COUNTDOWN TO OLYMPICS

* Days until opening ceremony: 16.

* Olympic update: Australians say it’s outrageous that meat pies, the snack of choice at most sporting events Down Under, will cost $2.10 to $2.40 at the Olympics. They normally sell for $1.20.

* March to the medals: Australian javelin thrower Louise Currey, a silver medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Games, said she plans to compete in Sydney with a knee brace after having surgery last week on her left knee. She will have reconstructive surgery after the Olympics.

* Carrying the torch: Spent its second consecutive day in the Hunter Valley wine region, traveling from Cessnock--a former coal mining town now known for its grapes--to Muswellbrook.

* Olympic footnote: Sydney taxi drivers will get a 10% fare increase during the Olympics, half the increase they had sought. That’s in addition to a 20% surcharge for journeys between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.