Cooktown Races

One of my enduring memories of our first few days in Cooktown was the Cooktown Race Day in 2009. Five days after we arrived we attended and knew no-one other than the Mayor. Sean, having been up here for the month in April assured me no-one in Cooktown ever got dressed up so I just went in jeans and a top. Wrong!
As one of the few days that locals can go all out, the women were dressed to the nines and the Fashions on the Field a coveted prize. However we also discovered that Cooktown was a far cry from Sydney or Melbourne racing both in style and tattoo coverage.  We were intrigued by one 'lady' who had her Rottweiller dog with its name tattooed on her shoulder blade! We even  snuck in a photo of such for posterity.

Last year in 2010 Cooktown didn't get its Race Day so this was the first race day since our first. It was a glorious sunny day and the races were great fun -5 races and a couple of bookies so we had a flutter or two. This time we knew just about everyone so it was a nice feeling as a local to wander around and catch up with people.

There were a bevy of beauties everywhere -people had gone to lots of trouble to dress up and the Fashions in the Field was a huge event with about 25 locals vying for the prize. The shame was that the the little girls had got all dressed up too and at the last minute we were told there was no prize for the kids.

However the best part of the whole day was my innocent discovery of the Rottweiller tattoo! I was at the fence trackside and started chatting to some 'ladies' I know through my work in Cooktown - having a laugh etc when suddenly one of them turned around to do something and there was that tat! I didnt say a thing but for me, as our days are counting down from our time in Cooktown, it was a nice full circle completion in true Cooktown style.