Tuesday morning and we had to get up and pack for a few days away at Mulwala. Di and Paul were relatively late up, to be fair Paul was up but Di didn't quite make the cut.However they left when we did, so everything worked out well in the end. We drove to Mulwala on a fairly uneventful drive through atypical Australian countryside, large gum trees, open fields and small towns which may well have been transported from America, wide board walks and balconies.
Pam and Mike had to drop their dog off at their gardener's so they travelled in their car. We found our destination fairly easily and parked the car deciding to go for a thirst satisfying beer whilst we waited for them to arrive. We were somewhat taken aback to walk into one of the largest bars we have been in for some time and to find that the bar was full of revellers enjoying the public holiday granted for the horse race that is the Melbourne Cup.
To give you some idea of the size of the place behind the bar there were over a hundred one armed bandits with their captivating flashing lights. Our estimate was that there were over three hundred people in the bar alone, and we didn't count those in a private party out on the lawn.
As the race started a hush fell over the room as all those with a bet on, and that seemed like most people in the room became concerned with the their wagers. As the race reached the home straight the cheering increased and the race was won by Michelle Payne riding The Prince Of Penzance. She was the first woman to win this race as a jockey. The odds on the horse wining were a hundred to one but had we known we would have had a couple of dollars on it.
Pam and Mike arrived and we were shown to a very lovely waterside apartment, large lounge coining area and two bedrooms.
We settled in with some glee enjoying watching the water on the lake, the black swans, the Pelicans and the moorhens. The lake is part of the mighty Murray river which has been flooded. In the evening we went for an Italian meal in the Italian restaurant in the complex which was quite good. After a fairly tiring day it was early to bed listening to the lapping of the lake against the foreshore.