Bloggles

Hmm. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, hey? I blame the long and painfully drawn out process of looking for a job for my absence and lack of motivation. It has been sucking the life out of me How I wish I were back in the land of COWS (and not sheep, surprisingly!). Here are a few photos I’ve managed to scab off David’s Flickr.

Rotorua

We spent the firstleg of our trip in Rotorua where we got to experience the wonder of its geothermal activity (fart smell) and of course, the Redwoods Mountain Bike Park in Whakarewarewa Forest. It was soooo awesome. Think Stromlo but with trees and better! My favourite trails off the top of my head were: A-Trail, Be Rude Not To and definitely the Exit Trail. Bikes were hired and time was limited so we didn’t get to ride as many as we would have liked. Getting lost through Genesis and being unfit didn’t help but it was an excellent experience and I’d definitely love to go back one day if I happen to be down in NZ.

With his hired GT Force on our way into the park

Trying to navigate with our $5 waterproof map. It was hard at first but got easier as we got a feel for the place.

Me riding through the Tickler on my hired Norco. Saying I missed my Trance would be an understatement. Lagging behind means the person in front can stop to take pictures of you

On a more low key day, we visited the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. While there was an initial assault on our senses, the sights were worth it after some adjustment.

I forget what this was called. Maybe the “Champagne Pool”? All the minerals and what not made for awesome coloured water while the sulphur steaming out of it made for a very cool effect. Yes, my descriptive skills are at their all time high tonight!

This was the “Devil’s Home”. Radioactive-green coloured water in a crater. I think “Three-eyed Fish’s Home” would have been a better name!

Lady Knox Geyser. “When 9°C water meets 150°C waters”. Powwww! Mother Nature shooting her load.

And it wasn’t only in a nature park that you saw this kind of activity. This is a shot of a body of water that we had to ride over to get to the Redwoods. Don’t be alarmed if you see steam rising out of lakes or random holes in the ground – it’s quite normal around Rotorua.

And this concludes my post on Rotorua. I might surprise you all with other installments on the other parts of our NZ trip.

This post has been sitting in my Wordpress as a draft for waaay too long…

06.12.09 – Mount Stromlo

The next day was spent at Mount Stromlo. It was a loooooong ride up the mountain but the ride down was definitely worth it! Good thing we rented the bike-mobile or we wouldn’t have been able to fit another run down before rushing back to Sydney to make a wedding. Shuttling FTW! Weeeeeee! I was feeling a bit vulnerable at the top, looking down at the trails laid before me (serves me right for being lazy and not wearing my knee and elbow pads up) but it was A-OK and there was lots of fun to be had through those berms. YEEEEHAR!

(Credit: Justin)

Unloading the bang bus.. I mean van.

(Credit: Carl)

Where to?

(Credit: Justin)

Enough room for 6 bikes…

(Credit: Carl)

… and a few illegal immigrants, haha. A few of the guys hitched a ride up the mountain. I think it was sickly and hot back there and I’m sure it didn’t help that we drove the wrong way for a good ten minutes, either! I’m glad noone puked back there, would’ve been horrendous driving back to Sydney in a stinky van!

(Credit: Carl)

At the top of ze mountain!

What a great weekend! We were rushing like crazy to get back to Sydney, get ready for the wedding, rush to return the van and then finally make our way to the reception. I was pooped by the end of it all and was glad to finally get to sleep in my own bed.

Hooray! It was the Super Duper BMU Ride Day Weekend! Two days of awesome riding in Canberra with even better company. I had a great time despite coming home sunburnt, sore and with a leaky nose. Surprisingly, my legs were fine, it was my upper body that was aching. Can’t wait to do it again, though! Thanks a bazillion to Jing who organised the whole thing and put us into some really nice apartments

David, Wilson and I thought it would be a good idea to hire a van for a weekend which would’ve worked out easier and cheaper than taking two/three cars down. It was a great idea, I loved just chucking stuff in the back and not worrying about the car.

Our trusty rental van! Nice and reliable but we would probably get something with a bit more power next time. This thing was one slow mover!

Six bikes in the back, fuck yeah!

05.12.09 – Sparrow Hill & Saturday Night Shenanigans

Sparrow was just absolutely amazing! It is by far the best trail I’ve ridden so far. Flowy single track that undulates up and down, winding through a picturesque pine forest. It was so lovely and peaceful in there, I’m sure I could’ve just enjoyed walking through it and admiring its fragrance… Which is what we did when David’s leg seized up in a monstrous cramp, poor thing! Wilson and I limped back with him to the fire road that took us back to the entrance.

