the blaze.

It was too early to determine whether the fire was suspicious, he said.

"There's a huge pile of metal waste which has come from crunched up car parts," said Mr Woodward.

"There's a deep-seated fire in this pile."

Mr Woodward said the main concern was the amount of smoke billowing over the EastLink and surrounding homes, though the smoke is not believed to be toxic.

He said a car had rolled over on the EastLink near the scene of the fire and there were concerns the driver involved had been distracted by the smoke.

"There's every chance it was either someone slowing down to look at the smoke or the fire or maybe because the smoke (distracted the driver)," he said.

An ambulance spokesman said paramedics were assessing the driver at the scene of the crash and had crews on standby at the fire should anyone experience breathing difficulties.

Residents in the areas of Mitcham, Nunawading, Ringwood East, Ringwood North, Vermont, Vermont South, Wantirna, Ringwood and Heathmont are being warned to stay inside, close doors and windows and switch off their heating and cooling systems.

Smoke billows from Melbourne rubbish fire - Herald Sun

RESIDENTS in Melbourne's east are being warned to stay indoors as smoke billows from a large out-of-control fire burning at a local recycling centre.

The 20-metre high blaze is burning on top of a large pile of rubbish, including car bodies and metal scraps, at the Eastern Recycling Centre on Palmerston Road West at Ringwood.

Emergency services were called to the scene by concerned motorists who saw the smoke while travelling along the EastLink motorway before 7am (AEDT) on Saturday.

A Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (MFB) spokeswoman said the fire was large, stretching about 40 metres, and was still out of control at 9.30am.

Another MFB spokesman Trevor Woodward said there were 10 trucks and 50 firefighters battling the blaze.

It was too early to determine whether the fire was suspicious, he said.

"There's a huge pile of metal waste which has come from crunched up car parts," said Mr Woodward.

"There's a deep-seated fire in this pile."

Mr Woodward said the main concern was the amount of smoke billowing over the EastLink and surrounding homes, though the smoke is not believed to be toxic.

He said a car had rolled over on the EastLink near the scene of the fire and there were concerns the driver involved had been distracted by the smoke.

"There's every chance it was either someone slowing down to look at the smoke or the fire or maybe because the smoke (distracted the driver)," he said.

An ambulance spokesman said paramedics were assessing the driver at the scene of the crash and had crews on standby at the fire should anyone experience breathing difficulties.

Residents in the areas of Mitcham, Nunawading, Ringwood East, Ringwood North, Vermont, Vermont South, Wantirna, Ringwood and Heathmont are being warned to stay inside, close doors and windows and switch off their heating and cooling systems.

The business of art is a moving affair - Sydney Morning Herald

Sotheby's Australia is moving. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

PROMINENT Sotheby's Australia chief executive Gary Singer is paying $4.2 million for what will eventually become the Melbourne headquarters of the fine-art auction house.

Mr Singer, a former deputy lord mayor of Melbourne, has purchased levels seven and eight of a distinctive 21-level strata office building at 41 Exhibition Street that is being developed by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and due for completion next year.

Sotheby's Australia will occupy 560 square metres of the building at the north-west corner of Flinders Lane near the landmark office towers 101 Collins Street and Collins Place.

The Eden Tower in Abbotsford.

In August, Sotheby's Australia made the surprise announcement it would quit its historic Armadale headquarters at 926-930 High Street once its lease ended in the second half of this year.

That 1400-square-metre building, part occupied by the auction house for about 20 years, itself went under the hammer four months ago but passed in. Agency Fitzroys is now asking $4.95 million.

Mr Singer's latest purchase completes the sales of the Exhibition Street strata-office project which was launched to investors about two years ago.

The Slater & Gordon site where Julia Gillard worked in the 1990s is changing hands. Photo: Ken Irwin

The building is designed with 21 strata offices each occupying a full floor of about 280 square metres.

It is being developed on a site the RAIA bought for $1.2 million in 1994 and which previously accommodated a low-rise office with a ground-level art gallery.

The RAIA will occupy the lower four levels of the building. Strata suites were marketed by Alexander Robertson's David Combes (see the next story for more on Combes) and ex-CBRE agent Sebastian Drapac.

Sotheby's Australia confirmed the purchase when contacted. Until the Exhibition Street space is ready for occupation next September, the company will lease the upper two levels of nearby Anzac House at 4-6 Collins Street from the Returned and Services League. Mr Singer was an unsuccessful candidate to become lord mayor this year.

Agency changeover

OWNERSHIP of commercial agency Alexander Robertson is set to change again.

Agent David Combes, a part-owner of the mid-tier agency since 2005, is quitting the business to work for a client, Drapac USA, and live in Los Angeles.

Combes, who started his property career as a graduate with CBRE in 2000 before moving to Jones Lang LaSalle, purchased a share of Alexander Robertson controlled by Sandy Robertson, who died suddenly almost seven years ago, age 43, while playing golf at a hospital fund-raiser. Combes leaves the country this week.

