I was at the Melbourne Park Function Centre for a couple of days this week. It is part of Melbourne Park – the sporting precinct on the east side of the city.

The grand temple is the MCG and it sits on the northern side of the park. Across the track sits the Rod Laver arena, as well as what used to be called the Vodafone arena but is now called the Hisense arena. Then there’s the AAMI Park stadium which houses relatively peripheral sporting codes like soccer and rugby league.

The G (only a minority refers to the hallowed grounds of MCG as a “stadium”) houses mainly footy (as in Aussie Rules Football) in the winter and cricket in the summer. Rod Laver and Hisense sees tennis and between them (the G and RL/Hisense) they cover the major spectator sports the city is made about.

Nestled in the middle of all these sporting sanctuaries is the Melbourne Park Function Centre. A short while ago I was at the tea room having a breather, when I looked out the window and was taking in the beauty of this part of Melbourne (the eastern side) when it again dawned on me what a great city we live in.

The G really is just as the crow flies, or even nearer, from the office. A 15 minutes leisurely walk probably, is all I need.

Even if something is going on at the Etihad instead, it is just a 15 minute tram ride to the western part of the city. The wharf area of Docklands has a different kind of beauty to Melbourne Park but it is equally pleasant.

All this – and only a 25-30 minute train ride for many people, including yours truly. This is all calling out to me to get stuck into attending more sporting events. You know – live life here in Melbourne. It’s a great city.