Though school has so far turned out to be quite easy, my roommates and I have been taking it easy for the past two weeks to get used to our schedules and to get a little more settled into our new Australian lives.
However, this weekend brought a little more excitement.
Before coming to Australia I had heard from students who had previously studied abroad at Griffith that Race Day was a ton of fun!
My roommates and I woke up early on Saturday morning to get ready for the event. It is customary in the United States to get dressed up for a horse race and it is just the same for Australia.
Once we were ready we called a cab to take us to the race track.
We arrived the Gold Coast Turf Club around 10:45 am.
The event was not supposed to start until 12 pm but we had been told to get to the track as early as possible because apparently the place fills up fast.
Unfortunately we got there a little to early and we were told we could not be let in until 11:30 am at the earliest. Because we had about an hour we thought we would take a little walk to find a place to get a drink.
The walk to turned out to be a lot further than we expected and before we could find anywhere to get a drink we had to turn around and go back so we would still be early enough to beat the crowds.
We made it back to the track at 11:30 on the dot and we were let in to the special Griffith University student area where we received food and drinks while we watched the races.
We had a chance to make bets on horses we thought would win but I chose to just sit back and watch. I figured my money could be better spent somewhere else :)
Carly and I just walked around most of the day looking at what other people were wearing, meeting a lot of new people and enjoying the races.
When it was time to leave we hopped on a bus heading back to surfers paradise, where our apartment is. The bus ride home was interesting. After we got on the bus we immediately noticed a group of guys all dressed in the same t-shirts that were supposed to resemble a tuxedo. However, one of them was dressed like a drag queen. Carly had the luxury of sitting next to him haha.
After awhile we learned that it was the drag queens bachelor (stag) party and his groomsman had forced him to dress like a woman for purpose of humiliation.
It was a memorable way to end a great day!
Anna
Thanks for posting! What a great way to spend an afternoon under the sun and blue skies of the Gold Coast! You all looked fabulous! Glad you are all getting out and about and experiencing what Australia has to offer.
ReplyDeleteAlways looking forward to your next post.
Love you.
Mom