Looking for Eden

WITH permission recently granted to build Eden, an 11-level tower atop a four-level podium on a riverside block in Abbotsford, developers are now pressing council to ease restrictions preventing them from profitably redeveloping other pockets of the inner north-eastern suburb.

The Yarra City Council is reviewing a rezoning application that would see a 500-square-metre floor limit removed from two major sites in Mollison Street, Abbotsford, near Victoria Crescent, which runs along the Yarra River, also the suburb border to ritzy Kew.

The largest site, known as 32-68 Mollison Street, occupies almost all the northern half of the block east of Nicholson Street. Until this year, part of the double-storey warehouse on the site was occupied by Roving Enterprises, the production company of Rove McManus, who is now US-based.

A second, smaller site known as 61-69 William Street, but with frontage to Mollison Street, is also the subject of a rezoning. The assets are controlled by a Melbourne-based residential developer.

Both sites are near the former Denton Hat Mills factory which was redeveloped into apartments about four years ago. They are a short walk to the Victoria Street restaurant strip.

Not far away at 677 Victoria Street, in 2010, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal supported the Yarra City Council permitting a low-rise office on the banks of the Yarra River be replaced with a 586-unit residential project marketed as Eden.

Herzog property sale

DAVID and Ruvi Herzog, who ran the successful First Auto Wholesalers dealership established by their late father, Izzy Herzog, are selling a high-profile Port Melbourne commercial property developed in the 1990s.

The 65-67 Fennell Street asset abuts the West Gate Freeway and is within a 240-hectare precinct recently gazetted for high-density redevelopment as part of plans to rebuild Fishermans Bend as four residential-based villages.

The 4514-square-metre site, with future mixed-use redevelopment potential, is expected to fetch about $8.5 million. The family is also selling an adjoining 1555-square-metre lot at 69 Fennell Street for $1.3 million. In 2008, the Herzog family sold a Southbank development site to residential developers for about $23 million.

The family still owns a substantial property portfolio centred around Port Melbourne and South Melbourne. Vinci Carbone will auction the Fennell Street assets.

Healesville buyer

AUSTRALAND is understood to have found a buyer for its Healesville Walk Shopping Centre, about 50 kilometres east of the CBD.

The developer and fund manager listed the asset for sale via an expression of interest campaign that closed last month. It is understood a local private investor is negotiating to buy the asset for about $22 million.

At that sale price, and based on the shopping centre's potential annual rental return of $1.6 million, the asset will trade at a low yield of less than 7.5 per cent.

Australand paid almost $19.5 million for the asset in 2007, subsequently doing some refurbishments.

The 4971-square-metre shopping centre occupies a 1.3 hectare block with three street frontages.

Supermarket Coles is the anchor tenant, surrounded by 12 specialty shops and a kiosk. The centre includes 203 car park bays and has future redevelopment potential.

CBRE agents Mark Wizel and Justin Dowers and Savills' Dominic Long and Pat De Maria declined to comment on the campaign.

Wiping the slate clean

THE formal sale campaign for another $20 million-plus commercial asset also closed last month.

Sources expect a new buyer will be announced before the end of the year for 533 Little Lonsdale Street, a building owner-occupied in the 1990s by law firm Slater & Gordon - which has become a household name since its history with Prime Minister Julia Gillard became public recently.

Known as the Dominion building, the office was listed by asset management group Cyre Trilogy. Since being developed in 1991, the 15-level, 6608-square-metre office has been owned by wealthy identities including late billionaire Richard Pratt, who sold the building to S&G for $7.5 million in 1997.

S&G occupied the building with Mr Pratt's Visy Industries for a while but sold the asset in 2000 for $11.75 million. The law firm has since relocated to a larger Melbourne headquarters at 485 La Trobe Street.

Dominion was being marketed by agency Knight Frank with a potentially profitable planning scheme allowing the space to be subdivided into strata office suites that could be sold individually to small investors and owner-occupiers.

marcpallisco@gmail.com

Twitter: @marcpallisco

Hopes 'city loop' ferry service will make a splash in Melbourne vision - The Age

Hamish Turner at the wheel of refurbished riverboat Grower will run a city loop water-taxi service from Friday. Photo: Angela Wylie

CATCHING a boat to go shopping, get a drink, go out for dinner or even get to work could soon become a part of Melbourne life.

A new ''city loop'' ferry service that begins next Friday is only the first of three Melbourne water routes slated for the city.

The Baillieu government is spending more than $300,000 on a feasibility study for a ferry commuter service from Werribee South to Docklands, with possible stops at Point Cook, Altona and Williamstown. The study is due to be completed mid next year.

Lord mayor Robert Doyle will also push next week for a plan to have a free ferry service from Central Pier in Docklands to the ANZ building on the north bank of the Yarra River included in Melbourne City Council's four-year plan.

