KEY POINTS:
Say goodbye to the economic blues and hello to champagne lunches - and maybe a slice of modern history in the making.
For the next week, major sporting and potentially ground-breaking political events take centre stage.
Events such as the Bledisloe Cup and adidas Auckland Marathon grab the spotlight this weekend, and next week attention turns to the Melbourne Cup, the American elections and our own vote.
The Bledisloe Cup has its first outing on non-Antipodean soil tonight, when the All Blacks play the Wallabies in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,000 at Hong Kong Stadium.
More than 12,000 people will pound the pavements in the Auckland Marathon tomorrow.
But Super Tuesday is the one to look forward to.
Champagne and strawberries will be broken out all over Australasia for the Melbourne Cup, billed as "the celebration that stops a nation".
Twelve New Zealand-bred horses are in the race, aiming to follow Efficient, who won last year.
The first race is at 12.12pm and the Melbourne Cup takes place at 5pm, before the last race at 7.08pm.
Melbourne Cup day is also the start of the racing season at Ellerslie, complete with raceday fashion, live races and a champagne bar and lawn.
Auckland pubs and bars are also preparing for what they hope will be a busy day.
But come Wednesday, it's all eyes on America as Democrat nominee Barack Obama looks to beat Republican John McCain to become the country's first black president.
Voting begins in the state of New Hampshire at 5pm on Tuesday (NZ time), and the first results will begin filtering through from about lunchtime on Wednesday.
TV One will provide coverage of the results from 12.30pm on Wednesday and the polls officially close at 5pm (NZ time) in Hawaii.
Following hot on its heels is our own election on Saturday.
Polling booths will be open from 9am until 7pm on Saturday and Kiwis will be glued to their TVs as results start to be announced from 7pm.
And this is where politics has something in common with racing - the betting market.
Neil Evans, spokesman for the Australian betting company Centrebet, said John Key was the favourite, paying $1.53 to Helen Clark's $3.74. The largest bet had been the $54,000 put on by an Auckland punter in favour of Mr Key.
Centrebet had Mr Obama favourite to win the US election at $1.25 to Mr McCain's $8.64. About $1.15 million had been bet yesterday.
One punter has laid bets on all three events, picking Mr Obama to win in the US at $1.40, Mr Key to win in New Zealand at $1.44 and Septimus to win the Melbourne Cup at $7.49 - a total bet of $576.
WEEK AT A GLANCE
MONDAY
* Clark and Key leaders' debate, TV3, 7pm.
TUESDAY
* US voting starts 5pm NZ time.
* Melbourne Cup 5pm.
WEDNESDAY
* US voting ends 5pm NZ time.
* Results from 12.30pm.
* Clark and Key leaders' debate, TV One, 7pm.
SATURDAY
* New Zealand election: Polls open 9am-7pm.
* Results begin from 7pm, all results due by 11.30pm.
* Official result declared Saturday November 22 at 2pm.
