Today, we took advantage of the holiday atmosphere (see end of article for more on MCD) to meet our friends-in-the-City for a picnic. It was so nice to see Karen, her hubby Kai and their adorable rosy-cheeked 14 m.o. son Aidan. What is it about being miles from home in a totally new environment that makes 2 people fall on each other with such sincerely glad hearts?
Our meeting point was The Rotunda @ Williamstown, the most prominent halfway mark I could think of. It was so bitterly cold and windy that we gladly took up K's suggestion to lunch inside. Over a shared seafood plate and a pizza, we talked about pregnancy aches and pains, kinder and childcare, the work culture in Melb, the necessity of ducted heating in winter, what makes the locals tick, even our primary school days! (Karen and I go way back to P2 in CHIJ Kellock)...what Kai calls "suburban" conversational topics.
After that, Beth begged to go to the playground, so we reluctantly braved the cold, found ourselves a picnic bench, gorged on strawberries 'n' marshmallows dipped in Wicked Choc Dip, divvied up the American baked cheesecake we'd picked up from The Cheesecake Shop in Werribee town centre, passed pineapple juice around.....and yakked some more.
We all agreed that the weather is really the worst thing about living in Melb and that the climate in QLD (Brisbane for us, Gold Coast for K) might be much more ideal.
This was one of those gatherings where everything just blended and flowed seamlessly: no stress, no fuss, no pressure to impress anyone or do anything you didn't want to. Totally cool. Thanks K & family!
From www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au:
Melbourne Cup Day is Australia's most famous Tuesday. At 3.00pm AEST, on the first Tuesday in November, Australians everywhere stop for one of the world's most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup.
It is a day when the nation stops whatever it's doing to listen to the race call, or watch the race on TV. Even those who don't usually bet, try their luck with a small wager or entry into a 'sweep'. A sweep is a lottery in which each ticket-holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse and prize money is paid out to the first three places plus a 'consolation prize' for the horse that runs last.
In Melbourne, Cup Day is a public holiday for the Melbourne metropolitan area, and the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival. The party atmosphere often means that champagne and canapés, huge hats and racetrack fashions overshadow the business of horse racing.
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