And next Friday a new ''city loop'' summer ferry service will begin from WTC Wharf on the north bank of the Yarra River below Spencer Street, connecting to South Wharf, Southgate and Federation Wharf in front of the popular Riverland Bar at Federation Square.

The city loop service is being provided by WTC Wharf and owned and operated by Hamish Turner from his beautifully restored riverboat Grower.

The city loop is the first of three planned routes. Photo: Angela Wylie

Grower, which dates back to 1924, will make Yarra loop trips every half an hour from 4pm to 7pm on Fridays and on weekends between noon and 6pm, with a single trip costing adults $5 and children $2.

The Yarra loop service follows the successful ''float to the footy service'', where boat rides to and from WTC Wharf to the MCG were offered for $10 during the football season.

Cr Doyle said it was time that Melbourne embraced water transport. The new council-funded ferry service could run from Docklands to Federation Wharf, he said.

''We would look at it as a continuous looping shuttle … I think the demand is there, simply because of the growing population of Docklands,'' he said.

Between 2006 and 2011 Docklands' estimated residential population increased by 48 per cent to 6216 people.

Cr Doyle said it was time to link some of Melbourne's increasing number of waterfront attractions on the north bank of the Yarra, in Docklands and at South Wharf.

''To get from one to another, you would not want to get back to Harbour Esplanade and try and drive it or walk to a tram … the obvious solution to link them all is by water transport,'' he said.

Gavin Boyd, chief operation officer of Asset 1 WTC, said while the new Yarra loop service would begin as a tourism service he hoped it would develop into a commuter service also.

He said if the government's plans for a ferry from Werribee to Docklands proved feasible, loop service could be extended to connect with the ferry service at Docklands and deliver commuters to the centre of the city.

Mr Boyd said there was no doubt the role of water transport in Melbourne would grow.

''You look at most of the major capital cities in the world and population growth and increased numbers of people working and living within the city … streets are getting very congested, public transport is getting very congested, water has to be an option,'' he said.

''We know that people like to take the water taxi because it is very easy, very simple,'' he said.

He said people also enjoyed the view of Melbourne from the water. ''A lot of times you don't get that aspect, seeing Melbourne from the water,'' he said.

Melbourne Victory beat Perth Glory 1-0 in A-League - Herald Sun

Melbourne Victory consolidate third place on the A-League ladder with a 1-0 victory over Perth Glory at AAMI Park.

Melbourne Victory players celebrate Marco Rojas's goal. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

If last week was a statement win, last night's was affirmation that Melbourne Victory is a serious contender this season.

Marco Rojas' sensational curling strike secured Victory its fifth win in seven weeks and within three points of league leaders Adelaide United.

But it was the manner in which Victory won that highlighted the extraordinary progress the side has made since its disastrous opening fortnight to the season.

The last time Victory missed Mark Milligan and Archie Thompson it got spanked by five in Brisbane.

Granted Rojas was also absent on that occasion but the Victory side looks unrecognizable from that evening at Suncorp Stadium in round 2.

Rojas, Gui Finkler, Adama Traore, Marcos Flores and Billy Celeski have made solid contributions this season but it was a few of the fringe boys who stood tall at AAMI Park with the Socceroos boys absent.

Returning after being dropped last week, Petar Franjic came out of his shell to produce a solid, physical presence at the back.

And Jonathan Bru had his best game in Victory colours - the hitherto pedestrian Mauritian showed some grunt in the all important role of deputising for Milligan, highlighted by his 21st minute yellow for planting his studs on McGarry.

Captain Adrian Leijer assumed greater organisational responsibility in Milligan's absence and he was vocal, physical and ensured Victory's defence kept a high line.

Glory had its chances to snatch at least a draw, also feeling the absence of Socceroos pair Scott Jamieson and Michael Thwaite, but all in all Victory was the superior side.

Named on the teamsheet, Liam Miller (hamstring) was a late withdrawal with former Melbourne Heart winger Adrian Zahra coming in.

With Miller and Jacob Burns (suspended) absent, Steve McGarry and Nick Ward were deployed as holding midfielders and the latter - a former Victory player - was busy.

He almost put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes but his header went narrowly wide after Nathan Coe was caught in no-man's land from McGarry's cross.

Perth tried to intimidate the young Victory side but the likes of Andrew Nabbout, Rojas and Franjic didn't shirk a challenge.

While most of Perth's threats came from set pieces in the opening stanza Victory began to unlock Glory*s defence with some deft combinations.

One of which saw Rojas, clearly buzzing with confidence, try an audacious lob over Danny Vukovic from well inside his area with the ball on the deck and the Glory keeper barely off his line - it graised the crossbar.

Nabbout and Rojas switched flanks after half time and it paid dividends, with the Kiwi scoring 13 minutes after the restart.

Glory then worked its way back into the contest, its best chances coming via crosses to Smeltz.

