A Day in Melbourne

May 2, 2015 by Brad

On Easter Monday I went to Melbourne for the day to see some friends.

With no firm plans for the day we ended up nearly identically repeating the first trip I made to Melbourne in 2009.

After meeting my friends at Fed Square we walked along the Yarra through to Docklands and then caught a tram back into the city, getting lost in the shopping malls until we found lunch.

Happy 2015 – Fireworks from Sydney

January 1, 2015 by Brad

I spent New Years Eve in Sydney with friends overlooking the harbour. This year we went to Athol Lawn, Bradleys Head on the North Shore.

After being sent in the wrong direction by security, we got inside and found a good spot on the lawn looking between the trees across the harbour to the bridge and the city. We then had a eight hour wait for midnight, firstly in direct sunlight and then being cooled by cloud in the late afternoon.

The views from Athol Lawn were impressive. We were further from the bridge than we thought we would be, but being able to see five or six barges along the harbour is a view that I haven’t been able to see before. Glancing back at my photos from previous years, this is one of the best views of the whole city that I have seen.

Photos: Extreme Sailing Series – Act 8 Sydney

December 31, 2014 by Brad

A few weeks ago Act 8 of the Extreme Sailing Series was held in Sydney.

I went down to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair to watch some of the racing on the afternoon of the first day.

Below are a few photos taken from the shoreline.

Photos: V8 Supercars Sydney 500 2014

December 13, 2014 by Brad

Last weekend I went to the Saturday races of the Sydney 500 round of the V8 Supercars at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush.

Below are some of the photos and a video from the day, it was really good to see the old supercars on the circuit.

Sculpture By The Sea 2014

November 1, 2014 by Brad

The past two Saturdays I’ve been down at Bondi with friends checking out Sculptures by the Sea.

Below are a few shots of my favourite sculptures from this year.

Photos: A day in Katoomba

October 6, 2014 by Brad

A few weeks ago I went to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for the day. We did a very short walk and caught the scenic railway back up the cliffs.

Skiing Perisher 2014

October 5, 2014 by Brad

In mid-September I went with some mates to Perisher in the Snowy Mountains. This was the first time I have been skiing in Australia and the first time in three years I have been on skis.

After an hour or so of slow blue and green runs I finally sorted myself out and got my skiing mojo back, and my the end of the weekend was happily skiing some “basic” black runs.

I have to make a massive mea culpa though, for the past four years I have written off Australian ski fields without even visiting them. But Perisher was amazing. It is huge, there are so many lifts and this means there are no big queues, the snow was great, yes there were trees, but there were no rocks and a massive variety of terrain to ski on.

The weather was brilliant, actually ridiculously hot for skiing, 13c at the base area, and I didn’t crash into any trees.

Below are some of the photos taken on the trip.

A Weekend in Brisbane

October 4, 2014 by Brad

In early September I went to Brisbane for a weekend to celebrate a birthday with members of my family.

This was my first proper time in Brisbane, and I was fortunate that the weekend I visited coincided with the start of the Brisbane Festival, which meant there was lots of fun stuff to see and do.

V8 Supercars SMP 400 Photos

September 28, 2014 by Brad

In late August I went to the V8 Supercars Sydney Motorsport Park 400 race at Eastern Creek.

As always I took hundreds of photos, but on this visit I was trying to get better panning shots. I’m fairly pleased with the results, and the 27 photos below are mostly focused on this.

Additionally, there are two videos of the race start and restart embedded further below.

Goofy Smiles and Slack Stairs

July 6, 2014 by Brad

Yesterday I went with two friends to Wentworth Falls and the Valley of the Waters in the Blue Mountains. It was near freezing and the winds were below freezing, but it was a beautiful day.

Starting from the conservation hut we began on the short cut track, and cut through to breakfast point lookout. From there through to Wentworth Falls and down, down and down the slack stairs to Wentworth Pass, then back up through the Valley of the Waters. It took us 3 hours 45 minutes. This is the first solid hike I’ve done in quite a while and with the massive climb out of the valley my legs are so sore this morning.