Melbourne Cup
Everything stopped at 3pm today for the Melbourne Cup, the big horse race of the year which is held on the first Tuesday in November. It's the equivalent to the Grand National in terms of betting and sweepstakes - although this race is run on the flat. There were some 'names' from the UK sport involved (Frankie Dettori and Kieren Fallon) but the race was won by a Japanese rider on a Japanese horse for the first time, which must have put the Aussie noses out of joint!

The race reminded us of the first time we came to Australia as a family in November 1993 - our flight was diverted to Melbourne to pick up people returning from the race back to Sydney, which was the last thing we wanted at the time, after a long flight, but indicated at the time how big the race probably was here. It is also a 'bank holiday' in Victoria on the day of the race, but not in NSW so Sue missed the race live - having to do the school run - but saw it later on video!