Leijer did well to put him off the first, when the Kiwi sharpshooter looked certain to head home.

The second came on 75 minutes when Smeltz headed Joshua Risdon's cross low forcing a brilliant reflex save from Nathan Coe.

And the Victory keeper ensured Glory didn't pinch a precious two points, blocking substitute Chris Harold's 90th minute strike.

Senior AFL writer for The Age - The Age

Snow business: Brad Scott and North players at their Utah training camp. Photo: Supplied

SOMETIMES in AFL football you have to go that extra mile. It's what North Melbourne's players have been doing at their training camp in Utah this past fortnight. And it's what their coach Brad Scott has done, too. Literally.

Scott was there with the Kangaroos to kick things off upon their arrival in Deer Valley, Park City on a Friday night after 17-odd hours in the air. The next Monday evening, with the national draft looming, he headed home again.

The return flight arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday. The next morning, Scott caught a flight to the Gold Coast for the draft that evening, and first thing Friday drove to Brisbane to catch a plane to head back to Salt Lake City, via Los Angeles. Needless to say, he's now the full bottle on the latest movie releases.

“No big deal. It's just a schedule,” says the North Melbourne coach, once again in Deer Valley, of his own version of Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

“I was really strong on everyone being here on day one. I wanted our leaders to set the right example, and it would have been hypocritical of me to say I was going to wait for the draft, then come over. This camp is critical, but so is the draft, and I wanted to be there to support our recruiters as well.”

Scott is speaking a couple of hours before the half-dozen products of that draft mission – Taylor Garner, Ben Jacobs, Mason Wood, Mitchell Wilkins, Daniel Currie and Taylor Hine – arrive to join the rest of the group for the remainder of the annual gruelling three-week mission, now in its third year, and a selling point to them Scott was proud to use.

“One of the first things I did when I arrived at the club was to make a commitment to the players to come into an environment where we were genuinely going to provide them with the best opportunity to win and to provide the resources for that,” he says.

“I was concerned years ago that if a young 18-year-old listened to the draft and heard his name called out by North Melbourne, he'd be disappointed and wishing he went to a bigger Melbourne club. Whereas now, I think we provide them with great facilities and terrific resources to be the best they can be.

“Everyone who has played AFL footy remembers their first training session. It's a pretty daunting experience, but to be able to immerse themselves in this environment for two weeks, I think they'll come back from Utah feeling like they've been at the club six months.”

Soon after their arrival, while the rest of the group are preparing for another intense day of skills and running, the kids are out in the elements, setting out at 7am for a three-hour hike through deep snow alongside Scott and assistant coach Darren Crocker.

Utah has become like a second pre-season home for the Roos, one in which they have formed tremendous working relationships with the US ski team and other elite athletes who use the high-altitude settings as a training base.

Scott concedes that in the AFL, high-altitude training camps in the US have become almost a cliche.

This off-season, Essendon and St Kilda have done theirs in Colorado, Carlton and Gold Coast were in Arizona, while Collingwood, after years training in Arizona, is about to become the second AFL club to make Utah a training base after the Roos.

“I suppose we could be flattered by that,” he chuckles.

“I can't speak for other clubs, but we come here for very specific reasons, and all I can say is that I've had experience at different clubs, and what we're doing here is very different to what I've experienced in the past.

“Our focus has evolved a little bit. Originally, because we had such a young group, the camp was designed around educating them about how we wanted them to live their lives, and because being so young, aerobically we weren't as good as we needed to be. We wanted to fix that, and I think we've made some pretty significant improvements. But while still a key focus for us, now it's more of a pure football camp rather than just an aerobic base building camp.”

The Roos have had the footballs out a lot more this time, four days out of five, leading to an obvious question, couldn't they do the same thing at home? Scott is prepared for that one before it arrives, pointing out for good measure that this trip is funded largely by players and staff, costing the club itself “next to nothing”. “And we're here for the right reasons. If it was just about bonding, we'd be down at Torquay or somewhere.

“We're probably working at a higher intensity this time than we in have previous camps. A lot of our physiological testing has shown that the improvements we've made, the altitude has had a significant effect on. So, you're looking to pick up your program, take it over here and do what we'd be doing in a football sense at high altitude. The guys are tolerating a higher workload at even higher altitude than they've been at in the past, so the improvements are really clear to us.”

Scott notes a resolve among the group to continue to build on the form last season, which took North Melbourne into its first finals series for four years, apparent in the efforts of a 30-year-old, 12-season veteran in Drew Petrie, and other leaders like Andrew Swallow and Jack Ziebell.

“You'd think that this time of year someone like Drew is probably not looking forward to it and just thinking: 'Mentally, how can I get through another pre-season', but he and the others are really driving what we're doing here, not just getting through but really driving the direction in which we want to head, and the other guys are really following that lead.”

There's been enough time, too, for the odd social activity, many of the players having a few days ago taken in an NBA game between Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets.

