The stories of the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony had a common thread running through them: the character of the Boy.

During the first creative segment of the Opening Ceremony, entitled 'The Boy on the Bay', the audience followed the Boy through his dreams, his ideas and his journey of discovery, in which he is helped by a transforming duck. The Boy journeyed on behalf of each of us, our nations and the Commonwealth. He also represented Australia: a young nation, still discovering itself, drawing on the wisdom of Aboriginal elders, and finding its place in a complex, dynamic world. Around the time of Australian Federation, Australia was often represented as a cheeky, irreverent boy with much to learn.

During the Opening Ceremony, the milestones of the Boy's journey were marked by the changing forms of the duck. At the beginning of the journey the Boy was accompanied by a toy duck as he lept into the world of imagination. Soon he was following a fairy duck into wild aerial adventures. At the end of his journey, when he had learnt from his experiences, he found a real duck.

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