32. Australian Hall of Fame

1. Don Bradman
In a career of 80 tests with a batting average of 99.94, Sir Donald Bradman is regarded as the greatest cricketer of all time. He was known by one and all as 'the Don'.

Above: Don Bradman's Blazer & Bat


2. The Meat Pie
The staple diet of Australian truckies, construction workers and all decent hard working Australians. Consumed with sauce, held in the hand and never, never eaten with a knife and fork.

Above: Pie'n'sauce


3. Vegemite
A fair dinkum Aussie icon - brown stuff that you spread on toast, bread and dry bikkies. Found in 90% of Australian homes, is it any wonder 22 million jars are sold every year?!

Above: Vegemite


4. Victoria Bitter
The greatest beer of all time - "For a hard earned thirst, you need a big cold beer, and the best cold beer is Vic, Victoria Bitter"

Above: Victoria Bitter


5. Thongs
A real Aussie icon classic, the undisputed all time Australian footwear item. Costs as little as $2 and have been known to last for years. The advantage of thongs is you don't have to bend over when putting them on or taking them off.

Insert right foot, insert left foot and Bob's your uncle! Off you go now.

Above: Thongs


6. Skippy
Our greatest television star - he knew whenever anyone was in trouble in the outback area of Warratah National Park, he was a life saver, solved crimes, and an all-round super-duper hero. During the 60's and 70's, hundreds of little boys and girls tried to whistle through a gum leaf thereby spluttering food in all directions!

Above: Skippy



7. The Melbourne Cup
A horse race. Australia's biggest and richest. Held the first Tuesday in November at Flemington. IN the red-roofed homes all over Australia, in office buildings and road works, people stop what they're doing and listen to the running of "The Cup". It's a public holiday in Victoria.

Above: The Melbourne Cup


8. The Beach
With a coastline of 36,735 kms - the beach is just the place for a nice day out. Loved by surfers, swimmers, mums and dads and kiddies alike.

Above: The Beach


9. Number 96
One of the first Australian serials, it was set in a Sydney block of flats. With a big helping of larger-than-life characters, a hint of campness and, wait for it - sex! Everybody remembers Abigail, she of the big...she had blonde hair and a lovely smile.

Above: Abigail


10. The Mullet
A haircut - cut (very) short at the front and sides and long at the back. Le Mullet is the world's best/worst haircut (depending on one's point of view). It can be combined with a long fringe, no fringe, rats tales, dreadlocks and even a receding hairline.

Above: The Mullet

11. Derby Day Deluge

Derby Day
Derby Day is the start of the Spring Racing Carnival and is held the Saturday before Melbourne Cup Day, and like Cup Day, ladies dress up in summery clothing, don fascinators and high heels. It's about looking good it's about looking your best it's about being dressy in your bits and bobs and having a wonderful day at the races ~ as well as having a flutter or two on your favourite horse!

Let's ga back a year to Derby Day 2009 - a lovely warm day with a pleasant breeze, blue sunny skies. What could be better? Below are a few shots from last year.

Above: A Bevy of Beauties

Above: Derby Day Damsels

Above: The Yarra

Derby Day 2010
Let's fast forward to this year's Derby Day on Saturday, 30th October and what a huge difference. The BOM (Beareau of Meteorology) had been predicting we would get a month's rain in two days! Well rain it certainly did. Melbourne received about 53 mm of rain on Saturday and in the north east of Victoria they had 50 - 60 mm rain.

Above Wet

 

Above: Wetter
That $200 fascinator that looked good in the mirror at 9.00am in hte morning wasn't looking its best by the afternoon and walking around in high heels in slushy, muddy, soggy grass isn't much fun but these gals still looked like they enjoyed the day.

Umbrellas were or course the most popular fashion accessory - and unheard of thing in Melbounre for many years due to the long drought we have been experiencing - as were see-through plastice raincoats. Your fancy dress that you got tizzied up in earlier in the day might leave you shivering but at least it was on show.

Above: Wettest
This young lad wades through the waters in a local street. Fancy a swim?

Rain, Rain, Rain,
The rain made quite a sound as it poured down and here's a short video - listen to the sounds of rain.