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Published: November 12th 2008
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Halloween
As Halloween is not a holiday in Australia, we did our best to put together 'costumes' The end of October and first week in November brings the spring racing carnival: racing events that are so big they put the Kentucky Derby to shame. The spring racing carnival brings weeks of horse racing, fashion, and betting to Melbourne. And lets not forget that large hats are a must. I read a statistic that something like 90% of Melbournian's first betting experience will have to do with the spring racing carnival.
The carnival all culminates to the first Tuesday of November which is Melbourne Cup Day, or so named 'The Race that Stops a Nation.' In Victoria, it is even a public holiday, making for a nice 4 day weekend if people are so inclined to take the Monday before off.
I did indeed take this opportunity, and instead of participating in the racing festivities, headed north of the border into New South Wales. I headed about 1.5 hours over the border on the coast to a small beachside town called Tathra. Tathra is one of the most pristine places in Australia, and has been voted the best beach in Australia for a few years running now. It is even better because it is not commercial or
Oaks Day Racing
My friend Gemma and I at work, dressed up for the races. touristy, so everything is preserved. This is because it is surrounded by national parks on all sides, so it really can't expand further, so it is preserved as a tiny town.
Tathra used to be frequented by commercial fisherman, and for a while was a place that people would come to fish for sharks, right off the wharf (makes you want to get into the water….) That being said, of course we went fishing because it is so good and easy. So Andrew, his parents, and I all set off in this tiny fishing boat with two seats into the big ocean. We got a ways out and started to get our fishing gear in order. Then disaster struck. I started getting the most sea sick I had ever been in my life! About 5 minutes later I was throwing up off the side of the boat, which was more embarrassing than anything. The swell in the water was so big that our little boat was getting rocked. Not a good way to be in the ocean, maybe a bigger boat next time.
But the fishing trip wasn’t all bad. I saw (at least) 2 whales, right outside
Out to dinner
My flatmates and friends out to dinner for Allan's birthday. of the boat about 150 meters out. It was soo cool to see them that close. I guess that there are dolphins that will swim right around the boat, the day before Andrew's parents saw about 20 that were playing with them. Also, there are heaps of whales around, but I was too sick to look for more which was sad. But at least I got to see some.
The weather was not the best to be at the beach, as it was only in the 70's and had a bit of a breeze and cloud cover, etc. It’s the same as the beginning of May here, so its not expected to quite be warm yet. Melbourne is about the bottom most point of Australia (well aside from Tasmania), so it takes a while longer to heat up, and doesn't get nearly as warm as say Queensland.
Then on Tuesday, during the races, Andrew and I made the 7.5 hour trip back into Melbourne. I was a bit sad to miss the races, but I got to see whales (how cool!) and it was my first time to be out of Victoria, which was good as well.
Thursday after cup day, brings Oaks day, which is one of the last big days of racing. Due to this, Servier throws an annual Oaks day barbeque and betting event. At 1:00 in the afternoon we all got to go to the outside patio part of the office (who knew that existed???) and had a wonderful lunch. There were catered salads, tapas, and someone barbequing prawns, chicken skewers, etc. And lets not forget about the 50 bottles of champagne (it is a big company…) There was a $5 buy in where you drew tickets out of a hat for mystery bets, and then we could watch the races on TV. All in all a lovely way to spend an afternoon at work.
And in the last bit of news for the day, I finally have the internet! After about 2 months of being lost to the outside world my roommate Allan, finally got it all set up! So hopefully, I will now have a bit more connection to home as it won't be so difficult.
Also, enjoy some pictures I have put up of my trip, work, and my flatmates and friends.
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