Mostly, though, it's been work and more work. Enough rest as is possible when you're trying to build fitness levels good enough to cope with the increasing demands of an AFL season. And the inevitable, for this time of year, lingering feeling of fatigue.

“You can take all the scientific markers which gauge players' recovery,” says Scott, “but as one of our great contacts here said, If you really want to know how your players are feeling, by far the best test you can do is to ask them'. So I'm doing that all the time. Most of the time they're a bit sore or a bit tired, but the most common response I get is: 'It's pre-season, I'm feeling how I'm supposed to feel'.”

Scott says North isn't kidding itself that having made finals, it now sits indisputably among the best teams in the AFL.

“We proved in the second half of the year that we can play some good footy, we beat Collingwood, Adelaide and some good sides, but I still think there's a lot of work to do before we talk about ourselves being in the top half of the competition.” But the Roos intend to do everything humanly possible to be able to say that sooner than later.

“If you speak to any club this time of year, they'll say they're training really hard and fitter than they've ever been,” Scott says. “But the game continues to evolve, and the changes to the rules are going to make it even more demanding on players, so in terms of improving their ability to run, it's a never-ending battle.”

One, though, that North Melbourne, now an old pro when it comes to a concept only a few years ago a complete novelty in the AFL, is giving itself every chance of coming closer to winning.

Warning over duty free thief at Melbourne Airport - Sydney Morning Herald

Messy exits from Melbourne

My elderly mother flew to Melbourne from Ireland, using an airline's "meet and assist" service as she has done for many years. She emerged from customs in a wheelchair in the company of a pleasant airline female employee pushing the chair and a man bringing her luggage in a trolley.

The female employee advised that I had been bought a gift from the Melbourne duty-free store and I was shown the purchase. We both then bent down to assist my mother out of the wheelchair. On standing, my mother wished to thank the man for his help, but he had disappeared and, as we later found out, so had our duty-free goods.

Petty, opportunistic and heartless conduct towards an older person, you bet. Other passengers arriving in Melbourne, be warned.

- David Greenwood

Further to complaints from others on a slow exit from Melbourne International Airport (Traveller Letters, November 24-25), last month I returned from Paris to experience slow, long, frustrating and basically poor service. It took an hour through passport control (either electronic or normal), then another hour through luggage exit.

As an Australian returning home after a 23-hour trip, this was clearly the last thing I needed. Who knows what the international tourists made of it? Heathrow puts Melbourne to shame.

Surely there are managers who should cater for expected heavy workloads.

Not good enough.

- Michael Assimo

B&Bs pay price for high charges

Philip Howe advises readers of the many costs, including food, inflating his B&B overheads (Traveller Letters, November 17-18). While Howe's B&B, at $150 a night, may be cheap by Australian standards, my recent trip to England revealed that good, small three-star rural hotels charged £55-£80 ($84-$122) for an en suite room with excellent cooked breakfasts included. The savings on my month-long trip compared with a month of similar Australian accommodation paid the airfare.

Let's not kid ourselves, we charge like a wounded bull for accommodation in Australia - anything from $30 internet access to $35 buffet breakfasts, plus exorbitant room charges.

- Richard Ellis

It is easy to feel sympathetic about the cost pressures experienced by Philip Howe in running his B&B. However, sympathy is not going to help if B&Bs here remain expensive relative to other parts of the world and customers go elsewhere. His beef should be directed towards the bodies responsible for the unnecessary fees and other imposts he and his suppliers of everything from food to bedding pay in this over-administered state and country. And we, Howe's potential lodgers, should join him in his effort. It will benefit all of us, not just B&B owners.

- Bob Liddelow

Archaeologists dig up a treat

Many readers of Traveller will already have been familiar with the 7 St Georges Tavern near Paphos, which received a mention in the feature on Cyprus (Traveller, November 17-18). Several hundred students and volunteers have taken part in the University of Sydney's excavations at the site of the ancient theatre in Paphos since we began in 1995, and we invariably find an opportunity to enjoy the fine food at that taverna, usually as a celebration at the end of the season. Although your writer included his conversation with the proprietor, it was a pity his charming wife was not enticed out of the kitchen: she hails from Melbourne and is always willing to practise Australian idiom.

- Richard Green

ESTA guidance

My advice to Graham de Vahl Davis (Traveller Letters, November 24-25) would be to use a good travel agent and he would not fall into the trap of paying more than he should for his ESTA (electronic travel authorisation to the US). I am a travel agent and at the end of each of my emails, below the signature, I have a link to the official ESTA, so there is no risk clients will go to one of the sites charging the exorbitant prices Davis quotes. Savvy travellers are learning that arranging travel is not just about search and click, and are returning to the professional services of a travel agent.

- Miriam Rosenman

We welcome your travel-related opinions, experiences and letters. Letters may be edited for space, legal or other reasons. Email us at travellerletters@fairfax .com.au including name, address and phone number.

