Something special

I was fortunate enough to be at Randwick today to see a truly super racehorse, Black Caviar, make a very good field of sprinters look second rate. 12 starts for 12 wins, unbelievable. It was a very special day. There have been some awesome moments at Randwick over the years I have been going there - Octagonal in 1996, Lonhro's farewell, Takeover Target's big wins including the TJ Smith. It's hard to say whether Black Caviar tops those moments, which were all special in their own times, but she is nothing short of a champion.

Adelaide for a day

A couple of weeks back I took a day trip to Adelaide.
Yes, Adelaide is a bit far to go just for one day but there was a purpose and after that purpose was taken care of I had a few hours to wander around and check out the city.
They say Adelaide is a bit like a big country town. That may be underestimating it a bit but from what I saw it is a very pretty city, especially when the weather is perfect.
Among my meanderings I took in some of the cultural activities going on, checked out (and thought about crashing) the uni o-week stuff which included a large sized chess game (which I kinda always wanted to play), walked along the Torrens River and saw some cricket at the Adelaide Oval.
It'd be interesting to see what the city has to offer when you have more than three hours.

A week after the storm

Last weekend I went to Melbourne for what is known as 'Super Saturday' at the races but as it turned out it was memorable for completely different reasons.

What is strange though is that when I arrived back in Sydney on Sunday how little some people knew about what happened in Melbourne the day before.

Despite the predictions of showers all weekend I didn't take an umbrella with me. Some may call that a rookie mistake when you're planning to go to Melbourne.

I arrived the Friday and it was very humid but no real signs of rain. I met up with a couple of friends for a drink (after overshooting my tram stop by one) and then headed for Crown Casino. That was mainly because I hadn't been there before and I thought I might as well check it out. I chatted to a guy called Bobby on the tram on the way (initiated by the need for some direction on my part) who was off to watch the AFL game on that evening.

Crown Casino is something else. It makes Star City look like a backroom poker lounge. It's also quite mesmerising and it's very easy to get disorientated. I suppose that's one of the tricks of casinos.

Anyway, the next day I headed off to Flemington for the races.

It was an awesome day weather wise and I arrived there on the train. If anything it was a shade on the hot side. I met up with Luke, a guy I work with (sort of), for a bit and settled in to watch the Newmarket Handicap.

You could see a storm coming. It came up a lot faster than anyone expected and five minutes after the race it started to rain. No more than five more minutes later it started to hail and we're talking golf ball size at least.

Flemington was virtually covered in darkness as the sheer volume of hail that was falling turned the setting from lush green grass to appearing to be covered in snow.

As a result of the freak storm the racecourse was flooded, the trains were knocked out and the races called off. I had to line up for a bus for about 40 minutes and ended up at Footscray train station to catch a train into the city.

Flinders St Station looked like a tidal wave had run through it, sections of road were covered in water and debris littered around town.

Quite an experience. Of course I was sheltered from the storm in more ways than one - I was under cover when the storm hit and of course had nothing valuable unprotected, unlike some whose cars were either covered in water or damaged by hail or both.

I have to say I've seen some big storms over the years but never anything like this. Lightning strikes that seemed to cut the sky in half, thunder that would put God's tenpin bowling team to shame and hail that left piles of ice everywhere.

Won't be forgetting that weekend.

Nightfall in Sydney

I was there when....

...Takeover Target won the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 18, 2009.
Sometimes there are moments in racing that you will never forget, today was one of them.
Why? Takeover Target (I took the photo from on the fence in the mounting yard) is the ultimate fairytale in horse racing. He was bought at a tried horse sale for about $1250 and now he is closing in on $6 million, not bad for a horse who will be 10 years old in a few months time.
My big disappointment today was that I didn't tip or back him. There is an old saying, never write off a champion and we all saw why as the broke right away from a damn good field. It left me and many others with shaking heads, in awe of an unbelievable performance. It's one of those `I was there when' moments that are so rare and reserved for the remarkable.
Overall it was a very good day and thankfully I showed sense and didn't go out after a long day at the track. It actually took me about 80 minutes to get home due to the traffic.
On the work front, I stopped in there on the way to the races and moved desks back to where I was sitting a few years ago before changing jobs. Hopefully that will make things a bit better, and it will be interesting to see some reaction from one or two others. I still think it was the best thing I could do under the circumstances.

Whirlwind trip

I crammed so much into the short time I spent in Melbourne last weekend I almost don't know where to start.

In an effort to cut down on taxi expenses I caught a shuttle bus into the city and then walked to my hotel. Only, I got kinda lost as I was being a bit too casual about my directions.

After some backtracking I found it quite easily and dumped off my stuff, eager to see as much as I could by evening when I had planned to enjoy a relaxing night in.
I quickly found my way to the Eureka skydeck (obviously the building in the centre of the photo to the left towering over the rest) on the other side of the Yarra and headed for the 88th floor and the viewing area near the top of Melbourne's tallest building.

