Squaring the circles

Final contribution to Rough Guides took me on a bus-tour of the Olympic Park itself, where major construction is now complete and grass/tree planting is underway. Serious security at the tradesmen entrance (so tragically missed retail opportunities at Westfield shopping mall) followed by first glimpse of Olympic Stadium and very odd edifice known as The Orbit observation tower. To be accurate it's the ArcelorMilttal Orbit but I doubt the name will stick.

A 114 metre tangled steel lattice incorporating the five Olympic rings, the tower is there to help attract 1m visitors a year to Stratford's Olympic Park, after the Games. You go up in a lift and walk -- not slide on coconut mats, sadly -- back down again.

Finding our way through construction traffic still called for some imagination but, apart from the complete stadia (struck particularly by the velodrome and aquatics centre), we randomly glimpsed the vivid pink and blue hockey pitch surfaces and, through a small gap in the side, athletes trying out the surface inside the main arena.

I took lots of video and then wiped the lot, sorry. I interviewed LOCOG's access manager to fill in the gaps. That's the lot for RG 2011 and I've enjoyed the season, which started with the Camel Valley cycle trail back in August. Good too to work with a helpful editor, Ian Blenkinsop.

More Olympics news. I have an interview as a (volunteer) Gamesmaker on 5 January. I am a very giving person...