You call that a tree? This is a tree.

Thanks to National Geographic magazine for the photo. The tree is 247 ft. tall and over 3200 years old.

New is not always better.

1945 vintage Canberra Metters stove.

About 15 years ago we were given an old fuel stove, I built it into a wood fired barbeque in the garden and every so often we fire it up and cook lunch or dinner. Tonight it was a mushroom and leek quiche. We have about one hundred Eucalypts on our property so finding enough dead branches for fuel is not a problem, The Co2 released gets absorbed by the surrounding trees, that's my theory anyway.

It takes about 30 minutes to get it up to the required temperature, amazingly after almost 70 years the temperature gauge on the door still works, once it has reached 400f it holds that heat for at least an hour. A couple of iced beers while I am cooking followed by a good Shiraz with the meal makes for a very pleasant dinner.

Works well for pizzas too.

Hot Slots.

Audi R18 TDI by NSR.

 

The latest addition to my growing stable of RC, slot cars and die cast models. This model was made by NSR in Italy. So far it has proved too fast for me to control. More hours of fun getting it right. More NSR models here.

Homebush 2011

I was ''fortunate'' to have been invited to attend the Homebush V8 Supercar meeting in 2011, being a guest of one of the Porsche Cup teams gave me access to most of the pit areas. The circuit is the worst that I have ever been to, giving spectators no chance to see the racing and drivers almost no chance to pass. It does however achieve the main aim of the V8 Supercar management by providing close racing, the fact that drivers can't pass and spectators can't see are only minor issues. Thankfully there is only one more year at this venue.

Being there only for Friday practice meant that I had the pit areas almost to myself.

 Photos taken with a Nikon D80 - 18/200 lens.

Singapore Botanical Gardens.

The Orchid House.

If you have a few hours to spare in Singapore this is a very nice place to escape the heat, crowds and traffic. It's the main transit stop on the Hop On Hop Off bus. [ Only S$6 per person if you show a Singapore Airlines boarding pass.]

These photos were taken using a Blackberry Bold 9780 phone. It's no surprise that the bottom end of the digital camera market is collapsing when faced with performance like this, from what is basically a free camera.

Moto GP

Sepang Malaysia October 2012.

I have wanted to go to Sepang since I watched the first Moto GP race held there on TV. A trip to China gave me the opportunity to combine the two destinations. We flew into Singapore and took the train from Woodlands in Singapore to KL. It takes six hours and there is not a lot to see, endless palm oil plantations and run down towns and villages. The train is much the same, we bought first class tickets but it's pretty shabby. Details about the train trip can be found at http://www.seat61.com/. Take food and drink with you on the train, what's on offer is not good.

KL is also quite run down, a written instruction sheet in the hotel gives details about how best to avoid bag snatching, muggings, rape and car theft. We avoided all four but it's not a place to walk at night away from the main shopping areas. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatier was always lecturing Australia about it's lack of progress, amongst other things, he obviously never left his palace and saw the conditions in KL and the countryside. It reminds me of The Philippines under Marcos, with most of the wealth controlled by a few percent of the population. Fortunately the Malaysian people make up for the shortcomings of the city and transport, they are warm and friendly and really enjoy their motor bike racing.

Tickets in the K1 Grandstand at the end of the main straight cost A$30 for two days, a bargain when you consider that Phillip Island this weekend is charging A$285. Transportation to and from Sepang from KL [65kms one way] is  not easy, there is a bus service from KL Sentral but the oganisation is hopeless, on Saturday there was one bus at 10.00am and the next at 10.30. The bus sat in the 30c heat and waited until the appointed departure time before leaving, even though it was full. The driver spent a lot of time sending and receiving text messages while he was weaving across three lanes. The return journey on the Saturday was even worse, thousands of people standing in the heat while empty buses sat idling until the appointed loading and departure times. We booked a taxi for the Sunday for around A$125, it took us to the track and picked us up when the races had finished, it's the best option if there are four sharing.

The track and the view from our seats were fantastic.

 Zulfami Khairuddin from Malaysia got pole on the Saturday and went within a few centimetres of winning the Moto 3 race on Sunday, the crowd went crazy, the atmosphere was amazing.

 Moto 2 was just as good with Anthony West placing second before they red flagged the race because of rain, another lap and he would have won. One of Australia's best riders who has never managed to get a decent bike to ride. He can be seen in 21st position just above the head of the running rider in the following photo, taken on the first lap, he started 19th. on the grid. 

 

 Before Sepang I had never seen a Moto GP race live, the speed and sound of the Moto GP bikes is unbelievable, how the riders manage to keep them on the track I don't know.

The rain cleared after the Moto 2 race but Moto GP was declared a wet race, at two thirds race distance the rain started to sweep in again. So heavy that visibility was down to a few hundred metres. There was no chance of the race going full distance. The Rossi fan didn't know just how true to his word ValeYellow would be, still at the top of his game 5 years later.

Even with the transport chaos it was worth doing, I wouldn't go back there again but I am glad I have added Sepang to the list of tracks I have visited.

I used my Nikon D80 with an 18-200 lens, some of the photos have been cropped 80% to get in close so are a bit grainy. I should have followed this fans lead and taken a real lens. This is the last group of photos I took with my D80, on the way back to the taxi we were caught in one of Sepang's legendary storms, I put the camera in my backpack but the backpack filled with water and the camera drowned along with my passport, since then I have always traveled with a dry sac.