The ability to see the entire city is amazing and a great way, I thought, to take it all in. Some landmarks stood out easily like Flinders St Station, the MCG and the Docklands area.

After snapping some photos I headed off for a walk along the river and some lunch.

The one thing about sitting by the river to eat is that you're usually accompanied by at least one seagull.

When I had finished eating I saved some bread for the birds and as soon as I threw the patient gull a piece another six or seven suddenly emerged to try and get some for themselves. Now I didn't save so much as to feed a flock of seagulls so sadly some missed out.

I decided to see a different part of Melbourne to the last time and went for a walk past the MCG (second picture, the view from the Skydeck of the cricket ground and tennis centre) and towards Richmond.

On my way I passed Olympic Park, where the Melbourne Storm have played a lot of their games, and the Collingwood Football Club.

In the park behind the club there was a an AFL game in progress so I stopped for a while and had a look.

I was told it was a trial match between Collingwood and North Melbourne reserves teams (third picture, Collingwood are in the black and white, reserves waiting to go on the field) and there was a reasonable crowd for such a low profile game on a Friday afternoon.

But Melbourne lives and breathes AFL as I had confirmed when the pre-season semi-final was on in prime time TV that night.

I ended up catching a tram back to the city and headed to the hotel for a short rest before taking off again for dinner.

I ate at a restaurant overlooking the Yarra, a nice setting for the end of the week.

Then I wandered back to the hotel to read the papers, a magazine I had bought and just kick back to watch the AFL and the Simpsons episode that preceded it.

Some time during the football there was an earthquake near Melbourne registering 4.7 (so it was officially a tremor) but I didn't notice even though I was on the eighth floor of the building.

In the alley where the hotel is located is this pub that was absolutely packed, and I mean beyond capacity, with a lot of the crowd outside in a designated area.

The next morning I was up fairly early and went to, of all places, McDonalds to grab some breakfast as I couldn't find a cafe open at the time. OK, I only had English muffins with vegemite. I checked out of the hotel and headed to the train station to go to the races. It was great catching the train, not to mention cheap, and it was also another opportunity to see a different side of Melbourne.

The races were great again, Super Saturday, and I met a lot of people who I'd spoken to many times but hadn't met in person before so that was great.

In general I met some nice people, and I found that people are generally friendly, they smile at you in the street and aren't bothered by saying hello. Unlike Sydney, generally.

On the flight back I chatted to an interesting guy from Germany and one from Ireland who were heading to Sydney to continue their travels. Again I had an awesome time down in Melbourne and I'll go back again hopefully for a bit longer so I can hire a car and see a bit more of places like Geelong, Mornington and Ballarat etc.

Demolition

It's hard to believe it has been about nine months since the family house burned down but now there is progress on the site.
Demolition crews arrived on Thursday and the old house is no more, making way for a new one to be built. My mum was a bit sad about the place coming down, myself I'm not so attached, but I did point out that it was a worse day when it burned.
Also, I think they will benefit greatly from having something a bit more modern and something they can build to suit them now.
They're telling us that July is the time the new house will be finished.
You'd probably have to allow another month or so for weather interruptions but it will be interesting to see what it looks like when complete.
The pictures are a before and after of the demolition.
Well, sort of a shortly after starting the job (I thought the ominous positioning of the bulldozer was a good effect) and pretty much done shots.

The Flemington experience

A large part of my trip to Melbourne was to go to the races down there (as you would expect from me) and it was simply awesome.

Even though I have worked in the industry for closing on nine years I felt like a bit of a kid going to the big smoke for the first time. (Ironic since I was travelling from the biggest city in the country to the second biggest).

When I arrived at Flemington (the racecourse where the Melbourne Cup is held for those who don't know) the first person I encountered was someone I knew from Sydney (a racing official) and he and a few others were heading onto the course to check it out. I tagged along and got to walk up and down the home straight for as long as I liked.

In contrast to the day before the conditions were much more comfortable and there was even a breeze - ideal conditions for a race meeting.

I wandered on the track for about half an hour before heading off to meet a number of people, which was my aim for the day.

I watched the last race from the grandstand as opposed to the mounting area and it was great to take in the whole track.

I also played racing fan a bit by hanging out and having a look at Weekend Hussler, one of the best racehorses in the country when he arrived at the horse stalls. The trainer gave me a cap and I had a bit of a chat to him. There was quite a crowd around to check him out.

I didn't take any pictures of his race, he ran fourth and was quite unlucky.

The second photo i of an earlier race, the winner is the horse to the far left and is just about to get a clear run. It was taken about 300m from the winning post and you can also see a bit of the Melbourne skyline in the background.

The day seemed to fly by. I met a couple of great young racing reporters there. One of them surprised me a bit by telling me he remembered reading some of my stuff when he was a teenager. It made me feel a bit old but he said he was 25.

Still it was weird to meet someone like that who had read my stories from a different state.
After the races I headed straight to the airport for the trip back. Airports are fairly boring and once you've checked in I found there was little in the way of decent food.

