Australian Open 2026

Unlike last year’s Australian Open tennis tournament – during which there was a thunderstorm – this year’s tournament featured two heatwaves.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We were there during the second of those heatwaves, but we took good care of ourselves :)

Here are my photos from this year’s tournament.

Our 2026 annual Australian Open selfie

Selfie of a man and a woman sitting outside a tennis complex on a sunny day. The man is wearing a black t-shirt and glasses; the woman is wearing a black sleeveless top and sunglasses. They are both wearing straw hats.

Lots of shaded seating at ANZ Arena

Wide-angle photo of an outdoor tennis court at a tennis tournament. The tennis court has seating all around, and shading has been erected so that almost all the seats are in the shade. The blue-coloured tennis court is empty because the next scheduled match has not yet started.

Hanyu Guo serving in her round 2 women’s doubles match

Photo of professional tennis player Hanyu Guo (China) in the air while in the middle of her tennis serve. The players are playing in a tennis court with a hard, blue coloured surface.

Australian supporters at Australian Open 2026

Photo of five women sitting in a row in the stands of a tennis court during a tournament. They are all wearing identical, patterned green-and-yellow tops as well as green straw hats with a yellow tennis ball affixed to the top.

View of Rod Laver Arena from ANZ Arena

Photo of the signage at the top of the Rod Laver Arena tennis court, as seem from the stands of a nearby outdoor tennis court.

Ball kid running to grab a tennis ball

Photo of a ball kid in blue shorts, a blue shirt, and a blue hat stopping his run across a blue-coloured tennis court as he approaches a tennis ball lying on the ground.

Ball kid running back having grabbed a tennis ball

Photo of a ball kid in blue shorts, a blue shirt, and a blue hat running back across a blue-coloured tennis court after he has retrieved the tennis ball that was lying on the ground.

Ball kid passing tennis balls across the court

Photo of a ball kid in blue shorts, a blue shirt, and a blue hat rolling tennis balls across a blue-coloured tennis court to another ball kid that’s off-camera.

Ball kid holding up a tennis ball for the serving tennis player

Photo of a ball kid holding up a tennis ball in case the serving tennis player wants another ball. Only the top of the ball kid’s hat at the ball kid’s arm are visible, with the rest being blocked from view by the wall of the tennis court.

Talia Gibson’s ball toss

Photo of professional tennis player Talia Gibson (Australia) tossing a tennis ball in the air at the start of her serve during a tennis match.

Talia Gibson ready to strike the ball

Photo of professional tennis player Talia Gibson (Australia) mid-swing as she prepares to strike a tennis ball during her women’s doubles match.

Sara Errani winning the point / everyone going in a different direction

Photo of professional tennis player Sara Errani (Italy) as she hits a ball into the opposing court during a tennis match.

Ball kid waiting for Kimbery Birrell to serve

Photo of a ball kid waiting by the side of the net at a tennis tournament. In the background of the photo professional tennis player Kimbery Birrell (Australia) prepares to serve.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 5: dogs

One of the most fun parts of Avalon Airshow are the dogs you get to see there. Both the air force and border security folks run demos, and the Royal Australian Air Force also has a place where you can go and pat their puppies :)

Military dogs demonstration

Cylon is ready for his military-dog demonstration

Photo of a malanois (large, mostly-brown dog) wearing a military harness and holding a stuffed dog toy in its mouth. A name patch reading Cyclon (in all capital letters) is attached to the harness. The dog is on a leash that's being held by its air force handler named Rea wearing battle fatigues. The two are standing in a large field with several carnival rides in the background.

Border security dogs demonstration

A sniffer dog and her trainer at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a brown labrador retriever (a large breed of dog) looking around at the audience at an airshow. The dog is wearing a black harness and the trainer is wearing a blue border security uniform. The two are on a grassy field that's been covered by a large tent. Metal railings and netting have been placed between the field and the audience who are standing around the show area.

Military puppies

Malanois puppy with his air force handler

Photo of a malanois puppy sitting on a low bench in a fenced-off exhibition area at an airshow. The puppy is looking up the air force handler who is standing next to the bench. There are people standing and walking all around the fenced-off area so they can get a look at the puppies.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 4: hearing protection

Aircraft are loud, so hearing protection is highly recommended at airshows – especially if you’re standing right next to the runway while watching the flying display.

