Dramatic Sunset

Today's sunset was pretty impressive.The sky was on fire. The sky in Perth is somehow larger than other places.

Bike Stolen!

BIKE STOLEN

Joel's bike has been stolen in Leederville last night. I need your cooperation to find his bike. If you are kind enough, please put this article on your blog as well.


If you find this bike, lock the bike safe and let him or me know where it is.
If you stole this bike, lock the bike safe and let me know where you park: email: okamotoy@hotmail.co.jp (I won't tell you anyone who you are.)

Remember, there is no identical bike anywhere in the world as he built his bike, it is impossible to bug off. We will find the bike sooner or later for sure.

Stolen Date: 7 August (Fri)
Approx Stolen Time: Midnight
Stolen location: Leederville

Bike details

Bike type: Fixed geared bike
Frame: Rode bike frame (Blue)
Handle Bar: Silver drop handle with black grip tape on
Stem: Silver
Seat: Black
Seat Post: Silver
Crank: Black
Peddle: Black with strap on
Chain: Silver
Rim: Black: Front, Velocity Silver: Rear

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Brisbane + Gold Coast + Sunshine Coast + Fraser Island + Byron Bay

A Dog in Brisbane

Let me share some memories of the trip to the east with you.

Be Dingo Safe

Something on the boat

Adelaide

Surfers Paradise

2 red cars

Rainbow Beach

We tried rock climbing with bare foot!

Rainbow Beach

Fraser Island

A Privilege to be in Australia

We are the people who can examine these revolutionary products first among the nation of the globe.

The product 1

The product 2

I think the second one would be very interesting and in a way challenging.

Are you jealous? Of course, you are! hahaha

It's winter.....

Well, time flies. It is already winter now. I used to like winter when I was small but I don't know how I liked it since I started riding bike.

It's been shitty weather now. and I will seem to be for a while.



In addition to that It seems like we are in the middle of the financial downturn. My work place has been extremely quiet. I guess the is no tourists in this City atm.

And on top of that, my left bottom wisdom tooth is in pain...

Come on, sunshine!!

Aussie barbie without Aussie in Australia

Our ever youngest classmate, Young Dennis. Guess how old?

After the trip to the Sydney I have still been in a holiday for 2 weeks (technically, its time for having an industry placement not holiday but able to have plenty time to play with.) So I had some extra fun stuff with my classmates.

In Perth there are a number of facilities which are free to use for the public. One of them is this riverside barbie* machine. Riverside barbie was an awesome way to chill. Just bring some meat, prawn, veges or whatever you want to grill.

*Barbie: Australian term of BBQ

Barbie Machine

I called up our classmates to enjoy this entertainment. In addition to the breathtaking scenery of the Swan River and Perth City, a supermarket and zoo are ideally located so that it is also very easy to get meat and food on foot. Yes, it's a hands free entertainment! (but be realistic, don't forget to bring salt, pepper, oil, knife, and cleaning kit. Its fairly silly to buy these stuff for just one day)

This kind of barbie gives you a great idea of how to enjoy time in a Australian way (although, there is no Aussie around you). Sit back, have food and beer (alternatively, you can have veges and wine), and talk about nothing serious. Make sure you drink enough, otherwise you can't feel this Australian way of fun.

After the row of barbie, river cruising back to city was waiting for you. This exclusive river cruise is operated by TransPerth, the public transport authority of Perth. This 5 minute- 5 star class cruise(of course you have to believe this is 5 star) cost only $0.80!

So I think this was pretty successful. I want to try this in another venue next time as the riverside barbie is not the only barbie machine in Perth.

If you have a chance to visit Perth or already in Perth wanting some relaxing fun, lets have one! I will be in!

The rest (Blue Mountains, Avoca Beach and Sydney(Bike Polo,Alley-Cat)

Blue Mountains

This place is famous for its world listed rock formations, the Three Sisters. However, due to the extremely misty (plus stormy) weather, Could only manage to see one of the Three Sis.

One of the Sisters

Ride around the village was fairly present and scenic

Short ride around Katoomba

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Avoca Beach

A bit of bike ride day to see my friend Jack and Jules who live in Avoca Beach. It was a beautiful spot just some 100km north of Sydney. I actually loved this place and the lifestyle people there are having. If I would describe the life style as "every day is a holiday". Hope I can have this sort of lifestyle in the future.

