The day dawns hot and sunny…..but wait, this can’t be Melbourne Cup day which everyone tells us is usually cold and wet. But Melbourne Cup day it is and dressed in our best Cup Day finery, we’re off to the races at Flemington to bear witness to the 163rd running of Australia’s equivalent of the Epsom Derby or the Kentucky Derby. The race track at Flemington is a challenge to get to by car (and an even bigger challenge to leave….more of that later) situated as it is in the middle of a somewhat upscale residential neighbourhood. And the race day crowds are massive…..84,000 according to media reports

We’re dressed in our best Race Day finery, but we look positively dowdy and understated next to many of our fellow revellers, men as well as women. Cup Day is traditionally a time for extravagant and outrageous attire - ladies’ hats and fascinators in particular and today is certainly no exception. There’s even a fashion parade/competition for those more interested in getting on TV or their pictures in the following morning’s newspapers than in a bunch of nags running around! 

We decided to go to Cup Day (another check mark ✅ on our non-existent bucket list) fairly late on and so even if we’d wanted to pay the crazy prices, no space was left in the air conditioned clubs or restaurants overlooking the track. We’re in the Lawn Stand, right across from the winning post but for much of the day in the full sun. Luckily Sandra has brought an umbrella as rain had been forecast for around big race time!

The number of food and drink concessions is hopelessly inadequate for the large crowds, particularly on a hot, party day when everyone wants a drink (or two or three….). I stand in line for nearly an hour and decide to make this a one off - a bottle of champagne, soft drinks, ice and water! A little while later, another 45 minutes wait to buy a snack - from a location that appeared to have the shortest line! The “good news” is that left no time to stand in another long line at the TAB window (to place a bet)!

But we’d come for the Melbourne Cup and we couldn’t not have had a bet on the big one. So I took no chances and joined the line a good 45 minutes before the off. $20 each way (win or place) on Gold Trip, one of the favourites and $20 each way on a rank outsider, Sheraz (sounds like the wine and the city in Iran where we bought a rug!). Gold Trip along with the other favourites finished well down the field. But…..Sheraz finished a very gallant third and our $20 bet paid back $210!!

We collect our winnings from the TAB window (another long line, only every other computer working!) but with the big race over and a couple more still on the card we decide to make an early exit to beat the crowds. So we go looking for where the Uber pick-up area might be. There are a few conflicting signs to “Rideshare” but far more frustrating is that every red or orange jacketed “security” person (and there is no shortage of them) we ask either points us in a different direction or stares blankly at us as if we’d asked the quickest way to the moon! And it’s hot and windy - so pretty hard to keep our cool….which I certainly didn’t 😱. It takes us nearly an hour to finally locate our Uber driver who had kept in contact by phone and tracking us on the Uber app. We couldn’t believe that he’d waited for us…..but he likely would have been challenged to leave the parking/pick up area which was being chaotically “policed” by more clueless orange or red jacketed “security” people

All told, we had a most enjoyable and even somewhat profitable day….well drinks, snacks and Uber (almost) covered by our Sheraz winnings! Another not-to-be repeated experience checked off the bucket list…..✅✅✅