My first Melbourne Cup day and the sun is well and truly shining on us Queenslanders. Not so lucky down in Victoria.

It’s the 150th anniversary on the Grand National-esque 3200m stampede and I aim to report as much action as possible from the day in my next missive.

Also coming: updates from Far North Queensland – the tropical loveliness that is Cairns and the Daintree – and more on current projects, including some fashion writing for Faint mag and my research with an amazing BBC crew on the Great Barrier Reef.

A bientot. And good luck to all the punters out there – tips more than welcome.