Hearing protection is especially important for young children, with constant announcements about that being made in the hour leading up to the start of flying.

I thought it’d be a fun mini-project to document all the kids (and a few adults) who were out and about wearing some sort of hearing protection or the other.

Hearing protection

Young girl wearing hearing protection

Photo of a young girl in a pale blue jacket wearing large, white hearing protection earmuffs at an airshow.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 3: people

It’s not just fun to take photos of the aircraft that are flying around, it’s also fun to photograph the people who are attending the show with you. This and the next post are all about that.

People

Taking photos at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a young man in the crowd at an airshow taking photos with a professional camera with a long lens. The man is wearing and Air Force t-shirt.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 2: flying display

I love the flying display at airshows, and this year I came prepared with a folding chair and a long lens for my camera :)

The flying display at Avalon kicks off with a “wall of fire” along the runway, which is pretty fucking impressive. That’s followed by an aerobatic display and then a military display.

However, there was a crash at this year’s aerobatic display on Friday. The pilot survived, but they cancelled the aerobatic display for Saturday, which is the day I was there.

Also, this airshow takes place at Avalon Airport, which is open for regular commercial flights the whole time. Because of that, I got photos of a scheduled Jetstar flight landing in amongst all this. (Jetstar was the airline I used to work for.)

I’ve grouped my photos into galleries for easier viewing, since there are quite a lot of them! One photo I’ve selected as the feature photo for each section.

On the ground

Wall of fire display marks the start of the flying display at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of a massive wall of fire along the length of a runway at an airshow. Hundreds of people are standing in the foreground, several with their phones out as they record the display.

Fighter aircraft

F-35A Lightning II close-up

Zoomed-in photo of an F-35A military fighter aircraft in the air at an airshow.

Maritime aircraft and fuel tanker

MH-60R Seahawk "Romeo" and P-8A Poseidon

It’s only at an airshow that civilians like us get to see two aircraft flying this close to each other :)

Photo fo a MH-60R Seahawk "Romeo" multi-mission maritime helicopter hovering above the runway at an airshow. Above this a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flies low across the runway. In the foreground of the photo there are hundreds of airshow attendees watching, photographing, and filming these aircraft.

Transport aircraft

C-17A Globemaster III on the runway

Photo of the front of a C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft on the runway at an airshow. In the foreground of the photo there are hundreds of airshow attendees watching, photographing, and filming this aircraft.

Commercial operations

Jetstar Airbus A320 about to touch down

Photo of an Airbus A320 passenger jet in Jetstar livery about to land on the runway during an airshow.

Avalon Airshow 2025, part 1: static display

I love aviation and have always wanted to be a pilot.

My family wasn’t well-off enough for me to even remotely consider becoming a private or commercial pilot so, up until my teenage years, my plan (very seriously) was to join the air force – like my favourite uncle who retired as Air Vice Marshal from the Pakistan Air Force.

As I got older, my love of computers trumped my love of flying, so I never ended up becoming a pilot. Though I did work for an airline for several years, which was absolutely fantastic.

Airshows FTW!

Lots of industries have expos and events, but I think aviation has the coolest showcase in the form of airshows.

Growing up, my father took me to as many Pakistan Air Force Day events as he could. We’d get up-close to military aircraft, chat with air force officers, watch the flying displays, and buy lots of merch.

He’d even let me skip school that day because Air Force Day isn’t a public holiday in Pakistan and he knew how much I loved aviation. (It was his older brother that was in the Air Force, btw.)

I found out about the biennial Avalon Airshow a year after moving to Melbourne, but it wasn’t until 2013 that I could afford to attend. Since then I’ve gone every time the airshow has been held.

Screenshot from Flickr showing four albums containing photos from Avalon Airshows held in 2017, 2019, 2023, and 2025.

Naturally, I take lots of photos while I’m there. This year’s photos are split across five posts because, yes, I took that many photos :)

Static display

In earlier years I focused more on the air show’s booths and static displays of general, commercial, and military aircraft. This year I focused on the flying display and the people watching the flying display – but more on that later.

