In a picture taken on October 18, 2009 The City of Sydney central business district is shown from the Royal Botanic Gardens. As the economic and cultural heart of the Sydney metropolitan area, the City of Sydney is highly and densely urbanised, combining residential and commercial use as well as tourist and cultural attractions, parks and open space. Getty Images / Greg WOODGREG WOOD/Getty Images
Thirteen times zones and about 25 degrees in temperature removed from Vancouver, Australian citizens in Sydney do not appear to have caught Olympic fever to quite the same extent as their Commonwealth cousins in Canada.
In Australia for the lead-up to this year's Australian Open beginning in two weeks, I conducted a completely unscientific poll to try to discover how clued in Aussies are about Vancouver 2010.
On a Saturday stroll near Darling Harbour, I approached summer-holidaying Australians and asked them three questions: 1. Where are next month's Winter Olympics being held? 2. What is your favourite Winter Olympics event? 3. Can you name an ice hockey player from Canada?
I approached 10 men and 10 women. Starting with the last question, the men and women were a perfect zero for 20 when it came to naming a Canadian hockey player. But there is a caveat - eight of the 20 (six men and two husbands of women being questioned) were able to name the long-retired Wayne Gretzky. But even then, it may not have been Gretzky's hockey prowess that made him famous as much as being married to former Hollywood actress Janet Jones.
Continuing in the reverse order of the questions, Australian men (five) picked skiing as their favourite event - although that included one New Zealander who slipped into the sample and said he could be interested in the slalom because it was the only Winter Olympics event in which a Kiwi has won a medal - Annelise Coberger took the silver medal in women's slalom at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. Two men liked ice hockey while one each selected bobsleigh, ski jumping and ice skating (i.e. figure skating).
Figure skating was chosen by five of the women with "tobogganing" mentioned by two and ski jumping by one. Two other women had no interest at all.
It was certainly easy to get the impression that Australians find it difficult to get excited about snow and ice-based sporting events.
As for the other question - six men and six women were able to identify Vancouver as the site of next month's Winter Games. Eight people had no idea, or only the foggiest inkling, where the games are going to be staged. Among the seriously unsure were two people who could name Canada but thought the Games might be in Calgary. Another man sheepishly wondered if they were being held in Montreal.
The Aussies were not without humour in trying to answer the questions, with one young man suggesting that "broomball" was his favourite Olympic event.