Two more quickies about sports here in Oz:1. The Melbourne Cup. It's kind of like the Kentucky Derby for Australia, but it is also far more important. The State of Victoria has the day off tomorrow. Restaurants all over Brisbane (and the rest of the country) are having special Cup lunches. Our Courier-Mail had a huge insert about the betting, the fashions, and the rest of the cultural impact of this horse race. Schools show the race to their students (but a gambling addiction support group wants to see that practice banned) Really, I never seen anything like this.
2. Air Racing. Apparently this is an international sport, but I had never heard of it before this past weekend. Single seat planes fly around at 200 kph through a race course to compete for the best times. This year's winner was an American pilot flying in a Red Bull-sponsored plane. The people of Perth must have had a good time watching this over the Swan River. Really cool stuff.
3 comments:
You know I don't get the Melbourne Cup thing either. It's a horse race, in a city most Queenslanders don't even like and yet time stops for it. Of course, I never understood how 60,000 people could go watch a NASCAR race so maybe it's me.
And I saw that airplane thing on Foxtel a few weeks ago - it was odd to say the least.
I didn't actually go to the Red Bull air race last weekend, but apparently over 340,000 of my neighbors did. Either this type of racing is hot, hot, hot...or...there usually isn't much to do in Perth, so when something new comes along, the citizens swarm all over it. I did hear the planes buzzing over the Uni and my house for 4 straight days (really annoying!). As for the Melbourne Cup, can't wait to hit the pub at lunch time. Gotta love Australia!
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