Moomba 2012

It was Moomba Fest last weekend, during the long Labour Day weekend. It was a gloriously sunny and warm day. It was so good to have a day off to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.

This year's Moomba Parade has had a change of venue. Instead of parading down Swanston St, it will be held on St Kilda Rd where the crowd can watch from the grassy slopes of the Botanical Garden and the Shrine of Remembrance. Unfortunately we arrived just as the parade was starting and did not get a good spot. We were at the end of the parade and watched through a fence! Not a good view at all.

The theme for this year's parade is food, food and food!! Everyone in Melbourne is food obsessed. In the GFC, retail spending has dropped and shops are noticeably quieter despite big SALE signs but spending on dining out and food products have increased.

These are a couple decent shots of the parade for memento:


Guy Grossi, chef of Grossi Florentino

Luckily the day was saved by other events such as this water skiing event on the Yarra. When we got there the Women's Slalom was on. We stood by the banks and watched in the shade of a tree.

I was glad that there was a commentator for the event because I got some interesting information. He explains that the boat travels at 40 kmph - quite slow, no? But the skiier will travel up to 100 kmph because by criss crossing the marker he's got a longer distance to travel and also because of the water current.

Later in the evening, I learnt that this year's Moomba parade had the biggest turnout for years. Some 120,000 people attended the parade, perhaps because of the change in venue but I really did not think it was that great at all.