This is my favourite photo from the static display set. The rest I’ve put in the gallery below.

Touching the engine of the C-17A Globemaster III at Avalon Airshow 2025

Photo of one of the massive wing-mounted engines of a C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft that's parked at an airshow. An attendee is reaching up to touch the bottom of this engine.

All my static display photos

Trip to Pakistan 2024: places

I’m an aviation geek. That means I don’t just take photos of people, I also take photos of the places I go to. Or, well, go through :)

Melbourne Airport

Ground staff member waiting for the luggage containers to turn up

Photo of an airport apron that has a wide-body aircraft parked on it. The aircraft is in the process of being loaded with catering supplies. A roller ramp has been parked to the side of the aircraft. A member of the ground staff is sitting on the corner of this roller ramp, waiting for the luggage containers to arrive so they can be loaded into the aircraft hold.

The Etihad Boeing 777 that flew us from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi

Wide-angle photo of a wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft parked at the gate of an airport terminal.

Abu Dhabi Airport

This corner of Terminal A at Abu Dhabi Airport is quite empty at 2am

Wide-angle photo of large, high-ceiling, shiny, brand new airport terminal building. One one side of the building are windows that go from the ground to the fourth floor. From the angle the photo is taken you can see parts of all four floors, all of which are connected by escalators and elevators.

Waiting at at empty departure gate at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

Photo of a large, heigh-ceiling, mostly empty airport departure gate. This section of the building is at least two storeys high, with a wide, elevated walkway running through the centre. In the departure are are several round-backed single-seater sofas for waiting passengers to sit on.

Walnut crescent cookie shaped lights at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A departure gates

Wide-angle photo looking up at a large, crescent shaped, white-and-cream coloured light fixture. This light fixture is mounted on a tall pillar along a first-floor walkway in a high-ceiling airport terminal building.

Walnut crescent cookie shaped lights at the new Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

Photo looking up at a large, crescent shaped, white-and-cream coloured light fixture. This light fixture is mounted on a tall pillar along a first-floor walkway in a high-ceiling airport terminal building.

Etihad Airways Airbus A320 aircraft taxiing to its gate at Abu Dhabi Airport

This was the Airbus A320 that flew us from Abu Dhabi to Karachi.

Photo of a narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft in Etihad Airways livery taxiing to its gate.

Airbus A320 approaching Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A gate 640

Photo of a narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft in Etihad Airways livery slowly approaching a terminal boarding gate.

Airbus A320 getting settled at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A gate 640

Photo of a narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft in Etihad Airways livery parked at a terminal boarding gate. The passenger boarding bridge (aka air bridge) from the terminal is in the process of being extended towards the front-left door of the aircraft and there are several ground operations team members walking around below the aircraft. And ‘Airside Operations Leader’ car is parked in front of the gate at which this aircraft has parked.

The Boeing 787 that took us from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne

Photo taken through large floor-to-ceiling windows of an airport terminal building of a wide-body aircraft in Etihad Airways livery parked at a gate. In the background you can see the airport’s weather radar and control tower.

The Boeing 787 that took us from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne

Photo of a wide-body aircraft parked at an airport gate. It is connected from its left side to the terminal building via a passenger boarding bridge (aka air bridge). On its right side luggage is being loaded onto it. In the background are the other terminal buildings of Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A.

Karachi Airport

Heading from Karachi to Islamabad

Photo of an airport apron taken from inside a passenger boarding bridge (aka air bridge). The gate next to this one is empty.

Islamabad Airport

The Fly Jinnah Airbus A320 that took us from Islamabad to Karachi

Photo of a narrow-body Airbus A320 aircraft in Fly Jinnah livery parked on the apron at an airport. Several ground staff are walking around the aircraft, getting it ready to start deplaning its passengers and cargo.

Trip to Pakistan 2024: people

Nadia and I took three weeks off to go visit friends and family in Pakistan. Naturally I took several photos as we travelled from one place to the next :)

Selfie at Melbourne Airport before heading off on our holiday

We had an almost-10pm flight out of Melbourne, so we had dinner at Melbourne Airport right after we checked-in.

