As our family and friends have been staying warm in cozy jumpers as fall turns to winter in the northern hemisphere, we’ve been giving spring a sendoff as we welcome in summer. Our spring season here includes Halloween which seems to get more and more popular each year we are here. We still remain one of the very few homes that carves a pumpkin though. They’re still tough to find here and pretty expensive so that part of the North American tradition hasn’t really taken off here. Sadly, there seems to be more and more store purchased costumes available so we’re seeing less of the creative homemade ones when kids come to door now which is a bit disappointing. It’s nice though that kids don’t need to hide their costumes under winter coats, hats and mittens!
Shortly after Halloween came the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s major horserace of the year. It’s a public holiday in Victoria but all across Australia, people throw parties to mark the occasion. We spent the afternoon at our friends place. After watching the race (which is over in minutes), our friends had organised their own race event, betting and all. I put all my money on Rob but he was too busy taking selfies to reign in his horse.
A little while ago, Rob started crewing on a friend’s catamaran and participating in sailing races. He even spent a week racing in the Whitsundays in August (and enjoyed every minute!). At the end of November, the yacht club held its annual awards night. This year was the 50th anniversary of the club so 1970s fancy dress was encouraged. I’m not usually a fan of dressing, but we all had a lot of fun with this one.
Here’s the full group.
After the official awards, there was one final race of the season. Each table needed to build a boat and then race it through the markers. We used balloons and a couple of construction paper fans to propel ours to a win.
Now that the racing season is done for the year, Rob decided to pick up another hobby – Blokarting. Basically, it’s sailboat racing on land. I’ve sat in the cart but haven’t had a chance to give it a go yet but am hoping I might get to try it while I’m on Christmas holidays.
Just a week later, we were on our way to Melbourne. I had to go there for a 2-day meeting so we extended the trip for a few days so we could enjoy the big city a bit. While I busy with my work events, Rob headed to the Matildas game. I was definitely jealous but glad he was found something so fun to do while I was busy with work.
Our trip to Melbourne was during the first week of December so the city was all decked out for Christmas. It was beautiful! The Crown Casino, which was just across the river from our hotel, was particularly gorgeous.
And out front of the Casino, they ran this water and light show. We actually noticed it from the roof top bar of our hotel a few nights before so made a point of getting over to watch. I absolutely loved the cheesiness of the graphics – they were perfect! And they adjusted the lyrics of Winter Wonderland to make sense here in Australia. In Summer Wonderland, instead of sitting by the fire and building a snowman in the meadow, these lyrics talk about sunburn, lighting barbies, and playing backyard cricket. I loved it!
A minute or two after the water and light show ends, the flame show starts. All along the waterfront were these tall rectangular billboards, alternately lit up red or green. it’s hard to tell up close, but they were designed to light up like candles. The heat and noise of these was crazy. I did wonder a bit at the waste of it all but apparently the Casino has a lot of money to burn (haha!). It did look really cool though from a distance. These were what first caught our attention from the rooftop bar a few nights before.
And here are some other final Christmas light pics from the waterfront.
The next day we made our way over to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and spent much of the day watching Queensland versus Victoria. On the same day, the Australian National team was playing India in Adelaide, so there were very few spectators. They actually only opened one section of the stands and even then, there were tons of open seats. I am still learning all the ins and outs of cricket and still find it a bit funny. The game is so long the teams need a tea (lunch) break, but I do actually enjoy the sport.
We also fit in a bit of shopping. Neither of us really needed anything but it’s nice to have options. We love our peaceful little town but definitely make the most of access to shops, good restaurants, and entertainment when we travel to the city.
The next day, we decided to head over to an area of the city called the Docklands which is near the marina so we could catch the Banksy exhibit. It surpassed all expectations! We spent forever in there taking it all in. There were many paintings I hadn’t seen and exhibits I had never heard of. Bankys’ political activism has always impressed me but I had never realised the full extent of it.
There were sections of one of his former exhibits there called ‘Dismaland’. The messaging behind the different exhibits within the ‘bemusement’ park were pretty profound. Here’s the advertisement that went with that exhibit when it came out if you’re interested.
The other interesting sight at Docklands is the Star Observation Wheel. The star in the wheel has 7 points which represent each of the states and territories in Australia. Rob and I watched a fascinating documentary on this ferris wheel a while back. It was originally built as a tourist attraction and was meant to be the largest ferris wheel in the Southern hemisphere (I’m not sure if it actually is or not). The original build went a few years over schedule and cost $100 million dollars! Even worse, they had to shut it down just a month after it opened because cracks were starting at the joints. They took another 4 years to rebuild it (and who knows how much additional money!). The ferris wheel ran for about 6 years and was then permanently shut down in 2021. They haven’t torn it down yet though. I’m thinking after all the issues they had with it, it is not something I’d ever be willing to try even if it did re-open.
After leaving the Banksy exhibit, we headed over to the Melbourne Convention Centre for the Food and Wine festival. We were just a wee bit confused when we arrived. We apparently entered the Comic Con end of the Convention Centre and had to make our way through various characters and ‘battles’ before we finally found our way to some food and wine.
We ended our trip to Melbourne with an evening of jazz at the Paris Cat Club. A friend’s husband recommended this place to us last time we were in Melbourne and I think we will make it a regular event each time we visit the city. It’s this tiny little basement jazz club in one of the many little alleys of Melbourne. This band was a Harry Connick tribute band. It was a perfect way to end the trip.
And just like that it was time to head back home and back to work. Fortunately, I only had a week and a half of work before starting a few weeks vacation for the holidays. On my first day back, I was greeted by some friends. I love the gardens and wildlife we have on campus. It definitely makes being at work feel a little less work like.
Well, that’s us for 2024. I am now officially on holidays and we are planning to enjoy some much-needed downtime. We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and safe and happy new year. Until next time!