A group of four turned heads as they strolled through the Australian Open crowds in their loud green shirts printed with images of pineapples.
Strangers told them “we love your outfits”. And the tops looked cool, but there was an issue.
It emerged that they were made of polyester. And they made the quartet sweat as the temperature at Melbourne Park on Monday passed 30 degrees. And so they happily dubbed themselves the Sticky Pineapples, or the Stinky Pineapples.
Miranda Hudson, 39, was looking on the bright side of synthetic fabrics. “I guess they will dry quickly when we wash them,” she said.
But the main aim for Hudson; her husband, Grant, 42; and friends Charles and Stephanie James, both 42, was to have a laugh and a well-earned break from their busy lives in Port Macquarie, NSW.
Grant and Miranda Hudson (left) with Stephanie and Charles James. Credit:Eddie Jim
Grant, a paramedic, said: “It’s very important to have a break, to recharge, have a bit of fun, watch a few good games of tennis and enjoy the food.”
Rachael Baxter, 46, and Rae Thomson, 49, relaxed on deck chairs in Garden Square while their sons played.
The friends, teachers from Cambewarra on the NSW South Coast near Nowra, drove 800 kilometres to Melbourne with four boys aged 12 to 16.
Baxter said the drive was a success thanks to “a lot of electronics with headphones” and numerous stops for food.
Rachael Baxter (left) and Rae Thomson drove 800 kilometres to Melbourne. Credit:Eddie Jim
“We saw the Dog on the Tuckerbox in Gundagai, the large sheep in Goulburn, the submarine at Holbrook and Ned Kelly statue at Glenrowan. So they had an education on the way,” Baxter said.
At the Open, the women queued for 25 minutes to buy $50 worth of croissants “just to feed the teenagers” from high-end bakery Lune.
They felt the cost was worth it. “We live in regional NSW, where there is not a Lune in sight,” Baxter said.
Added Thomson, “You’ve got to get the good stuff while you’re in the city.”
Also in the crowd was Gail Benedetti, who as Gail Sherriff was an elite tennis player from the 1960s to the 1980s. Though Australian-born, she now lives on the French island of Corsica.
Gail Benedetti (left) with her sister Carol Campling. Credit:Eddie Jim
At 77, Benedetti is still a keen international tennis player – she’s the over-75 world champion.
She said she loved being at the Open, where she reunited with her sister Carol Campling, nee Sherriff, of Sydney, who was also a top tennis player in her youth.
“I think it’s fantastic, very exciting,” Benedetti said, of being at the tournament, where the sisters also catch up with old friends.
Edwina Swierc, 34, of Brighton East, brought her three young children by train to the tennis, the youngest in a pram.
She said going to the Open was a fun school holiday outing with lots to do for her sons— Teddy, 7, Josh, 5, and Zac, 1.
“It’s a bit of a juggle, but I think it’s worth it,” Swierc said. “They have fun. It’s good memories for them.”
She had planned well, bringing most of their lunch and snacks from home, although she would treat them to ice-creams.
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