Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

Melbourne Mum is unexpectedly back in town for Melbourne Cup week after a whirlwind of flights: HIM: Bolivia ---> Peru ---> Chile ---> MELBOURNE   MELBOURNE  <--- Bangkok <--- USA <--- Japan: ME My son and I converge at our Australian Doctors to discuss plans following him coming off the worse for wear having hit a puddle on a push bike in Bolivia. Death Road, Bolivia is sold as the world's most dangerous road on account of the treacherous descent from the La Paz mountains into the Amazon rainforest. The rocky shingle road hugs the mountain with a sheer drop where many have not lived to tell the tale.   It was a very expensive puddle, but it could be far worse! I'm guessing when your kids have been brought up traveling the globe, with two parents that encourage the go off and see the world adventures, it should come as no real surprise that from time to time Mum needs to get home to pick up the pieces. I did have a littl...

'Winning at the Melbourne Cup has always been a dream' M.J. Payne Watching the race from the rails  'Once the Melbourne Cup starts it is hard to explain,  it is not like any other race... Watching the presentation of the Jockeys from Members Then at the 300m I thought, I don't think anything can beat me now' M.J. Payne Flemington magic Our Melbourne Cup morning starts at the iconic downtown Windsor Hotel. We enter the lobby and are offered a glass of champagne . Mr Wren starts to explain we are not hotel guests ' Sir, you are in the Windsor now' he is told. Hats off to that service! Table display in the foyer at the Windsor Hotel along with my hat! 'The race that stops the nation' and catapults one Michelle Payne  into the limelight  as the first female jockey to win the Cup, is six hours away. Our breakfast with friends at the Windsor Hotel is lovely and relaxed. It would have been a ve...

Changing of the Guards I'm rather chuffed with this photo  taken in the exclusive Birdcage just hours  before our Aussie race that stops the nation. The Birdcage is the poshest enclosure at the Melbourne Cup.  It's home to celebrities, the creme de la creme of society,  full VRC members  and the hottest tickets to party. I know, I know goodness knows what we were doing in there! It was a bit surreal really, wandering or should I say tottering around the Birdcage.  Trying not to look gob-smacked at every turn. At times I could have been forgiven for thinking I was back home in Blighty. Firstly there was Bar Schweppes,  all Pimms and Gin & Tonics and then slightly  bizarrely  Emirates with it's "Hello England' theme... Apparently these Queens Guards did a rather good Hip Hop dance routine ! This was all just hours before Michelle Payne, first female  jockey winner of the Melbourne C...

It's Melbourne Cup weekend  and I've had five days off work - Yay! Only in Australia would the horse 'race that stops the nation' be cause for a day, or two, depending on where you work, off work. The Melbourne Cup Carnival 2015  is spread over four days,  each day has a different style and feel. Getting raceday ready takes effort, as there is strict racewear etiquette. Think sophistication, think classy think Wren in a blind panic! Whilst I could possibly pull something out of the wardrobe for Derby Day, which is all about the timeless elegance of black & white. Well sort of...  Melbourne Cup  is all about striking colours and a statement hat Hmmmm, I've got my own interpretation of this. I've got myself a pink hat,  some pink shoes and a pink bag, Pink fingers and pink toes... I'm not sure what type of a statement I am going to make... I think I'm going to look a bit like the dolly-mixture sweets! I...

It's Melbourne Cup weekend. The horse race that stops a nation. Here's a teaser of what I will be wearing on Tuesday... Some pink shoes, a pink hat  and no doubt a touch of dog hair! Linking with Saturday Critters Thanks Eileen!