A poor way to end a day

Today wasn't as good as we hoped it would be. We took a trip to Bega.

Why go to a little hamlet on the far South Coast of NSW? Because of its racecourse. Our horse was running there, so we felt obliged to make the 3 hour trip. That's 3 hours each way. In a car for 6 hours. Locked in car with my mother-in-law. But of course I'm only joking, she's not too bad.

We had to leave at around 8am so that we could get there early enough to get a table in the Members area. So I had to get up at around 6:30 so I could spend half an hour on the treadmill first.

We picked up Penny, and after about 2 hours we stopped for coffee at Maccas in Cooma, where it was foggy and the temperature was a pleasant 6 degrees. By the time we got down to sea-level, the temperature had climbed to a mild 14 degrees and the sun was out.

Karyn went to say hello to Diamond Jay, and got bitten again. It happens every time. I guess one day she'll learn to stay away from the part with teeth.

It was a great race meeting at the Sapphire Coast track. Unfortuntely we came 6th. The jockey blamed the horse for not performing, but we prefer to blame him. So no trophy this time.

To make the day worse, Karyn put on a trifecta bet (picking first, second, and third) but the girl at the TAB put it on wrong. When Karyn realised this, she broke the cardinal rule of betting, and had the bet changed. If she'd left it alone, we'd have walked away with a 490:1 payout. But she broke the rule of never changing a mistaken bet, so we walked away with nothing.

So, back in the car for another 3 hour drive. With the mother-in-law next to me all the way. I had to drive, because the girls had consumed at least a bottle each.

By the time we reached Cooma we felt like a nice steak dinner, so we stopped off at the local RSL, and as luck would have it, the restaurant didn't open for another half an hour. We didn't feel like waiting, so back to McDonalds we went.

The girls pigged out on fat-burgers, while I had a wrap from their healthy-choice menu. Strange, but this menu has shrinked to almost nothing these days.

On the way back to the car, Fay tripped over and hurt herself. I'm sure the bottle of wine had nothing to do with it. She already had an injured ankle, so now she has an injured wrist and hip go with it. When we got home she realised the disadvange of our split-level home: stairs. It took ages for her to get upstairs and into bed.

Boy am I not looking forward to the morning when she tries to get up and finds out that her muscles have locked-up. Maybe I can go out somewhere before she wakes up.

I got into the spa for a relaxing float-around. And, of course, it started to rain. You know, I find it hard to relax in the spa when it's raining on my head.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Big Win at Bega

On Sunday we drove to Bega on the southern coast of NSW to see our new horse "Diamond Jay"  race.

Whilst being optimistic about her, we weren't sure about her real competitiveness.  In her last race, despite coming 3rd, she was also 11 lengths behind the leader.  You always hope that there was a reason for this, not just a lack of speed.

Anyway, we made the 3 hour drive there with some friends, stopping at Cooma on the way for coffee and then a lookout over the Bega valley.

Here's the view from the lookout.

Canberra is in the Southern Highlands of NSW, so we're about 600m above sea level.  So, being Autumn, it was about 8 degrees C.   As we descended to sea level, the temperature rose to about 21 degrees, so we had a relatively warm day ahead, windy though it was.

Karyn gave her usual pep-talk to the horse.  He must be getting used to her now.  Last time he bit her 3 times.

And of course the best horse won on the day....

Here's Penny and Karyn holding the trophy in the Committee Room.  There, we watched the race replay about a dozen times.

Notice how tightly Penny is holding the trophy.  She kept it hugged to her chest for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We're wondering if we'll ever see it again.