Rumblings From Down Under

The weekend of our first week in Australia is upon us and it seems time has flown by. Granted, we lost the Monday in flight but it still seems like the first few days have evaporated (unlike the rain, but more on that below). We arrived to Sydney and our taxi ride from the airport gave us a chance to see many finely dressed men and women. Just as we were thinking that Sydney does not do casual, our driver let us know the Melbourne Cup horse race was on that day and how it was a day for the entire nation to enjoy. While the men were in their suits, the women really ruled the day as we saw many creative fascinators (yes, it’s a real word!) and no two alike. This picture gives an idea to those not familiar with such finery:

The really exciting news about the horse race was that a female jockey won for the first time in the history of the event. It made the headlines everywhere as she rode a 100 to 1 long shot to a first place finish and smashed glass ceilings in the process.

We did manage to fight any attempts to sleep but I am certain my brain was still a bit fuzzy the next morning as we went to breakfast. I was enjoying our fare and decided to place some of the delicious jelly on the toast I was about to consume, Vegemite is not jelly! It is not tasty! It is a dark brown Australian food paste made from leftover brewers' yeast extract and there’s a reason why it should not be consumed besides being leftover yeast extract – it tastes horrible!

It became apparent early on in our walks that the birds in the area were very different from what we had seen back home. The photos below are just some of the examples and we’d love to have any of them identified.

As for the rain, I was doing my best “Annie” each night. You know, “The sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun!” but it didn’t help. As we were leaving Sydney, it was very sunny and the warm weather was settling in. As we landed in Melbourne, the rain landed with us. I am convinced that this is just a short-term concern. “Tomorrow, tomorrow…”

More to come as this adventure continues. Thanks for following along.