God bless the Queen!
Thanks to Ol’ Elizabeth we had a long weekend to explore, as her
birthday is a national holiday.
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| Kate wearing a fascinator |
On Saturday we went to the racetrack here in Gladstone to watch
camel races. We learned on the plane
ride over that Australia has the largest camel population in the world which
surprised us both, but then it was more of a shock to hear that they race
them! It was a big event and everyone
was dressed to the nines! All the women
wore dresses and hats called fascinators.
The girls at Nick’s work were trying to describe to Nick what a
fascinator was, but he didn’t quite get what they were describing. He came home from work and said, “Kate, we’re
going to camel races! And you have to
wear a dress and a wreath of flowers in your hair, like what the Greek people
wore”. I wore a dress, but no wreath of
flowers which is good because I would have looked a little out of place.
The races were fun, but mostly for the company as the actual
races weren’t that exciting. Five camels
were jockeyed by amateurs from the crowd and raced only the straight away of
the track. There were five races and
each lasted no more than 30 seconds.
Nick’s coworkers were all very friendly and outgoing. There was a mix of Australians, Americans and
Canadians. No one was from Gladstone,
which created a bond as everyone was new to town. They arrange monthly “get togethers” and I
look forward to getting to know everyone better. On Monday we drove about 15 miles south to Tannum Sands
which is considered a suburb of Gladstone.
It has a fabulous beach and long esplanade. We were able to eat lunch with an ocean view. A good end to a long weekend.
I got a little teary-eyed at the waving to us across the ocean picture. But am so stoked after chatting with you on the phone yesterday that it will last me a LONG time! I'm so relieved you're "connected" - it makes you seem so much closer.
ReplyDeleteLove the reprise of your "Save The Date" -- like the new initials Mrs. Miller!