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts, backpacks, and face masks, standing in an airport terminal.

All set to fly from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi

Neither of us minds having seats near the bathroom and neither of us minds sitting right at the back of the plane, so we picked seats in the second-last row of this Boeing 777 since that row has just two seats on the window side :)

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in an aircraft. The two are giving a thumbs-up to the camera.

Selfie along the C-gates arm at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

Abu Dhabi Airport’s brand new Terminal A is quite roomy (having been built for future growth) and is a surprisingly comfortable place to hang out for a ten-hour layover.

Selfie of a man wearing a bright orange jacket standing in the middle of a long terminal corridor, between gates C28 and C29.

Selfie to celebrate our arrival at Karachi Airport

Yay Karachi!

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, standing next to their luggage at the international arrivals gate of an airport.

Ready for the first of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Islamabad to Karachi

It took us almost forty hours to get back from Islamabad to Melbourne (via Karachi and Abu Dhabi). This was the start of our first leg.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.

Ready for the second of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Karachi to Abu Dhabi

This was the start of our second leg, waiting in the international departure lounge.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in a departure lounge at an airport.

Waiting for breakfast at Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal A

This is towards the end of our twelve hour layover in Abu Dhabi.

Photo of a woman, wearing a black hoodie and face mask, leaning on a restaurant table in an airport. Behind her is a floor-to-ceiling window that looks out onto and airport terminal apron.

Selfie before boarding our flight to Melbourne

We’re making sure to stretch our legs and stand as much as we can before our non-stop, thirteen hour flight to Melbourne.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black tops and face masks, standing in a departure lounge at an airport.

Ready for the third of our three flights back to Melbourne, this one from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne

All aboard and ready to boogie (aka sleep) on this lovely Boeing 787 (yay!).

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.

We hadn’t been back to Pakistan since late 2019, so this trip was very much overdue and it was a great way to start the year.

2023 Boxing Day test at the MCG

Since moving to Australia in 2006, this is only the second time that Pakistan has played Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Nadia and I attended day three of the last test match, back in 2016.

Photo of the grounds at a massive cricket stadium, taken from an under-cover seat some distance away from the field.

This year I attended day one of the match with a bunch of family friends.

Selfie of four people seated in a row at a cricket match, three of whom are wearing Pakistan cricket team gear.

Here are some of the photos I took while I was there.

Lots of ways to get to Melbourne Cricket Ground

Photo of a sign post at the Melbourne Cricket ground showing the walking time and distance (in kilometres) from this post to Jolimont Railway Station, tram routes 48 and 75 along Wellington Parade, Flinders Street Railway Station, tram route 70 along Swan Street, and Richmond Railway Station.

Train tracks between the MCG and Melbourne & Olympic Parks

Photo taken through a wire mesh fence of half a dozen train tracks running between where the photographer is standing and several buildings and sports centres on the other side. A blue-and-yellow Metro train is running along one of these tracks. A covered, elevated walkway runs above the tracks.

Welcome to the Boxing Day test

Photo of an entry gate at Melbourne Cricket Ground, which about two dozen people waiting in short queues to get through security and ticketing. A large digital sign above the gate reads, in all capital letters, “Welcome to the boxing day test”.

Qantas Choir getting ready to sing the Australian national anthem

Photo of three rows of young women, all wearing an identical uniform of black shoes, black pants, and cream coloured tops, standing in choir formation inside a massive cricket stadium.

Qantas Choir singing the Australian national anthem

Photo of three rows of young women, all wearing an identical uniform of black shoes, black pants, and cream coloured tops, standing in choir formation inside a massive cricket stadium. On the other side of the large ground are the cricket players standing next to their respective country flags.

Cricketer Shaheen Afridi warming up before his bowling spell

Photo of a male cricket player, wearing an all-white kit, jumping in the air as part of his warm-up routine.

Cricketer David Warner batting

Photo of a male cricket player, wearing an all-white kit, standing at the crease and ready to face ball that is being bowled to him.

Young Pakistani supporter

Photo of a young boy in a while t-shirt and a green coloured Pakistan team hat watching a cricket match.

Cricketer Shaheen Afridi bowling

Photo of a male cricket player, wearing an all-white kit, about to release the ball he is bowling.