Makeover Melbourne Beach's historic Ryckman House complete - Florida Today

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Marco Rojas scores winning goal as Melbourne Victory beat Perth Glory 1-0 in A ... - Herald Sun

Melbourne Victory players celebrate Marco Rojas's goal. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE Victory's hot run of A-League form has continued with a Marco Rojas goal capping a 1-0 win over travel-shy Perth Glory at AAMI Park.

Rojas' classy second-half score continued an excellent season for the New Zealand speedster as the third-placed Victory made it four wins and a draw from their past five games to move within a point of second-placed Central Coast.

The fifth-placed Glory have managed just two points from their past four games and only one from four away matches this season.

Perth, missing Jacob Burns (suspended) along with Michael Thwaite and Scott Jamieson (Socceroos), were further hit by the pre-game withdrawal of Liam Miller, injured in the warm-up.

They still created two decent opportunities in the first 15 minutes, both involving Nick Ward pushing unmarked into the penalty area.

If not for Dean Heffernan putting slightly too much power on a free kick Ward would have had an open header.

Soon after, Steven McGarry found Ward again unmarked in the box from a free kick, with Ward's header across goal floating narrowly off-target.

But Victory started to work their way on top and spent much of the first half in attack, although without giving Glory keeper Danny Vukovic too much work.

The closest Melbourne came to scoring before the interval was when a clever Andrew Nabbout chip set Rojas free in the box in the 28th minute, but Rojas' attempt to lob Vukovic grazed the top of the crossbar.

Victory's dominance continued early in the second half.

A penetrating Rojas run delivered Nabbout a great opportunity within three minutes of the restart, although Nabbout's left-footer was just wide.

But Rojas didn't need any help nine minutes later, slotting a deft chip inside the right post from the left flank.

Perth pushed hard for a late leveller, again looking most threatening in the air, with a Shane Smeltz header forcing a sharp Coe save in the 75th minute.

Substitute Chris Harold, who had earlier botched a chance with an open header of his own, almost made amends in the 90th minute with a surging run into the box and fierce shot, which Coe blocked to ensure Victory's second clean sheet in as many games.

MELBOURNE VICTORY 1 (Marco Rojas 58m) PERTH GLORY 0 at AAMI Park. Crowd: 17,676. Referee: Jarred Gillett.

Three of the best lead Melbourne charge at ARIAs - Brisbane Times

The Temper Trap on the red carpet of the 2012 ARIA awards. Photo: Janie Barrett

MELBOURNE artists shone the brightest at the 26th ARIA awards on Thursday night with Gotye, the Temper Trap and Missy Higgins among the winners at the music industry's annual night of celebration.

In a shift from last year's format, this year's awards ceremony was a rolling, live performance, with Hilltop Hoods opening the show, Guy Sebastian playing a song from new album Armageddon and Taylor Swift's live performance adding an international flavour.

Music industry guru Molly Meldrum, who joked about his fall from a ladder and hospitalisation almost 12 months ago, was also welcomed back into the fold.

In a year when Australian music made enormous waves overseas, this was a night to celebrate the achievements of newcomers, veterans such as Cold Chisel and the return of favourites.

Gotye, who has collected a swag of awards over the past two years, was typically humble collecting his statue for Best Album of the year for Making Mirrors. ''Last award of the night is for an album, which lots of people say doesn't mean anything any more, but I know I still love albums.

The Temper Trap added to their 2010 award for best group by taking out the gong again and capped a night of celebration at Sydney's Entertainment Centre with a stunning version of Trembling Hands from their chart-topping self-titled album.

Kimbra's breakthrough album Vows earned her the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) award for best female and she wowed the audience, which included new ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Yothu Yindi, with a performance of Settle Down.

Multiple ARIA award winner and Melbourne-born musician Missy Higgins won the award for best adult contemporary album for The Ol' Razzle Dazzle. It was a return to form for Higgins, who made a splash at the 2005 ARIA awards with her debut album The Sound of White. Higgins also won a people's choice best-video award for her song Everyone's Waiting, which was directed by Natasha Pincus.

Higgins, who performed last night at a piano accompanied by a string trio and backing vocalists, said ''it's nice to be recognised for this album because it was such a labour of love. It took so long to be in a place where I could write … I'm really proud of it, so it's nice to be recognised.''

Kimbra sang on Gotye's smash hit and last year's ARIA award winning song Somebody I Used To Know. Last night they again bathed in the spotlight that has come with their increasing success in Australia and overseas.

Gotye also won the best male artist and best pop release awards at last year's ARIAs and last night's accolades come on top of him filling concert stadiums across the world this year.

Melbourne plans to pick manager today - Florida Today

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Melbourne artist wins Dobell drawing prize - ABC Online

By Sarah Dingle, staff

Updated November 30, 2012 14:42:21

Melbourne artist Gareth Sansom has won the 20th and final annual Dobell Drawing Prize, for a collection of works produced during a visit to a remote Aboriginal community.

