A (rainy) Melbourne Flower and Garden Show

[mason]

I visited the opening day of the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show today. It was the first such fully Covid-free event we've had in four years, and OMG the crowds were out in force despite the heavy rain in the morning. However the bad weather barely dampened their enthusiasm for catching up with everything horticultural.

Fortunately, the rain did deter a lot of show visitors from venturing outdoors until the rain cleared so I was able to photograph everything outside without any real difficulty, but this respite quickly vanished when the clouds began to pack up and go home. The crowds were just unbelievable. I only had to wait 30 seconds for my lunch (outdoors) but the queues became very long once the rain stopped.

Apart from the show itself, the best part of the day for me was being able to wear my shiny black Stutterheim raincoat with my yellow rain pants almost all day long. They were so useful when it was time for lunch. The rain deterred the early eaters so I got my food within 1 minute before seating myself on a soaking wet chair to eat in the heavy drizzle. After eating my fish & chips, I simply went inside a now mostly empty building and took more great photos inside. I wish the weather would be like this more often!

Unfortunately, I saw very little 'proper' shiny rainwear apart from the usual awful $10 disposable ponchos and lots of technical shit such as Goretex etc. I did see a couple of Asian girls wearing expensive semi-shiny Swedish rainwear which looked very nice. I also saw a couple of middle age women wearing short & shiny black numbers, one of which fluoresced in rainbow hues when the sun struck the material.

Before anyone asks, NO, I didn't take any photos of them, because it's an offensive & creepy thing to do. I'd rather keep the memories in my mind.

[spitfire617]

Nice description and my sentiments about taking photos of others. Stalking comes to mind on that score.
Best wishes.

[Meroving]

Fellow Melbournian here! Pity I was not there in my AJ Pros opalo rainwear set with shiny Nora boots. Will go this weekend and hope for some rain will happen. Not that rain matters much as I like wearing raingear on literally the sunniest days as well, given the temperature is manageable. Always with a hope I see others enjoying their raingear too.

[mason]

Fellow Melbournian here! Pity I was not there in my AJ Pros opalo rainwear set with shiny Nora boots. Will go this weekend and hope for some rain will happen. Not that rain matters much as I like wearing raingear on literally the sunniest days as well, given the temperature is manageable. Always with a hope I see others enjoying their raingear too.

Nice to see yet another guy from Melbourne here. Anyway, good luck with the weather! You should've gone tonight as it's both chilly & a bit rainy but only light showers (at best) are forecast for tomorrow.

What rainwear will you wear if you go tomorrow or Sunday? The Opalo stuff is really nice but it's a bit bulky. They size up too large as well.

BTW how do people react when you wear your shiny rainwear out in the sunshine?

[macncape]

I certainly would have been there and whatever the weather I would have been wearing my pvc black mac purchased from pvc-u-like a few years ago. Had to miss this year's show as I'm in London on holiday.

Still, there'll be plenty of opportunities for adventures out in my pvc macs when I get home to Williamstown, my home in Melbourne.

[shinyphile]

Mason- what wellies do you match with the rain pants?

[mason]

Mason- what wellies do you match with the rain pants?

I paired my shiny black Stutterheim raincoat with my soft yellow PVC rainpants and my favourite yellow lace-up Ilse Jacobsen boots.

Overdressed? Possibly. But I also remained dry and warm, and I didn't have to worry about getting my butt wet on the saturated chairs when I stopped for lunch.