Labour Day Weekend (for some)

Before we get to the new posting, I must first print our first correction. In a previous posting, I said Pop-pop was a football coach. In fact, he was a baseball coach. I apologize for any confusion this misstatement might have caused and ensure our readers both Melissa and I will work diligently to confirm all facts from our various sources. On another note, the opinion of this writer that Pop-pop reminded him of Joe-Pa was just that, an opinion.

This is the first of a string of long weekends and short workweeks. Is there a better combination?! This weekend was Labour [the correct spelling Down Under] Day – well at least for one of us. Since Melissa works in Sydney and New South Wales does not celebrate Labour Day until November, I had the Monday off but Melissa [unfortunately] had to work. And Labour Day is not the only holiday that is different across the country. All states celebrate the Queen’s birthday – just which Queen each state is celebrating is anyone’s guess since they are all celebrate on different dates. I’m especially looking forward to Melbourne Cup Day in November – Melbourne [and Victoria] shuts down for a horse race. It would be as if Maryland took the day off for the Preakness Stakes. At least with Melissa working from home, we were able to swelter together in our still not air conditioned house [it topped 35C] and enjoy a long lunch at our new favorite lunch spot – The Avenue Foodstore.

Unlike in the US where we all tend to flock to the beaches for one last long weekend, many around Melbourne take the holiday to go camping. It just so happens that many of the best campgrounds are also near beaches. Maybe we’re more alike that I thought?! Combine the long weekend with the unseasonably hot weather and everyone was outside enjoying the last throws of summer.

This past week was also the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. It’s apparently quite a draw as designers, models, and fashion goers [if there is even such a thing] worldwide were in town. Melissa really wanted to check out one of the events as fashion shows, drinks, and dinners were happening all week. I agreed to check out the Target Rocks event on Sunday at the Docklands. Yes, even Target exists here in Oz. Events included a fashion show, an outdoor Red Market, and a performance by the Veronica’s. Perhaps I agreed to go with the thought of being able to check out international models up close for the afternoon or perhaps I agreed to go along because I’m just a nice guy who does nice things for his wife – I’ll let you be the judge. ;-)

We arrived a little late and missed getting tickets to the indoor fashion show [blast!]. We strolled through the Red Market and something very obvious soon became very apparent – Melissa and I were not the target demographic for this event. We were surrounded by 13-18 year old girls. The Red Market had few attractions to offer and in the sweltering heat, this afternoon quickly spiraled into disaster. At least the Veronica’s were due on stage in 20 mins. Surely we could grab some food and a seat to ride out the boredom?! I’ve added another video clip to share the Veronica’s with you. They’re somewhat popular here and are in that phase where new pop groups just show up everywhere. With how much we hear them on the radio and tv, there were not a lot of people at the concert to cheer them on. Oh well, it turned into the highlight of our once promising – then disastrous – and nicely recovered Sunday afternoon.