Sansom created the 20-drawing series Made in Wadeye while visiting the Northern Territory settlement where his wife was working as a doctor.

He used a range of materials including ink, pencil, felt-tipped pen and earth.

The 73-year-old came to prominence in the 1960s for his unconventional paintings and has won numerous awards.

The Dobell prize is in its 20th year, with 47 finalists chosen from 639 submissions.

It is the last time the $30,000 prize will be awarded in its present form, with the Art Gallery of New South Wales to instead launch a drawing biennial from 2014.

Topics: visual-art, sydney-2000, melbourne-3000, wadeye-0822

First posted November 30, 2012 14:34:40

From Soho to SoMo for special effects studios - Brisbane Times

Inside the offices of one of South Melbourne's many special effects houses. Photo: Craig Sillitoe CSZ

South Melbourne is turning into Australia's own Hollywood as US special effects wizards Luma Pictures opens its first overseas studio in the suburb.

The California-based firm, which has worked on more than 75 films including the The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, is believed to be the first major American studio to join a growing hub of firms in the area that create cutting-edge visual effects for the international and local film and TV industry.

There are at least nine other audio and visual effects studios servicing the film, TV and advertising industry in the area, including Digital Pictures Australia (Snowtown, Balibo), Chroma Media (Howzat!), Planet X Studios, Activemotion and Black Sheep Films. Some are owned by American parent companies.

Luma Picture's co-founder Payam Shohadai declined to comment about the studio or its plans, but the company has advertised 16 local job positions so far.

Luma's arrival has been welcomed by long-time operator Iloura, which recently brought to life the pot-smoking, foul-mouthed teddy bear in Seth MacFarlane's Ted.

"It's become a pretty strong industry here, with studios working in feature films, TV, games and advertising," said Iloura's executive producer Simon Rosenthal.

"The closest to it would be in Soho in London where you can walk door to door between the effects studios. I don't know why South Melbourne was anointed as the suburb of choice but it is."

Mr Rosenthal said competition for talent was intense, which probably accounted for the concentration of so many operators in an area known for its access to the CBD, public transport, restaurants and pubs.

"Putting a studio in the outer suburbs isn't going to cut it – not when there's so much competition for (staff)," he said.

Luma Pictures has opened on the second-floor of a warehouse in 256 Clarendon Street, signing a lease over the space for at least five years. There's a Hollywood connection to the building itself, which is owned by Martin Zoland, executive producer of Australian film The Tumbler and US film The Perfect Host.

''This isn't a short term gig for us, it's the first phase of an international push," Luma said in a company email that was posted on industry website Ozanimate.

"We'll be bringing the whole Luma package to the new studio ... and it will be doing big feature film work just like Santa Monica."

Estate agent Louise Nicoll of Savills Australia said Luma was looking to replicate the high-tech but laid-back atmosphere of its California facility.

While there are no figures estimating the total value of the industry in Australia, about $2.98 billion has been spent on the production of TV and film dramas alone in the last decade, according to Screen Australia.

But the industry took a blow recently when Sydney lost its chance to host the filming of the latest Wachowski siblings' $200 million sci-fi outing Jupiter Ascending after the federal government refused to increase the amount of financial support it provides to foreign productions.

Mr Rosenthal said the government rebates offered to foreign studios that send production work to Australian visual effects companies was essential to maintaining the industry.

Current projects for Iloura include Will Smith's 1000 A.E., Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and I, Frankenstein.

Mercury rises past 45C in Victoria - The Australian

VICTORIANS have sweltered through the hottest November day in more than a century with the temperature soaring above 45C in some parts.

Many rushed to beaches in a bid to cool down. But it wasn't all fun in the sun, with grass fires breaking out in Victoria's northwest.

In Melbourne, the mercury crept towards 40C, with a high of 39.6C recorded at 6.10pm.

The state's hotspot was Ouyen, just outside Mildura, where a maximum of 45.8C was recorded. That beat the state's previous November record of 45C, which dated back to 1905 in Mildura.

The biggest grass fire was near Baringhup, close to Maryborough, which spread over 200 hectares after starting about 3pm (AEDT) before being contained.

The Country Fire Authority also dealt with a blaze at Lillicur, 8km west of Talbot, which burned 20 hectares of grass and bush.

There were also grass fires in Edenhope, one near Avenel which caused smoke that disrupted traffic on the Hume Freeway, a plantation fire at Dartmoor and a four-hectare fire at Murtoa.

A CFA spokeswoman warned dry lightning could hit in the west of the state on Thursday evening, which could cause further problems.

Total fire bans are in place in the Mallee and Wimmera districts, with farmers, particularly in the state's northwest, warned of extreme fire risk.

