Maykbe Diva didn't make me a winner

All right! So, while I was very sad to leave NZ (mostly because we finally had sun and heat in Kaikoura and Christchurch - I even got to wear my shorts!) next stop was the famous Melbourne cup horse race in Australia.

Arriving in Melbourne, I met up with the fabulous Donna Martin, my first tour guide for Melbourne. Donna told me over coffee way back when I was in Vancouver, that I couldn't come to Oz in November and miss the cup - so now that she had drug me 1/2 way across the earth, she was determined to show me a good time.

First - a hat. Ladies do not attend the cup without a hat. Women in need of "the perfect outfit" are a nasty piece of work. After giving a few good elbow jabs and body checks (hockey *does* come in handy) we were able to clear a path at the local fabric store and get some supplies to match an incredible flower Donna had picked up for me. I then spent the rest of the day trying to dodge fratic shoppers as they picked up their last essentials for the cup the next day.

Now, Cup day is a public holiday in Melbourne - the racing fans like the other race days better because Flemington race track is INVADADED with everyone that can get a ticket. The big news this year, was Maykbe Diva - 2 time winner of the cup, and going for a history making 3rd try.

Getting to the races, it was amazing - like visiting an entire city that was going to the prom (this analogy will make more sense shortly). Ladies in fabulous summer dresses, huge hats, matching shoes and purses, lots and lots of colour, suits, ties, outlandish outfits. The train station looked like quite a party. I basically spent 1/2 my time at the races just people watching.

You get to the races, and instead of beer gardens - you buy a bottle of champagne (champers) and a flute glass for $30 - this is what you will be drinking for the day. People come out and have picnics on the grass, and everyone is betting and toasting each other and generally having a fabulous time. Donna (did I say she was fabulous?) got me into the "members section" which meant my ticket included free champers and finger sandwiches and great company for the day. Not to mention some of the best seats for people watching, and the race.

So... I didn't bet on Maykbe Diva... so many people had her as a favorite, I decided to spread the betting around. One of my horses was in the top five for the first 1/2 of the race, but Maykbe Diva blew them all away at the end. I have a photo of her making history from the stands - it was an incredible day. We don't really have anything like it at home - I have never seen a sporting event like it before.

Half the fun of the rest of the afternoon was people watching again - because after the cup race, everyone seems to reach the apex of their drinking. The lovely ladies start to wilt, the shoes come off, the ties are loosened, the drunken slurr makes an appearance and the whole race looks like a party that went on too long. No one can walk straight because they have all been drinking champers in the sun for the last 6 hours, and the train ride home we were treated to drunken song battles between Kiwis and Aussies (the kiwis did a drunken Haka on a swaying train - I wished I had taken a photo). In town, everyone files into bars, enormous hair pieces still on their head, and proceeds to really earn their drinking reputation.

Donna invited me to her rotary meeting early the next morning (and I actually made it) and the best treat? watching everyone do the walk of shame home in their significantly wrinkled finery at 10am through the office traffic.

Yea for Melbourne!