Melbourne Cricket Club Members Reserve stand

Photo of four tiers of cricket stands, each with a café, bar, or corporate suites behind them. A large sign on one of these seating tiers reads, ‘Melbourne Cricket Club’.

DJ Ash bringing the music to the MCG outfield

Photo of a male music DJ standing at his console while he chats to a man dressed in a bright, multi-coloured ‘Squad Pakistan’ shirt with a large dhol slung across his back.

Karachi Street Food stall outside the MCG

Photo of an outdoor food stall set up in a large garden. A sign above the stall reads, in all capital letters, ‘Karachi street food’. There are several people milling around the food stand, and a line to the food stand extends off-camera.

Long lunch-time line for the Karachi Street Food stall outside the MCG

Photo of an outdoor food stall set up in a large garden with picnic tables placed around it. A sign above the stall reads, in all capital letters, ‘Karachi street food’. A stall in the background has a sign that reads, ‘Sugarcane Juice’. There are several people standing in the garden, and a long line of people queuing at the food stand extends off-camera.

Waiting for a train

Waiting for a train at Yarraville Station in Melbourne, Australia.

Photo of an empty outdoor train platform, taken with the camera placed very close to the ground. The platform extends into the distance, and the bit of pavement the camera has been placed on shows cracks from years of use in the hot Australian summer. Across the train tracks you can see an out-of-focus train station build on the other platform.

Top-down photo of the edge of a railway platform, with the top half of the photo showing one of the train tracks and the bottom half showing the thick white line that marks the edge of the platform. The photographer’s white sneakers and the cuffs of his jeans are visible at the very bottom of the photo, with the front part of his sneakers on top of the white line. The edge of the platform and white paint on it is cracked and peeled from years of use under the hot Australian sun.

Medibank data breach

Finally got the email [1] from Medibank saying that my old membership data with them was stolen by cyber criminals.

Screenshot of an email with the heading ‘An important update from Medibank’.

The email reads: “Dear Ameel, We’re deeply sorry to inform you that some data relating to your former membership has been stolen in the recent cybercrime event. This email details what specific membership data was stolen, outlines actions you can take to safeguard your online identity, and the services available through our Cyber Response Support Program”.

The email then goes on to list what categories of data have and have not been stolen. The data stolen is name, gender, date of birth, email, address, phone number, policy number, and passport number. The data not stolen is credit card and banking details, and health claims data.

I left Medibank in 2009 so, with the exception of my name, gender, and date of birth [2], all the other data they have one me is now outdated and irrelevant.

And while it’s not great that various cybercriminals now have this data, in the broader scheme of things ‘tis but a flesh wound. After all, there’s not much that cybercriminals can do with a single old residential address, an old pre-paid phone number, and an expired Pakistani passport number :)

(Why Medibank kept all my customer data thirteen years after I closed my account with them is a whole other issue, of course. *sigh*)

[1] I got the email from them on 15 November 2022.

[2] You can find all this about me using open-source intelligence gathering anyway — like by looking through my social media feeds and seeing when my friends have wished me ‘happy birthday’, for example.

#AusVotes2020

The down side of voting just as the polls open on election day is that it’s too early for a democracy sausage. Oh well.

Photo of an empty schoolyard with two unattended plastic tables and a closed barbecue placed in front of the school buildings.

The up side is that we were done by 8:30am.

Selfie of a man and woman, bundled up in puffer jackets, standing across the street from a primary school that’s being used as a polling station.

So no surprises there

The Australian federal election has been called for 21 May 2022.

As a result, ABC have launched the 2022 version of their Vote Compass, which is “a tool developed by political scientists to help you explore how your views align with those of the election candidates”.

No surprises on where I fall along that spectrum.

Screenshot titled “Vote Compass” and “Australia 2022 Federal Election”. Below that there are two visuals.

One is a grid chart titled “How you fit in the political landscape”. The horizontal axis of this chart shows whether you’re on the economic left or right; the vertical axis shows whether you’re socially conservative or progressive. In the economic right and socially conservative corner is a marker for the Liberal-National Coalition (LNP). Close to the exact middle is a marker for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In the economic left and socially progressive corner is a marker for the Australian Greens (GRN). In the top left quadrant (economically left and socially progression) is a marker that shows where I stand. This is located between the Greens and the ALP, but much closer to the Greens.