Its good to live near the beach.

Sydney CDB - Circular Quay

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Circular Quay -(Ferry)- Manly
Manly- Palm Beach


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Palm Beach --(Ferry)-- Ettalong Beach
Ettalong Beach - Avoca Beach


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Sydney

Catch up with bike polo crew in Sydney. As bike polo is still not an official sport each city has a different rule. For example in Sydney, the court size of the polo is much much bigger. I felt like playing soccer. It was interesting to play with different rule but It is essential to have a standard rule in order to have national/international competition. But there are common rules as well. It was to have fun games with beer!

Luckily, I had a chance to join an alley-cat as well the last day of the trip. It was my first time to ride around Sydney CBD so was fairly hard to make my own way but its was very enjoyable and got a good idea of Sydney. (Super luckily!! I got a prize as well) Thanks Stephanaa, Lewes and many Sydney crew for such a great time.

for information on Bike Polo and other bike related events in Sydney, visit Le Pista Resistance .


That's it. It was a great trip.

In the train to Blue Mountains. Its a cool system, isn't it?

Canberra 2

Date:19/May/09
Morning Ride: Canberra City YHA--> Red Hill -->Lake Burley Griffin--> Black Mountain (Telestra Tower) --> National University of Australia
Afternoon Ride: Canberra City YHA-->Old Parliament (Democracy Museum of Australia)--> Australia Parliament---> Embassies --->Lake Burley Griffin

Morning Hill Ride

The 2nd day in Canberra. A bit of exercise from the early morning. Did a good ride plus 2 hill climbs of Red Hill (721m) and Black Mountain (812m) . Bike path along the Lake Burley Griggin is well maintain and the beautifully modified landscape of the city and cool temperature gives me perfect venue to cycle.


Afternoon Political Ride

After lunch, head toward the old and present parliament. I took a free tour at the old parliament which allow me to learn the history of the parliament building and formation of democracy in Australia. I am not particularly into these two areas but It was good to know anyway.

After the parliament tours, I had a look at the embassy area of Canberra . It was really interesting area as you can see many different type of building from all over the world in such a small area.

Left Canberra at 4.00p.m. arrived Sydney 7.30p.m.

Tomorrow is Blue Mountains. Hope the weather won't get worse.

Canberra

Well well well, shortly after my birthday, somehow now I am in Canberra, the bush capital of Australia. Since I have took a red eye flight from Perth to Sydney and straight to Canberra by bus I didn't have much sleep from yesterday morning today. However I visited some sites.

I was surprised the fact that here in Canberra I can't really find Aussies in T-shirts and shorts, and it also made me realised that Perth's winter is not winter. Its COOLER SUMMER!!

As Canberra is perfectly designed city. Its really hard to get lost. It means its a great place to cycle around! Actually I found many people cycling on the rode. However drivers here seem a bit nasty. Even there many riders are No fixies are spotted.

Until the sleepiness stops me writing I write about the place I visited today.

The war memorial. This well maintained place would be sensational if you are found of architecture or history of Wars in general.


Humm, I don't think I can continue anymore too sleepless, dude. Good night.

Best Shot

Rotto was nice.

Harvest Ride

Great ride, good hills, fresh fruits!

organic apples

It is pretty awesome that just one and half hour ride take you to a beautiful country. I think this is one of the privilege of living in Perth. Reasonable up hills of 5km make your leg muscles stimulate and the friendliness and welcome of the village people make you wish to come back again. The scenery of Perth form the hill is just breathtaking.

We got this far!

To enjoy this ride, it is strongly recommended to depart in the early morning as traffic gets pretty busy even in the late morning also waking up early make your day longer.

Ride Facts

Tour Date:03/MAY/2009
Number of Participants: 2 (Yohei, Joel)
Weather: Sunny
Distance:68.5km
Avarage: - km/h
Max Speed: - km/h
Course: Perth--(Bike)--Perth Hill--(Bike)--Pickering Brook--(Farm Walk+Breakfast)--Pickering Brook--(Bike)--Perth
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Traffic: Busy (Specially on Welshpool rd)
Would you do this again?: No doubt, Definitely.

Japanese style garden (?)

Sunset from Subiaco