(Credit: Jing) Heading Out

(Credit: Jing) Through the Forest

(Credit: Jing) Pine Trees!

After a well-earned dinner at the Kingston Hotel, we returned to our apartments where I dozed off into a food-induced coma that I was later woken from by cries of agony that sounded something like “Ughhh, fuckkk! My leg! It’s crampeddddd! It hurtssss!”. I entered the lounge area to find this:

(Credit: Justin) Timmy writhing around on the ground!

What happened, you ask?

(Credit: Justin) Timmy + A jug of vodka and pineapple juice = Sixty dorra and…

(Credit: Justin) Timmy trying to crawling back to his sofa, LOL!

Stacks on… Cliffy!!!

17.10.09 – The Oaks

So we hit The Oaks last Saturday. I was stallowned. If there is anything I have learnt, it is not to have chilli hot pot the night before a ride. Rode all of it though, thank God! Except for the bit out of the gorge at the end… and some of the technical bits. But I always skip those parts, so ner.

Waiting for the train at Glenbrook station

Taking a well earned rest

David and I. I’m looking a little worse for wear here. Damn my stomach troubles! I was glad the majority of the hills were, over, though.

Derek and I emerging from the sweet, sweeeet single track. Hohhhh yeah!

David decked out in his new jersey! A true Yeti fan, hehe.

25.09.09 – Out with Nghi

Nghi and I hadn’t seen each other in a while so we planned a date on Friday night. Starvation was already upon us so dinner was our first priority. We had hopes to try Mamak, that Malaysian joint that is all the rage at the moment but our empty stomachs disagreed with the long queue outside. Instead, we headed over to Capitol Square where we indulged ourselves in some Korean food at MillioRe. I don’t have any pictures unfortunately (too hungry! wanted to eat!), but rest assured, it was a satisfyingly good meal. I had the BBQ beef ribs while Nghi opted for some pork rashers which I thought were much like bacon, except  unsalted. We decided to cook our own food, our apparatus being tongs and a hotplate perched on a portable gas stove – this way, we would have an idea of the ETA of our meals, a finger on the pulse, if you like.  I think this was the perfect set up for this particular night because I would have died in anticipation of cooked meals arriving at our table.  A side of the potato starch noodles (divine!) was also ordered but we soon discovered that we couldn’t accommodate it all. Thank God for our saviour that is the doggy bag! I guess the unlimited refills of the tasty complimentary side dishes (Banchan) didn’t help, either. I know this entry is useless without pics but to try and make  up for it, I will show you what I got to wash it all down:

A grape juice drink with real grape bits in it!

We walked past the Chinatown Night Markets on our mission to fill our grumbling bellies and made the resolution to return straight after dinner to see what finger bling they had on offer. We found these:

Nghi’s new ring

My new ring

… and bangle

I also witnessed for the first time, the Konad nail art system. All this time I didn’t realise it was a little rubber stamp. Intriguing! I almost wish I was a fan of it. We thought it best to make our way back to the car to save ourselves from spending all our pennies.

Saw this on the way. Interesting! Looks like sushi shaped ice cream. Mmm.. Did someone say ice cream?

Nghi with Bubblegum (mine) and Peanutbutter Choc Swirl with cookie dough and Nerds mixed in (hers). She swears by this combo. I didn’t see the attraction, though.

It’s little wonder we found ourselves heading to Cold Rock for dessert next. We didn’t have quite enough room yet but figured we would by the time we got to Newtown.

Très délicieux!

I thought it was funny that I was eating ice cream the colour of her top while she ate some the colour of mine.

26.09.09 – Heathcote Pipeline

After having a geez at Trailflix, the boys suggested we ride something different. We rode six kilometres of uphills towards the end!! Tiring, but doable, it was a nice change of scenery and we came across some interesting things along the way.

The pipeline that carries water from Woronora Dam to the households

Setting off

Low tide at the causeway

Found these growing on some trees. Looks like a scrotum! Tee hee!

The rock was warm, ok? It was a bit cool and windy despite the sunshine. I took the opportunity to get my lizard on and even out my glove tan.

ECHIDNA! Spotted this little critter on the way back. He burrowed his head into the sand when we tried to get a closer look, though. “I hope they think I’m a pile of sticks!”. I was pretty excited, haven’t seen one of these in the wild before!