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This weekend a bunch of us "Cre-tards" (and one modeller) went out quad biking up along the Kapiti Coast. Kristie organized it for us after having gone on a different 4x4 excursion out in Martinborough months ago. In total 15 of us went, a few people bailed last minute...could've been the fact that it was raining all day, but the rain actually made it more fun cause there were puddles to splash through, and more mud to get stuck in. One of the workers actually said it's better when it's wet otherwise it turns into a dust storm on the trails. Either way, I know we all had an awesome time in the rain!
We booked a 4 hour ride with Kapiti 4x4. About a 1 hour drive up the Western coast from the city. 4 trail guides with 3 groups of 5 riding in between each guide. Accessing 18,000 hectares of natural landscape, with terrain ranging from dense rainforest to pine forest, riverbeds, grasslands, to dirt and rock trails. The guides basically tailor the route based on time and the abilities of the riders. Standard gear was gumboots, and waterproof overalls (kind of like the gaiters or wading pants fishermen use). And since it was raining, we also wore matching 'fishermen' coats.
After a brief obstacle course which gets you comfortable with the bikes controls, and how to navigate very uneven terrain, we hit the trails. Every so often we'd come to a difficult obstacle like a steep climb up a tracked out hill or deep mud pool. We'd go through it one by one with the guide explaining what you need to do. Some of the cool stuff was riding in super deep tracks or channels where your quad basically fit into a groove carved through the ground, with the sides of the channel basically being the height of the quads. Hitting roots and rock obstacles in the tracks mean the quads would lean left and right to the point it felt like they'd roll..but not quite. And of course who didn't enjoy blasting through every deep puddle or river crossing you could find! Getting wet or muddy was part of the gameplan :)
If Kapiti 4x4 gave out awards for "Group With The Most Camera Gear" award, I think we would've easily won :P
Lonnie was apparently kidnapped by a group of bandit cowboys when nobody was watching.
Jesse giving us his latest GQ pose.
James and Jesse sporting the required Pimp Gear.
Since the guides didn't want us taking photos while riding, for obvious safety reasons, they put all our cameras onto one guides bike, and used them randomly to take photos for us. There was one point that we took a break though and they let us snap some quick shots of the view towards Kapiti Island. And then we all ran around taking photos of each other like a bunch of school kids on a field trip :P
And finally a couple of pics that the guides took with random cameras. I KNOW you're jealous of my yellow raincoat and shiny red helmet :P
Strangers Number 30: This is Sain Kennedy from Melbourne, a Sign Writer, and Jacinda Smith from New Castle, a Waitress. Seen here watching "So You Think You Can Dance Australia" on the giant outdoor television in Federation Square.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 29: This is Murray Paternoster from Melbourne, University Student studying Outdoor Education...in his classes he goes hiking and rock climbing, what a bum! :)The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 28: Stef Brooke from Melbourne, an Arts Major in university, seen here working one of the grandstand gates at the Formula1 Australian Grand Prix.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 27: Colin from Melbourne, Lolli Maker at Suga.
The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
March 13-16 was Round 1 of the 2008 Formula 1 season in Melbourne, Australia. A mere 3.5 hours flight away, how could I resist! 5 days in the middle of an Australian heat wave meant 40 degree celsius temperatures and nothing but baking sun.
Melbourne is a really nice city. Very multicultural like Toronto or Vancouver, which means lots of great food! Very metropolitan with tons of shopping, restaurants, museums and galleries, and even a Vegas style casino! One of the nicer things is the Yarra River which runs through the city, just below what is considered the CBD or Central Business District...basically the 'core'.
On both sides of the river are wide pedestrian boardwalks, with the south side being home to a strip of restaurants whose patios spill out onto the busy boardwalk. Easily a great place to hang out on summer evenings. The photo above is looking West along the Yarra. The CBD is camera right, the strip of restaurants camera left, and I was standing on the Princess Bridge.
The CBD is laid out like a proper city with streets laid out in a rectangular grid pattern. The CBD is small enough that you could walk it end to end in maybe 20 minutes? There's also a very efficient tram system running in both directions on almost every other street, so getting to where you want to go as a first time tourist is pretty straight forward. The trams are not like Hong Kong's open air trams, but more like Toronto's streetcars. Fast, efficient and most are air conditioned thankfully! Each stop also has a digital display that tells you what trams are en route, and their ETA. How efficient is that! It's also based on an honour system. Meaning you don't pay to get on through the front door. There are several entry/exit points as most trams are multi-car in length. Most riders either have pre-purchased tickets from stations or convenience stores, or they buy them on the tram at one of the automated machines. But nobody checks your tickets! There are signs however that say the Transit Police and Melbourne Police can do random checks.
