Just as a little break inbetween all of my
Middle East blog posts, I thought I’d tell you all about an event I went to yesterday! I’ve been in
Perth over three weeks now, and I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things and getting myself into a little routine. The
Melbourne Cup in Australia is huuuuge, and despite going to
Royal Ascot most years and coming back to Australia regularly, I’d never actually been to a Melbourne Cup event before, mainly because it’s been eight long years since I was last in Perth in October/November when it all happens.
So I was super excited to be invited to the Mirage Melbourne Cup lunch at Crown Perth. Crown is a huge entertainment complex in Perth, and somewhere I’ve been going to for many years, and I have a huge amount of amazing memories from there. From back when it was the Burswood and my friends and I went to see Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, and Chris Brown at the Dome, to having my work’s closing down dinner at Atrium, to my friend’s birthday dinner at Carvers, and countless nights out in the casino and at the Eve nightclub (don’t judge).
And then there was the time when I was seven years old and waved off my mum, dad, and two sets of aunty and uncles in a white stretched limo. It was my Dad’s birthday and they were all eating at one of the fancy restaurants at Burswood, except my Dad, Uncle Eif, and Uncle Gray can’t be normal grown up men, they’re basically all still teenage boys, so they all got matching Hawaiian shirts and wore them to dinner. We all thought it was hilarious!
Anyway, I wasn’t sure what to wear and couldn’t decide between all of the dresses I brought to Australia with me (I ended up having 65kgs of luggage…oops), so I ended up wearing my polka dot dress from Zara, with my Kate Spade bag and black heels. I didn’t wear a hat because the event was inside and it’s a huge faux pas to wear a hat to an indoor event in the UK…then I got there and everyone was wearing hats and headpieces. I forgot that Australians don’t follow the same fashion and etiquette rules as us Brits 😉
The lunch was an all day event held in the beautiful and absolutely huge Grand Ballroom, and there were hundreds of people there! Members of the public could purchase tickets to the event, so it was a really lovely day full of a huge variety of interesting people. In true Aussie style the alcohol was flowing (local Margaret River wines, and the not-so-local – but my favourite – G.H. Mumm
champagne), and the four course lunch was exceptional.
Inbetween each course we had live singers, fashion shows (including one from Sass & Bide), and of course the horse racing being shown up on the big screen! Hollywood Reporter Nelson Aspen was the MC for the day, and he was hilarious. Such a good MC and really made sure everyone was having fun.
We started with Salmon, which I don’t eat so I nibbled at the buckwheat and avocado. The others all polished theirs off so I’m guessing it was good!
Next up we had steak, which was probably my favourite dish of the night. It was delish, and cooked perfectly. I love my steak medium rare and very pink with a little blood when you cut into it, and that was exactly what these little pieces of steak were like. Perfection!
For our main course we had Smoked Chicken, which was actually pretty tasty despite me not being overly keen on smoked meats. Let’s just say I practically licked the plate clean and ate it so quickly I forgot to take a photo…oops.
While the champagne was topped up, we watched another race, had another performance, and then dessert was served. You guys. This dessert. Just look at it. Obviously I practically licked that plate clean too.
Australian
TV legend John Burgess was sat at our table, and while we were chatting it was so funny seeing so many people come up and ask him for a selfie. I had no idea who he was at first, and we kept having to stop/start our conversation for all these people, so he explained his history in Australian TV for me.
With lunch over it was time for the party! By this point all of the other guests were pretty drunk off all the free-flowing booze (not me though, I was driving as usual), so the dance floor was a pretty funny place to be with all of the drunk dancing going on.
Australian singer Anthony Callea performed and seemed to be a hit with every woman inside the Grand Ballroom. Everyone was getting selfies so obvs I got FOMO and had to get one too. This lady below got A LOT more than a selfie, hahaha.
Pretty soon it was time for everyone to head home (or on to The Merrywell, Crown’s awesome pub), but I couldn’t leave without a selfie and photo with John and Nelson!
A huge thank you to
Crown for inviting me, I had such a fun day! I will definitely be back very soon (mainly for my guilty pleasure Eve, but also because I need to finally try Nobu and
Rockpool!).
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
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I love the Polka dot dress!! The Crown is gorgeous, we ate at Nobu and Rockpool, you'll love them.
Thanks Angie! It's a favourite of mine 😉
C x
I adore how quickly you've settled into Lux Australian life…