Anyway it was a great experience all up and I will definitely do it again, but perhaps in a less whirlwind way.

A Canterbury tale

I have to admit I really like going to Canterbury for the races. The track is fairly small but that means from the stands you can get a good view of the entire course - the horses aren't as far away from you as they are at, say, Randwick.

After several days of very wintry and rainy weather it was a cracker of a day today, when the sun was out, and a great day to head to the races. It'd been several weeks since I had made it to the track and I managed to meet a few people I didn't know, get some legwork done on a couple of projects for work and catch up with a mate who I have a lot of time for. What can I say about Brent? He's quite a bit of fun and we had a great day hanging out, punting and catching up. A lot of his family, and his girlfriend, were there as well as they had a horse racing and they were all very good to talk to.
The week has been a busy one in one respect, a shade frustrating as usual, and saw many plans change. I was going to go for a swim but with the rain and stuff I didn't want to brave the outdoor (heated) pool.
Some more catching up with people tomorrow for a while in the afternoon, and by tomorrow evening I'm going to wonder where the weekend got to.
The photos on this page are obviously ones I took at the races at Canterbury today and gives an indication of the size of the track.

Golden Slipper Day

One of the biggest day's racing in Sydney is Golden Slipper day and that happened to be today.

The race itself is wotth $3.5 million overall and there tends to be around 30,000 people or so at Rosehill racecourse in Sydney's west.
Today wasn't exactly a great one weather wise but it didn't rain (at least anything other than the odd spot or two) and it didn't seem to bother anyone.

I won't talk about the punting side as I wasn't overly successful today but you get that sometimes.
The pictures I have posted here are as follows:
1. Racing To Win leads out the Ryder Stakes field

2. The crowd early in the day

3. Me holding the Golden Slipper trophy

4. The horses close to the post in one of the early races.
Next Saturday is Derby Day over at Randwick, another highlight usually of the racing calendar.

My part of the world...

Hidden treasure

Strange wildlife

Worlds collide

Bring me to life

Things sure have changed here on Walton's mountain.
Yeah, all right, I'll get serious.
It's amazing how the mind works. I've spent a lot of time over the last three years either in denial, desperation, despair or disillusionment, you get the point.
One small piece of information held so much power. Once the fear that knowledge nurtured disappeared everything became different. Almost overnight.
Instead of learning how to live in a negative way, placing limitations on myself, suddenly the door to the world has been flung open and I can step outside.
Chronic conditions are by nature difficult to deal with and you can easily reach the `what's the point' stage. Perseverence is hard. Giving in seems easy but once you've done that there's no turning back.
I am glad I persevered. I am fortunate I had some amazing, unconditional support, someone I could fall apart in front of if I needed to. I don't ever take that for granted. I am fortunate I have a faith which provides hope.
Learning how to live in a positive way after feeling so much negative emotion should be a walk in the park, right? I thought so but in a lot of ways the habits I have developed in the past few years are still there, and it is hard to get out of them. I guess I never was the type just to throw caution to the wind.
So much has changed in the last month. I feel different, less fearful, less worried. It's a great feeling. I won't go as far as to say reborn, certainly rejuvenated. It's easier to smile.
One little piece of information. It's all gone, there's no trace, no sign. Unbelievable, almost.
Time to move on, learn to live fully, experience, flourish, knowing I can handle it.

A day at the races

Easter Saturday in Sydney, for me, means Derby Day at Randwick but after the horse flu last year things were put back.
So yesterday wasn't Derby Day, that's not for another month, but it was still a fine way to celebrate turning 33. Admittedly I didn't have much of a celebration - I hung out with people I know largely from and through work - but it was still a very good day out.
I took these pictures with my new camera and while I am far from a photographic expert I reckon they are all right. The top one is a mounting yard scene, where the horses parade prior to heading out to race.
The second is obviously an action shot, 100m to go in the first race at Randwick yesterday.
The winner, Rio Osa, is the horse in the cerise about to hit the lead. Sadly, the horse I backed, Acey Ducey, is the horse running third at this stage and he was only beaten a half head at the finish.

An interesting thing happened, I was wandering around the betting ring and I ran into a racehorse trainer who I have had a lot to do with over the last five or six years and a guy I get on well with.

He told me because he didn't have any horses racing he thought he'd come out and celebrate his birthday. Now I've known the guy for a while and didn't know we share a birthday. I reckon it's cool because he's one of the best people I know in the racing industry.

I didn't do any major partying last night but enjoyed watching the Knights beat Manly 13-12.

Jupiter

Some aweome pics of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, due to arrive there in 2015 by the way, of the amazing planet Jupiter of which the photo of this page is one.

The solar system and the universe are fascinating and mysterious and somehow seem not real, that we can be so unique that life can only exist here and nowhere else.

I like the idea that there could be another planet out there like Earth but if it is 440,000 years away then it doesn't seem worth pursuing.

But that's just me.