I purchased a couple 1 day passes, which are also good for buses and the subway. When you board the tram, you're supposed to use one of the 'verification machines', located on about every other row of seats. Basically like a parking machine, it sucks in your ticket, and initializes it with a date and time stamp. If you bought a 2 hour ticket, it's good from the time you initialize it, similarly a 1 day pass. So IF you were to get checked, as long as your ticket was valid, I guess you'd be fine. I didn't see anyone getting checked in the 4 days I rode the trams.
Melbourne is quite famous for it's "laneways". Tight alleyways jammed with boutique shops and restaurants. Some are really narrow like the one above, while others are more like back alleyways or pedestrian walkways.
I had wandered down one of the dead end alleyways cause it had this crazy lightbulb sculpture spanning the top of two buildings. Down the alleyway was a bunch of curious artwork glued to the walls. I spotted this interesting bit of writing and wanted a picture of it. Luckily for me this girl had just stepped into the alley on her smoke break. I simply told her the shot I wanted and asked if she'd mind posing for me. Perhaps I should've asked her to be one of my 100 Strangers...but after the pics she was pretty much done her smoke anyways...oh well.
Lots of interesting architecture around the city. This was the GPO Building. I THINK it stands for Government Postal Office? It's now a shopping mall.
This is another shopping mall called Melbourne Central. I didn't do any shopping in Melbourne, well that's not true, I did buy a pair of Tsubo runners on a whim. But as I was saying, I had seen pictures of Melbourne Central in some of the hotel magazines. This central atrium feature is an old brick building surrounded by a glass cone. So on my way downtown I stopped in really quickly to snap a few pics of it.
This was also taken from the Princess Bridge looking North East towards Federation Square. A large outdoor square that features a large screen tv. People just sit on the brick pavers and watch tv.
This was at the far end of the boardwalk, Southgate is the name of the area. Another Square, can't remember the name. Not as big as Federation Square, but still large enough to have a merry-go-round!
Stranger Number 26: This is Kate Myers from Wellington. Currently living in Melbourne while attending university studying Fashion Business.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 25: This is Laura Brophy from Sydney. Currently living in Melbourne while attending university as a Psychology Major.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 24: This is Taraka from Melbourne, Business Analyst.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 23: This is Baly from Auckland, a Graphic Design and Illustration student at Massey University, and Mothla from Hamilton, also a university student studying Law, Politics, and French.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
Stranger Number 22: This is Bob Symon and his son Charlie from Wellington. Bob works for ANZ Bank as a Computer IT manager.The original thread for my 100 Strangers is buried in the archives here. If you want to read my Strangers' full descriptions in more detail you can check my 100 Strangers set on flickr, and you can also see alternate pictures of them in my 100 Strangers Alternates set.
This weekend a bunch of us "Cre-tards" (and one modeller) went out quad biking up along the Kapiti Coast. Kristie organized it for us after having gone on a different 4x4 excursion out in Martinborough months ago. In total 15 of us went, a few people bailed last minute...could've been the fact that it was raining all day, but the rain actually made it more fun cause there were puddles to splash through, and more mud to get stuck in. One of the workers actually said it's better when it's wet otherwise it turns into a dust storm on the trails. Either way, I know we all had an awesome time in the rain!
We booked a 4 hour ride with Kapiti 4x4. About a 1 hour drive up the Western coast from the city. 4 trail guides with 3 groups of 5 riding in between each guide. Accessing 18,000 hectares of natural landscape, with terrain ranging from dense rainforest to pine forest, riverbeds, grasslands, to dirt and rock trails. The guides basically tailor the route based on time and the abilities of the riders. Standard gear was gumboots, and waterproof overalls (kind of like the gaiters or wading pants fishermen use). And since it was raining, we also wore matching 'fishermen' coats.
After a brief obstacle course which gets you comfortable with the bikes controls, and how to navigate very uneven terrain, we hit the trails. Every so often we'd come to a difficult obstacle like a steep climb up a tracked out hill or deep mud pool. We'd go through it one by one with the guide explaining what you need to do. Some of the cool stuff was riding in super deep tracks or channels where your quad basically fit into a groove carved through the ground, with the sides of the channel basically being the height of the quads. Hitting roots and rock obstacles in the tracks mean the quads would lean left and right to the point it felt like they'd roll..but not quite. And of course who didn't enjoy blasting through every deep puddle or river crossing you could find! Getting wet or muddy was part of the gameplan :)
If Kapiti 4x4 gave out awards for "Group With The Most Camera Gear" award, I think we would've easily won :P
Lonnie was apparently kidnapped by a group of bandit cowboys when nobody was watching.
Jesse giving us his latest GQ pose.
James and Jesse sporting the required Pimp Gear.
Since the guides didn't want us taking photos while riding, for obvious safety reasons, they put all our cameras onto one guides bike, and used them randomly to take photos for us. There was one point that we took a break though and they let us snap some quick shots of the view towards Kapiti Island. And then we all ran around taking photos of each other like a bunch of school kids on a field trip :P
