By EUGENE BINGHAM
Bellies bloated with breakfast from fine cafes, Saturday-morning shoppers stream through Sydney's trendy Pitt St surrounded by reminders that they will soon star in the Greatest Show on Earth.
Streets and buildings sparkle, buffed up with coats of paint and polish, gold-medal hopefuls Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman stare out from billboards on every corner and conversations hum with the latest titbit from the Olympic suburb of Homebush.
The Olympics are about to begin - and doesn't Sydney know it.
Here, smack bang in the middle of the shopping district, is the Olympic Store, a sprawling department store stuffed full of official Games merchandise - T-shirts, stuffed kookaburras and wombats, Sydney 2000 soccer balls and Olympic keyrings.
People stagger out in hundreds, weighed down by bagfuls of booty, wallets lighter for the experience. As they leave, they most probably take in the image of a young Australian swimmer splashed across a Qantas poster with the words "The Spirit of Australia."
Few, if any, take a moment to look at "Elsie."
Gnarled hands blackened with grime from the streets where she sleeps, Elsie cannot afford to spare a thought about winning a gold medal, or even what it would be like watching from the stands of the $A690 million purpose-built Stadium Australia. Her thoughts are of survival.
Like thousands of other Sydneysiders living on the streets, her name has been left off the cast list for the Greatest Show on Earth. Each night, she seeks refuge in the shopfronts of Kings Cross or in emergency shelters.
Today, she has staggered down to the central city, where she huddles in the mall begging, her mind numbed by the booze she swigs from the moment she awakes. Surely, this is not what they mean by "The Spirit of Australia?"
Elsie has lived like this for as long as she can remember.
To the shame of Sydney, an increasing number of people are experiencing her plight. Welfare groups say the boom in homelessness is a sad side-effect of the Olympics.
In the past year, the Sydney City Council heard pleas for emergency help from 35,000 people, the highest number recorded. Many blamed rising rents.
The Wesley Mission, which provides 76 emergency beds, turned away more than 230 people in the two weeks to August 6 and it warned that demand would peak during the Games.
The Salvation Army says the problem has grown since January, with many landlords taking advantage of the Olympics to hike rents in sought-after locations.
A flat near the central railway station with one bedroom and a shared bathroom was advertised for $A400 a week. A four-bedroom house at Ashfield, 8km from the Olympic venue, was available for $A2500 a week.
"People are being thrown out so others who are willing to pay will come in," said a Salvation Army spokeswoman.
The state Department of Housing admits that it can take up to three years to find accommodation for people, but says this waiting time can vary from case to case. It puts the increase in demand down to population growth.
For the next month, with the gaze of the entire world on Sydney, the city hopes eyes will not stray down the streets where Elsie and her friends live. Extra emergency housing has been arranged.
And plenty has been done to draw attention elsewhere.
Australia's biggest city has spent billions sprucing itself up for the party of a lifetime.
The 6 sq km of the central business district gleam with newly renovated buildings. Farther out, the sporting venues are like oases, brand-new buildings free of the graffiti plastered over the walls and fences of the surrounding suburbs.
The City of Sydney Council alone has doled out $A320 million on the largest local government capital works programme seen in Australia. In the central city, it shows. New plazas have sprung up, paving stones have been laid, and roads are marked with bus lanes the colour of Ayers Rock.
Orange plastic-mesh fencing surrounds newly planted grass in parks. Even the glorious harbour seems to sparkle like never before.
Public buildings are having the finishing touches applied. Atop the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, workmen are installing a shingle roof, the final stage of refurbishment. Inside the museum, the show is "Convicts." Australia is obviously not ashamed of its roots.
From the top of Sydney's tallest building, Centrepoint Tower, the view is of a city on the brink. Skyscrapers crowd out the view of the Harbour Bridge adorned with 170,000 lights in the shape of the Olympic rings, 75m long and 35m high. To the west, a sci-fi blob breaks up the rows of red-roofed houses.
Stadium Australia, the centrepiece of Olympic Park, perches on the horizon like a spaceship. White steel bent into a futuristic design, the stadium makes an impressive sight. It is amazing what you can do with the grounds of an old abattoir.
As with the other venues, the park is ready for the influx of 10,200 athletes and their accompanying entourages. The Bondi Beach volleyball stadium was the last to be completed, finished off amid protests from residents upset that their stretch of golden sand was being taken over.
Fifteen of the 28 sports will be based at the Olympic Park, a mini-city of its own. Just two weeks before the opening ceremony, it is a ghost town. Empty bars belt out music to entice the few tourists strolling through on pre-Games guided trips. Most have arrived at the Olympic Park train station, which resembles something from the set of the Jetsons. Escalators and glass lifts whisk travellers into the main hall with its ceiling as high as a cathedral. Tracking their every move, from the station and throughout the park, is a network of security cameras and guards.
Nearly 11,000 Olympic security staff will patrol Sydney during the Games. About 5000 are police, with the rest drawn from private firms, the Rural Fire Service, the State Emergency Service and Surf Life Saving Australia.
New South Wales' police force used to be called the best money could buy. Now, under the command of a former British chief constable, Commissioner Paul Ryan, it has straightened itself out and is preparing for its most challenging assignment. Mr Ryan will have overall control of the Games security, although he has set up an Olympic Security Command Centre to directly oversee the operation.
The expected influx of tourists and the presence of protest groups eager to take advantage of the Olympic stage have created a policing nightmare. About 8 million people are expected to visit Sydney during the 16 days between the opening and closing ceremonies. As far as protests go, three groups have already lodged official "notices of intent to protest" during the Games and there are bound to be others that will not be so formal.
As a result, police have been at action stations, resulting in a positive spinoff for Sydneysiders - crime rates declined slightly during the year ended December 1999 with the number of assaults, thefts and sex crimes dropping.
During the Games themselves, police are under instructions to go easy and ignore minor offences. A spokesman for Mr Ryan said officers would employ a similar strategy to that used on New Year's Eve when crime such as drunkenness and swearing was treated leniently.
But more serious crimes will be dealt with swiftly, as Sydney is keen to ensure that tourists leave with a good impression, not bruises.
So with even the police adopting a party mode, locals are ready to celebrate. Free concerts featuring everybody from pop stars Savage Garden to kids' groovesters The Wiggles will set the town abuzz each night of the Games. Social and sporting calendars have been cleared so attention is on the Games only. Parliament has suspended its sittings and the Australian Rules Football grand final series was moved forward so it would not clash with the Games.
Even summer was brought forward, with daylight saving starting two months early just for the Games. If anything could be shifted, stopped or suspended, it has been.
If only someone could guarantee the weather. Latest forecasts predict a 50 per cent chance of above-average rainfall in NSW this month.
Come September 15, though, as long as it rains gold, Australians won't care what the weather is doing.
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