Taronga Zoo Photos

Some more photos from the Zoo.

Kiama photos

Some photos for you from our trip to Kiama. Enjoy.

The Running Man

I hate running. You all know that. It sucks. Every single step seem to sap all my fitness enthusiasm. I don't know how people like Isla and Natasha get up everyday and go running. I think peeling myself and rolling around in salt would be more fun.

Unfortunately, the last part of the triathlon is the run so it's an important part of the training. I've been hitting the running machine for the last few weeks trying to improve my time and distance but the other day something was wrong. It was like the machine had been recalibrated and when I set it to 9km/h, a leisurely jog turned into a full-on sprint. I managed to jump off the machine before it fired me into the wall behind and it kept on accelerating.

Once I'd stopped it, reset it, switched it off at the wall, kicked it and retried it, I realised that 9km/h was now set at about 6km/h. Weird. I couldn't quite figure out what speed I was running exactly so I wasn't able to be sure of my times. Instead I started doing sprints which is even worse than distance running (for me).

So today I was due to run again. Not wanting to face the deamonised machine I took to the road for the first time here in Sydney. DAMN! It's bad enough on a bike but running the back streets really made me realise how ridiculously hilly North Sydney is. I ran all the way to Chatswood which is about 3.5km uphill and then ran down into Artarmon. By that point I was really dying and the funny left sided chest pain I get when running started playing up. Don't worry, I'm sure it's muscular because it only happens with running and no other sport and it's worse when I'm running down hill. Strange.

So... I was running through Artarmon all sweat and salt and spit and snot when I was acosted by a group of Greenpeace activists who were ranting about "Save The Whales". I actually thought they were talking about me. That little altercation gave me the oomph to dig in for the last km even though it was, again, uphill.

I don't really understand the hills here. They seem to appear from nowhere. When you run up hill you expect the relief of downhill on the other side but here your run starts at the bottom of a hill and ends at the top of a hill. It makes no sense.

One for Matt/Mac/Macstrachan

Saw this advert and I thought of you and Isla's ongoing campaign to rid the world of PCs and turn us all into Mac users. When the time comes, I'm sure I'll buy a Mac but I don't plan to throw my Vaio away just yet.

You Mac users remind me of Mormons or ex-smokers or that guy that's opened "the Creation Museum" in America - always trying to force your opinions on others!!! Well yes, I will by a Mac but not just now - SO LEAVE ME ALONE AND STOP GOING ON ABOUT HOW CRAP YOU THINK PCS ARE!!!!!!!

I love my Vaio!

Maximum Pace

If you run and you are like me and hate every single soul-crushing step then I have the solution. I have been going through various albums and genres of music to try and find the perfect tunes to run to. I've even made running playlists on the ipod but quickly I find myself bored of them.

At last, however, I have found the perfect album to run to... Ministry of Sound Maximum Bass 2 CD1. It is the perfect mix of beats and tempo with a cruisie rate of about 80bpm. Fits in time with your pace perfectly and I would totally recommend you try it even if you don't like tunes with heavy basslines.

Makes running moderately bareable.

Ski Season

Believe it or not, Australia has a few ski resorts. People joke about the quality of the snow but still I think it's better than anything we get in the UK.

The season officially opens in 3 weeks time and already they've been having a few snowfalls - the last one yesterday of 10cm. I small amount I hear you say but with that cold patch there there have been westerly winds and they have dropped the temperature of Sydney dramatically over the last couple of days.

It's still reasonably warm when the sun is out with the temp sitting about 21C but at night it plummets. This sunk home tonight when I left work at midnight and cycled back to the flat. It was 20C when I arrived at work in my shorts and t-shirt and on the way home is was a nostril-hair-freezing 9C (which was probably about 5C with the wind chill factor).

I've not been that cold since I left the UK and within a few minutes I couldn't feel my fingers. I've been putting off buying any new cycling gear as we are supposed to be saving as much as possible but I think I'll have to splash out tomorrow. Cycling in the cold is no fun and trying to type your Blog with numb fingers is even less fun.

Try-athlon

This triathlon business has really got me beat. I'm trying to stay positive but I'm finding the training a bit difficult especially the running. I'm getting blisters on blisters and my legs ache when I'm in the pool. Times are getting a bit better though but I reckon I'll need to shave several minutes off everything before I'm ready.

I should probably write to Daly Thompson. He hated the 1500m and I could always ask him for his advice in order to keep focused. I wonder how he did it. Maybe I should grow one of those handlebar moustaches and get myself a 'fro - it may have been an aerodynamic secret that he never told anyone about.

I suppose I could just eat less and train more!! That might be easier that getting a 'fro.

Another Weekend Over

Well the weeks and days are being eaten up pretty quickly here. We had another weekend off together and went down the coast to Kiama and Wollongong which was pleasant. It was good to get out of the city and see some other parts of the greater Sydney area.

The scenery was excellent and I've written all about it on the 365. A must of a trip for anyone that visits here. The beaches and headlands were spectacular and I'm sure they are packed in the summer. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend. Makes me wonder why we always seem to spend our weekends in Scotland in the pub instead of getting away to some of the great countryside we have. I guess the weather has a lot to do with that.

Will it change with global warming???

1000 and counting...

Just checked the hit counter and you lot have given me 1000 hits!

Thanks for staying tuned!

Z

365 Chat.

Hello. Once again I've been remiss in writing this. I have done quite a few things recently but they are on the 365 Challenge website so check them out as I can't be bothered writing them all here in duplicate.