Ambulance Victoria said it had dealt with 25 reports of heat-related illness by 4pm and an additional eight cases where children had been locked in cars, including a three-year-old and a two-year-old in Greensborough.

That was despite peak motoring body RACV warned motorists never to leave children or animals inside cars.

CitiPower customers in Melbourne's CBD and inner suburbs were hit by power outages, with 2500 homes losing power at some point on Thursday.

Some 1300 Powercor customers in central and western Victoria, and Melbourne's western suburbs, also experienced outages during the day.

In St Kilda East, a driver suffered minor injuries when a power pole exploded, causing his windscreen to shatter but authorities aren't sure if the incident was heatwave-related.

It was an uncomfortable journey home for some Melbourne workers. Commuters faced delays on a number of Metro train lines because of issues unrelated to the heat, after balloons floated into overhead cables near busy Southern Cross Station and a signal problem at Caulfield.

Voda fails again: network melts in Melbourne heatwave - Register

Vodafone is once again apologising to customers after an air-conditioner wilted as Melbourne temperatures hovered just under 40°C yesterday.

That outage, in the company’s Tullamarine switch, flattened services for as many as half of its Melbourne customers, reaching out to impact as much as 15 percent of its traffic nationally.

At the time, one Vodafone customer has told Vulture South, text messages were also being held up by as much as an hour.

The outage first took hold shortly before 8:00 PM on Thursday, November 29, and continued well into the night. The Register’s informant said that at 10:00PM, outgoing services were “sporadic” and incoming calls were failing entirely.

This is in close agreement with a report by Fairfax, which states that Vodafone only made a public acknowledgement of the outage at 10.30PM, and at 11.45PM said that services were “beginning to be restored”.

That post included the distinctly IT Crowd-like suggestion that customers reboot their phones to access the network (of course, if you were trying to find out what’s going on using a smartphone connected to a network that’s not working, you might never know that the advice was given).

Unsurprisingly, the company’s “we apologise for the inconvenience” on Facebook has been met with fury by probably-soon-to-be-former customers. ®

Melbourne's scorcher sparks Vodafone meltdown - Herald Sun

NSW, VIC and SA are bracing for scorchers today, with fire authorities on full alert as temperatures soar.

The state's chief health officer has issued a warning ahead of blistering temperatures today

The sun rises over Port Phillip Bay, Altona this morning. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: HWT Image Library

Elise Armitage throws a snowball at Kate Price in Falls Creek this afternoon. Picture: Chris Hocking Source: Herald Sun

AUTHORITIES have scolded parents for putting their children at risk after seven were left locked in cars during yesterday's scorcher.

Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman Lauren Nowak said paramedics had responded to seven cases of children locked in vehicles as the temperatures tipped over 39C.

Two toddlers trapped in a vehicle in Greensborough during the morning caused concern, but all children were safely freed.

RACV road user behaviour manager Melinda Congiu said it was extremely disappointing motorists were failing to heed the message that locking children in cars was life-threatening.

"It can only take a few minutes for a child locked in a car with that temperature to become seriously ill or die due to heatstroke or dehydration," Ms Congiu said.

"Heat in cars can kill children three times more quickly than it would adults."

How the weather unfolded in Melbourne. Source: Herald Sun

RACV patrols have responded to more than 1134 call-outs relating to vulnerable young children, babies and animals locked in cars this year.

More than 25 people were also treated by paramedics after suffering heat-related illness in yesterday's sizzler as the temperature hit 39.6C in Melbourne.

Rural districts were placed on alert as firefighters around Victoria kept bushfires at bay amid record-breaking conditions.

Mildura readings soared to 45.5C and Ouyen reached 45.8C to set November records.

CFA spokesman Brett Boatman said extra fire-bombing aircraft were called in ahead of the danger season to cope with the threat of spreading fires.

"It's a timely reminder the peak of our fire season is not far around the corner," Mr Boatman said.

Dean Gruar, 4, and Claire Perry, 4, make a splash. Picture: David Caird Source: Herald Sun

He said the fire authority was gearing up for the busiest fire season in years.

It took 15 fire trucks and two aircraft to douse the worst blaze of the day near Baringhup West, southwest of Bendigo, after a grassfire ripped through 200ha.

The fire was controlled by 6.40pm, while earlier the southbound lane of the Hume Freeway was temporarily closed due to an encroaching grassfire near Locksley.

Schools took action to protect children from the heat, with Keilor Heights principal Nick Guilieri saying children were allowed 20 minutes in the sun and encouraged to drink lots of water.

But as thousands of people flocked to beaches, waterways and local pools, the forces of nature conspired against schoolies desperate to hit the surf in Torquay after a red algae outbreak forced the beach's closure temporarily.

Hundreds of sweltering residents endured power outages in Melbourne and in the state's northwest, with Victoria's power useage peaking at nearly 9500 megawatts at 5pm.

Storms were tipped to cross the state last night, helping to cool temperatures.