Melbourne Cup Day

The first weekend of November is the Melbourne Cup, a four-day public holiday in celebration of a horse race of all things. It is a huge event here, kinda like Thanksgiving meet the Kentucky Derby.



We went to an off-track betting shop where I learn the difference between fillies and turkeys. In the end I did win $20 bucks which I promply blew on a round of beers.

Meet the Gramps

We went on a camping trip in the Grampians, famous for their unusual rock formations. We had a surprisingly sunny weekend (rare for Melbourne). We car camped and went on various day hikes in the area.
















It is nice to see that the Park Services still allows dumb tourists to venture out into dangerous situations just to pose for a photo to show folks back home.



















This is called the Disappearing Falls. We thought it meant it disappears if it is not raining at the time. In an unexplainable trick of alchemy, the water is turned not into wine but into a pile of rocks.



















Kangaroos are like deer back home, meaning they are quite common and can be seen in most rural areas. We turn this curious guy into breakfast sausage and 'roo steaks the next morning.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

We went to the Hanging Rock one sunny afternoon. You may have heard of it because of the Peter Weir film in the 70's in which a bunch of school girl mysteriously disappeared during a picnic outing. Many people here still thinks the film depicted real events but was really a work of fiction, or so the ranger told us. Note the gremlin looking rock formation eyeing Shirley. Unfortunately the infamous "Hanging Rock" look none too threatening.

Aussie Rule Footy Final

This state is totally footy mad, so when the team formerly known as the South Melbourne Swans won the AFL championship, our whole neighbourhood was coloured red and white. No one seemed to mentioned that the team had moved to Sydney over fifteen years ago.