Met with Skitz and Angie in town on Friday afternoon for the Spring Carnival. We booked this week in at Easter after Stitz and Steve saved hard with the punters club.
We had a very busy and fun filled week!
We found the local for a few drinks and then kicked off the night with some karaoke followed by a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant that Angie had been to before. Can’t think of the name! Then back home to get ready for our first big day at the races.
Saturday was Derby Day. Up early and frocked up. It was raining and we had no umbrellas so we caught a cab (that wasn’t easy to find) thinking that it would let us off close to the entrance. Well it didn’t!! 😫 We walked in the rain for about a kilometre! It was very unpleasant.
Derby day is the biggest day of the carnival with 4 group ones, so lots of people and lots of fun. The seats we had in the grandstand were awesome, up front and right on the finish line. Luckily we had a few winners early so we were setup and enjoyed the rest of the day.
After the races it was time for the World Cup final. Michael and Angela (Angie snuck in a cat nap) stayed up all night and went to a pub to watch it, while we just rolled out of bed at 3 and watched it in the room. They didn’t get home until about 6am, so Steve and I were first up and went out to brekky and left Angie and Michael to catch up some sleep.
We chose a place for brekky that had a $15 dollar big brekky (Bacon, eggs, sausage, hash brown and tomato) with a free coffee! I just chose eggs with bacon and mushrooms on the side and Steve went for the big one.
After nearly an hour our breakfast arrived! Without bacon!!! 😱😱 they had run out!!! So they decided to deliver our breakfast anyway and substitute our bacon. I was so lucky to get spinach which I don’t like and Steve had two hash browns instead of one which he was going to give to me because he’s not so keen on them. Not happy Jan!!! They said they would get us some bacon ASAP. I wanted to leave but Steve was starving. Our bacon never arrived. 😔😔 On leaving I asked for a discount which they gave us. It was a big joke!! A breakfast cafe with no bacon. After that we checked out Queen Victoria markets which were just like Paddy’s in Sydney.
Next back to the apartment to see if the sleeping beauties were up. They were so we went to the National Art Gallery of Victoria. We saw lots!!!! They kicked us out at 5pm. We went for a late linner to a nice tapas restaurant on the Yarra. On the way home we dropped into a pub called Young and Jackson to see the famous painting of Chloe but we missed her because there was a function – no worries we’ll just have to come back! We all headed home tired and ready for bed, well at least the boys did! Angie and I had some girl time and stayed up to enjoy a few more drinks!
On Monday after a delicious brekky cooked for us by Steve- with bacon !!!! we went to watch the Melbourne Cup Parade. It was a great experience. There were cars with all the owners and jockeys, marching bands, horses, and dancers. Lots to see and Angie and I managed to secure a spot in front. Next we went to see the David Bowie exhibition and missed it by one day. I almost got attacked by a zombie! Then we went back to Young and Jacksons. The boys just had to see Chloe!! And they did. We had lunch and Angie and I squeezed in a little bit of shopping. We met Ginnie and David Jacobs for dinner and checked out their new abode. Very nice guys and great location. So great to catch up!!
Then came Tuesday! Melbourne Cup Day. Smarter choice today. We left earlier and caught the train which was much easier. Arrived early enough to grab a table inside. Set ourselves up and waited for the first race. We’d go out and watch each race and then come back to our table to eat, drink and be merry until some old bats decided they could have two of our chairs!! They were very reluctant to give them up but with some urging from us one was kind enough to give hers up but one was very stubborn. Angie using her most authoritive voice had no luck. She was almost ready to pull the chair out from under her when a gentleman in their group gave up his chair. Anyway a bit of drama is always fun. A great cup day with a few winners but no one managed the big one. Nice to be at a cup that will be in the history books. We had dinner at Cookies which was a Thai restaurant with a very interesting menu. It was lovely food though.
Wednesday was a day off racing so we headed to the very beautiful Fitzroy gardens where we looked through Captain Cooks cottage which was dismantled in England and rebuilt in the gardens. From there we made our way to Lygon Street for some Italian and then we met Ginnie who hosted us for the afternoon, showing us around St Kilda.
Thursday and it was Ladies Day. Another day to frock up! The day started a little later so not such a rush. Another great day of punting and great company. We had a table inside again. No old bats today! Lucky we had a table inside because a mini tornado came through and wet all the front section where our seats were! Before we knew it the last race was on and the carnival was over, lots of fun with great friends – can’t believe it went so fast! Definitely going to do it again – hopefully it won’t take 4 years to save this time.
Friday morning we packed up after a very big week and headed back to Katie and Paul’s. We prepared for our next adventure and shopped for supplies and then enjoyed a lovely seafood dinner with Katie and Andrew and Paul before hitching up heading off the following morning. It was great to be able to spend some more time with these guys.😘