Mar 2008

I'm back in Australia for a new year! But, I sort of need to finish travel blogging last year. Yes. So, it is time for the races, Emirates Stakes Day, which I went to on November 10th of last year. Four months ago. Yes, I am a little behind...well, that's okay.

Well, the morning of the race, before we left, I had to decide how to adorn my head! The night before, Pippi and I had gone to Myers to check out head pieces. The head piece is a very important part of the whole outfit, you know. There were three I was looking at, but Pippi was like, "We'll just buy them all so you can try them on with your dress, and I'll return the other two later." So that is what I did.

Option 1: A head band with a small flower. Minimal flair.

Option 2: A headband with a poofy feather thing. Medium flair.

Option 3: A headband with lots of feathery things. More flair. So this is the one I went for.

So, Pippi and I got in the car and went to the races. You know, I don't really remember that many details, as this was four months ago. It's a good thing I have the pictures. Outside the front were some weird guys on stilts. I'd actually seem them in the Melbourne Cup Parade, which I had gone to see in the city earlier that week.

The stilt guys...I don't really remember, basically they thought a pretty girl like me needed some accompaniment (is that the right word? No?) for the day and they wanted to go in with me. It was weird.

But then I found Phar Lap, and he was cool! Here we are together:

So then Pippi and I went up to the Members Section. I wasn't a Member, but Pippi was able to secure a seat for me in the section anyway, though I had to sit at a table with strangers. But they were very nice strangers. They served us fancy food and white wine, which was gross, but I drank it anyway.

I bet on the first few races. If I liked the horse's name, or if the odds were really low that they'd win. Like 20 to 1 odds. I'd only ever bet fifty cents, a dollar, but I figured that if they did win, I would get a lot of money! But these horses kept losing. I guess that should not have surprised me. So I stopped betting. And then the very next race, you know who won? A horse with 100 to 1 odds. Yeah. I was mad. I guess that's what you get when you gamble.

Well, here are some pictures of races in action!

Well, first, here's the racetrack, or part of it.

A pretty sign.

More of an overview of the track and the city in the background.

Here's a horse I bet on. They prance around in a circle before they race, which is what they're doing here. #9 in the centre. I think his name was Dance Dance Dance or something like that. He lost.

Here am I. Waiting for the race to start.

Here's my horse losing. Or, rather, another horse winning.

Then Pippi and I went to visit Kevin. He was working, collecting bets and stuff. Here we are!

Then it was time for the main race of the day! The Stakes Race! I think. Yeah! Here is the back of some girls heads.

The race in progress.

Then, I decided to leave Pippi and the Members section behind for a second, and journey down to the ground to mingle amongst the riffraff. Here they are.

The riffraff were actually really cool, because they had their own singing and dancing penguin!

Finally it was time for the last race of the day. I decided I would give the betting thing one last shot. I decided to bet on Jukebox Johnny, because that was a good name! So I put some money on number 10. But when I got back to my table I realised Jukebox Johnny was #9, and I'd actually bet on some random horse. But I was like, "Whatever, they're all going to lose anyway." So I didn't care. But then, the horse I'd accidentally bet on won!! And I won $17! It was so exciting!!! I made back all the money I'd bet, plus $7 more. So, I decided gambling was fun after all.

After I went to collect my money, I ran into more creepy guys. They'd been drinking, I think. They said, "Hey, can we have our picture taken with you?" And I was like, "Um..." And Pippi was like, "Yeah! It'll make their day! Come on Kate, I'll take the picture!" So Pippi took their cell phone and they stood on either side of me and we had our picture taken. It was really strange.

But, on the plus side, they then took Pippi and I's photo. So here we are. I am clutching my winnings in my hand! Because I was very excited about it still.

And...that was the races. In as much detail as I remember, four months on. The end!