Raindrops keep falling......

Weather in Melbourne seems to be having a personality crisis at the moment with the weeks heating up, culminating on Monday & Tuesday with 37 degrees. Looked like summer had hit early. The beaches were full and stayed that way well into the night. Tuesday night brought rain and lots of it and Wednesday only got to 15, looked like winter was back. Now the unkind among us would say what else is new, that it is just Melbourne weather. Perhaps, but it was great to see the rain which lasted all day Wednesday. Who ever thought that the day would come when we rejoiced at the rain, instead of complaining.

With only 4 weeks to go until Christmas the city is really getting into the mood with the Myer Christmas Parade happening last Saturday morning and of course the opening of the Christmas Windows. This years windows are based on a story called Uno's Garden and look really cute. The arrival of Santa during the parade was a highlight for all the kids. The week before Santa had arrived in the mall for the David Jones Christmas spectacular. Hope the kids aren't as confused as me. Santa's helpers, Megan Gale & Jennifer Hawkins, sure are getting the interest of the dads this year. The Christmas Tree lights have been turned on in the City Square and Santa's Mailbox is on the corner ready for the 1000's of letters that will be posted there. The big Advent Calender is back up in Fed Square just waiting for the 1st Dec to start the countdown again. So all that is left to do now is shop for pressies and food for the big day. We are looking forward to Sarah & David visiting us for Christmas this year.

Bill has been to the last 2 South Dragons games and saw a win & a loss. Still they are off the bottom at last, hopefully to stay. While he was there last Friday, I was in Northcote seeing Mezz Coleman release her first CD. Lots of people had come to support her and her band, 2 of which are her brothers. It was a great night and as usual Mezz sang beautifully.

A couple of nights later we went to Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre and saw Let It Be. A tribute night to the music of Lennon & McCartney. A few old rockers have got together with a 10 piece band (The Day Trippers) and perform loads of the Beatles songs. Doug Parkinson, Glenn Shorrock, Darryl Lovegrove, Mark Williams & Cheryl O'Niell. It was pretty good and they can still belt out a song.

And so we come to the end of another week, the election will be the big event of Saturday, must find something to do on Saturday night to avoid the many & varied TV coverages of the whole thing.

So until next time.........

Fillies, Frocks & Fascinators

Sounds like a day at the races eh! Actually it was 2 days at the races. The Spring Carnival was in full swing and of course The Melbourne Cup is the 'big day'.

We went along with Tammy, who had come over from Perth for the Cup. The weather was a glorious 22 deg sunny day. So with a Public Holiday in Melbourne it was time to don the Glad Rags and head off to the track for the best of day of People watching there is. And of course there are the horses to watch as well. With tickets restricted this year and the horse flu saga continuing, numbers were down a bit but 100,000 people sure fill a racetrack pretty well. We found a patch of lawn to put down our rug and with Champgne, Strawberries & cream and the odd $2 each way bet we had a great day's entertainment. Tammy was the star of the day winning the first 5 races. I managed 2nd & 3rd's and Bill got the odd 3rd. None of us picked the winner for the actual Cup race. Still it didn't dampen our enthusiasm on the day. Leaving the track we joined the many weary party people on the train ride home and found a great Tapas bar for an early dinner and then it was home to collapse and regain our strength for Thursdays adventure - Oaks Day.

Another beautiful day, 24 deg and perfect sunshine, meant that the sun cream had to come with us on Thursday. Another patch of lawn for our rug and we were quite happily sipping Champagne again and watching more people than horses. This time 95,000 people attended and we saw some wonderful fashions and some that left us wondering 'what the!' Also saw some amazing sunburn as some people seemed to be ill prepared for the summer sun. It isn't only the girls that dress up, the guys take this week very seriously and it was great to see so many men 'dressed' for the occasion. Suits & ties ruled - even with the heat. We caught up with Bryce and friends later in the day and it was safe to say that we had all had a pretty good time. Tammy won the day again with Bill & I not doing nearly so well as Tuesday. Thank goodness I only know how to put $2 each way on a horse. Another cheery train ride home and dinner in China Town finished a couple of great days out.

We had a great time with Tammy and sure did make the most of all Melbourne has to offer at this time of year. We saw an Eagles tribute band, Hotel California, from Scotland one night at the Famous Speigletent. They were pretty good and seeing any show at the tent is an event in itself.

The next day Bill & I took Mum to see Phantom of the Opera for her birthday and it was so good to see it again in the Princess Theatre. It was wonderful and we then met Tammy after the show for dinner at Chloe's. A firm favourite of ours.

On Monday night we met Karen & Lauren for dinner at the Geebung Polo Club. It was good to catch up again and hear of all her adventures in Adelaide. Friday night and we were off to the Regent Theatre to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was excellent, funny and totally over the top and we laughed all night. A late dinner at the Automatic Cafe finished the night and a very busy week. Still it was the best fun and we look forward to many more like it.

Saturday night we had the Hill's Christmas party at Witches in Britches (no rude comments, please) Theatre Restaurant. After wandering round the city all day shopping & sightseeing I would have gladly changed places with Tammy and luxuirated in the bath & bed. Still it was an experience that we had to have and a good, but very noisy, night was had by all.

And shopping. Tammy arrived this time with a large suitcase and went home with it packed full and more hand luggage than she could carry. We found some great new shops in Smith St (formerly just thinking it was sports outlet shopping) so it will definitely on the agenda for next time. Docklands was the place to lunch on Sunday and another gorgeous day had us wandering around in the sunshine as we decided were we should stop. James Squire Brewhouse was the winner and we had a great afternoon watching life passing by at Docklands, both on & off the water.

Up on Monday morning bright & early and Tammy was off to catch the plane home again. (I reckon there might have been excess luggage, and if not there should have been). And we were both off to work again as life returns to normal for a short while. It was great to have her visit and share all our adventures with us.

With the city gearing up for Christmas once more who knows what interesting things we will find over the next few weeks

So until next time.............