I've also started another Blog as I've decided to try and do a triathlon when I get back to the UK and that Blog is taking up some time. The content is a bit secret and personal for now so you'll just have to wait for a few months before I release the address to you lot.

Soz.

My Thoughts So Far...

If you’ve been reading Isla’s blog then you’ll see she often puts down some notes about her observations on Oz. This has been a big talking point since we’ve been here and I’ve decided to give you some chat along those lines too. So here follows a list of some of my pros and cons of being in Australia. Enjoy.

Poisonous Animals
Everything here is poisonous and deadly. The funnel web spider can kill you in less than an hour and even a simple dip in the ocean can see you covered in blue bottle stings. It seems that in order to survive in Oz you need to have some venom on board. The weird thing is that these poisonous creatures are SO poisonous – it seems that the amount of poison they have in their fangs and stings far out-weighs the amount required to kill their prey. Even the damn platypus is poisonous.

Thankfully, the only ones that I’ve seen have been in tanks, cages and containers. However, I was bitten by a Redback Spider in 2000 on Magnetic Island – but I didn’t see that one either (one too many vodkas that night was to blame).

Weather
The weather here is great. Even when it’s raining its good rain – big and torrential but also warm. Even though it’s May and almost winter it’s still 27C today and the sun has been shining all day.

The down side is that Australia is in the middle of the “100 Year Drought”. It’s not rained properly in the dam catchments areas for years and reservoir levels are below 30% for the first time in 40 year. A real downer since there is water restrictions all the time and the government keeps telling you that you can only shower for 3 mins per day and you mustn’t flush the toilet unless the stink is attracting roaches.

Street Lighting
As Isla says, there is almost no street lighting here. When I take the train to work there is a street that I walk down near the hospital which is about 500m long. However, there is only 2 lights!!! Can you imagine what the driving test would be like if you had to read a licence plate from one lamp post to another?

I guess the lighting of also testament to the fact that nobody walks anywhere here. The Aussies have a real American attitude to cars and walking. Everyone has a car including every 16 year old and walking is taboo. I suppose if you are driving everywhere then you don’t really need street lights. Also the petrol here is really cheap (although even complains despite it being half the price of petrol in the UK) so I suppose that perpetuates the car usage here. It also does nothing to help the fact that Australia is such a big polluter on the world stage. Cheap cars, low insurance, no MOT, cheap petrol, unsafe public transport, poor street lighting and no facilities for walkers… well it’s no wonder people drive.

Cycling
This is a great way to get fit but you really take your life in your hands on the roads here. I’ve talked at length about this before so if you are interested you can look through the archives.

TV
Is totally crap.



Sharks
I guess Oz is famous for these. Haven’t seen anything along those lines except at the aquarium. However, the only place most people worry about sharks is… at the beach and Sydney is full of those. So that’s a fair trade off.



20c Coins
These are massive and every time I leave the flat I seem to come home with millions of these. They truly are huge and once when I was inspecting a couple of them I noticed that one had the date 1967 on it. Can you believe that it’s been more then 30 years since these have been updated? On the plus side, they are so bloody heavy that a few of them in your pocket must increase your daily calorie expenditure by a good few hundred.

Distances
Australia is an impossibly big island. Because of that, to get anywhere takes hours. To get from one major city to another requires a flight. Driving from Sydney to Perth can take a week.

The other issue with distance is that Australia is so far away from the rest of the world. I was watching the movie adaptation of Nevil Shute’s On The Beach the other night and it really brought it home. The premise is that there is a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere between the Russians and the Americans. A US submarine crew travel south to Australia for help as it’s one of the only places unaffected by the fall out. You get the picture.

That film really makes you think about how far away you are from everyone you know. Although its only a days flight, it’s still a really long 24 hours. I often think how long it would take me to get home if there was an emergency… and it’s not cheap either.

Cinemas
I love the cinema but I really only like going when it’s quiet. So much so that I make a point of seeing new releases by myself early in the morning on weekdays. That way my viewing pleasure is not sullied by others and their popcorn and vocal antics. This is even worse in Australia. People seem to think that the cinema is a place to catch up with each other and chat through the entire film – and I don’t mean whisper, I mean talk, shout and laugh at full volume with seemingly no interest in the movie. IT DRIVES ME MAD!

I went to see the 9:45am premier of Spiderman 3 yesterday and thought that there was no possibility of the film being spoilt by “others”. Unfortunately, even though the cinema was quite quiet there was a “special” bloke sitting right behind me who laughed all the time, even at bits that weren’t remotely funny. Rubbish. I think that I’ll have to change my approach – early morning, week days AND during the last week it’s showing. Hopefully that means there will be nobody in the cinema with me. The trade off is that everyone will think I’m a total saddo – if they don’t already.

One plus side of the cinemas here is the fact that all prices are discounted on Tuesdays. $9 instead of $15.

Wine
There are vineyard everywhere. The wine is cheap and all tastes amazing. I wish we had some vineyards back home. The tours here are fantastic and actually not too expensive. They are also a must since everyone here seems to know stuff about wine and you feel like a bit of a fool at the dinner table if you’ve not got a bit of vino-chat to fall back on.




Food
What can I say? It’s everywhere. There are great takeaways and brilliant restaurants. The supermarkets are full of fresh fruit, veg, fish, meat and all manor of produce. It makes for one of 2 possibilities – either you can overindulge in healthy food you make yourself OR you can overindulge in takeaway and restaurant deliciousness. Either way you are in trouble. It’s just as well we have a free gym downstairs – although I rarely use it…

So I hope that brings you up to speed on my thoughts about Australia. Comments are welcome.