The second visual is a bar chart titled “How much agree with the parties” and it shows that I agree 90% with the Australian Greens, 60% with the Australian Labor Party, and 33% with the Liberal-National Coalition.

Annual Australia Open selfie 2022

What time is it? It’s time for me and Nadia to take our annual Australian Open tennis tournament selfie!

Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of an outdoor tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; N95 face masks; and blue Australian Open lanyards.

With the 50% capacity limits placed on attendees this year, we even managed to find a totally empty section of Kia Arena in which to take a slightly less pandemically themed selfie :)

Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of a large, open air tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; and blue Australian Open lanyards.

One more in our full “hot day at a sporting event in the post-vaccine era” regalia.

Selfie of a man and a woman in front of Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on a sunny day. The man and woman are both wearing black t-shirts, wide-brim straw hats, sunglasses, and N95 face masks, and have blue Australian Open lanyards around their necks.

Speaking of hot days, Nadia was reunited with her happy place at the Australian Open :)

A woman wearing shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses, large hat, and an N95 face masks walks up to a large fan that is spraying a fine mist of cool water onto people walking by.

Meet Millie!

Meet Millie – our new mailbox spider!

Millie was a little startled when I checked our mailbox this afternoon, but she’ll get used to it.

Huntsman Pat from last year took our daily chats in stride – and he used to spend his time on the mailbox lid (inner flap?) itself!

Photo of an adult huntsman spider sitting at the bottom of a wooden, residential mail box.

Rushing out to get our COVID-19 booster shot

So Nadia and I rushed out to get our COVID-19 booster shot immediately after we became eligible for it a few weeks ago.

Turns out I took the “rushing out” bit a little too literally because I drove there too fast and earned myself a speeding fine!

Given the Australian Government’s omicron omnishambles do you really blame me for zipping over there to keep myself as safe as possible? :)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Photo of a letter from Victoria Police titled ‘Infringement notice’ with a subheading that reads ‘To the operator - offence detected by a road safety camera’. The letter is addressed to Ameel Zia Khan and the photographer is holding his thumb over the recipient's mailing address.

Christmas barbecue FTW!

All clear for the Christmas barbecue!

Photo of two rapid antigen tests lying next to each other on a counter. Both tests are showing a negative result for COVID-19.

The barbecue itself was a great success. This here is just a photo of the meat tray taken halfway through the meal. Not shown are the snacks, salads, vegetarian options, pile of haloumi, and desserts! :)

Photo of a tray piled with barbecued meats, including sausages, burger patties, cutlets, and ribs.

Thank you James for the barbecuing and Bec for the hosting! #ChosenFamily

Post-jab selfie

Are you *actually* vaccinated if you don’t take a post-jab selfie? :)

#JabDone

Close-up selfie of a bald man with glasses who is wearing a light blue surgical mask on his face. The man is sitting in what appears to be a large hall. On his black puffer jacket is a round sticker that reads #JabDone.

(To be fair there’s not much else to do while you sit around in the waiting area for 15-20 minutes post-jab in case you have an immediate adverse reaction to the vaccine.)

In case it’s not clear yet, Nadia and I got got our first doses of the Comirnaty vaccine (the one made by Pfizer) at the Melbourne Showgrounds vaccination hub early this morning.

An 8am vaccination booking has its pros and cons. Yes it’s cold and dark – particularly on a rainy day like today – but the queues are super short and the whole process is pretty quick. We parked our car at 7:49am, got processed by 8:18am, and made our way into the post-jab waiting area by 8:31am.

Photo of a large hall with several rows of chairs set out in a cordoned-off area. A pull-up banner in the foreground reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’.

So to those of you over 40 in Melbourne who haven’t been vaccinated yet: come on down to the Showgrounds and get jabbed! (I’m sure the rest of you will get your turn very soon.)

Photo of the outside of a large hall. A large sign on the wall reads ‘COVID-19 vaccination hub’ and ‘Walk-ins are welcome’.