Holiday - More!

Big day yesterday. Kicked off with a sleep in and some fiddling with my car, followed by a pretty good lunch with my dad and a bunch of his old workmates/coffee buddies. Decided I should have a wander and spent the next few hours wandering around Brisbane. Checked out West End which was nothing to write home about so I thought I'd hit up the museum. This was pretty unspectacular. Paid to check out the Egyptian display they have on which was reasonably interesting. They had some real mummies and all sorts of trinket like things but the coolest thing was the mummified body parts. Stuff like a head and foot. Excellent! Decided to keep on my way and continue wandering and headed down through South Bank. The Buddah Birthday celebrations are on so there was lots of things to check out. I would have taken some pictures but there wasn't much point. Everyone has seen Pagodas and Buddah shrines before. What did amaze me though was that some of the folk running stalls there were there purely on a commercial basis. But honestly who goes to the Buddah Birthday celebrations to buy some 30 year old clock radio and second hand clothes?

Headed over to Josh's pad by which time I was rooted from walking. Drank beer. Ate Sushi Train. Demoloshed bottle of Vodka in record time watching the Aussies pound the shit out of New Zealand. Of which I have to say Matt Cooper is a star. Absolute work horse the entire game. Some brilliant kicking from Andrew Johns and Carmichael Hunt was quite impressive untill he caught the wrong side of a shoulder and was down for the count.

Then Kristian rang. By this time I'm more than lubricated. End up hitting the valley and going to all sorts of random clubs. Most of which Kristian would say upon entering 'Thats usually where the band plays' point to some corner. Of course not one place we ventured had a band. House music friday it must have been. Four am arrives and I'm quite surprised I'm still walking. We sit down and smash a coffee and some breakfast into us before parting ways and going home. Going home involved walking around the corner and into the elevator. Josh's pad is very conveniently located. Mind you I had a bastard of a time again with the swipy card trying to get doors to open and elevators to elevate. This may have been due to blurred vision caused by aforementioned heavy lubrication. Ended up speaking to Kahlia numerous times through the night which was also rather amusing. People (including me) should just not try use mobile phones to communicate whilst inside noisy clubs.

Anyway, I'm gonna go have a swim. Its a rather toasty day today here!

Holiday # Entry 3

Well into 'holiday' mode now. Lunch with father and work mates today which should prove quite interesting. Then onto drinking copious amounts with Josh this evening I dare say.

In a slightly different note, I finally bought some new wheels for the Calais. This was spurred on by the rather 'worn' condition of my previously existing tyres. For me it did not make sense to buy 4 new tyres for a set of wheels that I really didn't like. So I spent some time looking for some wheels. I hadn't planned on buying anything larger than 17". However the 'standing remark' I recieved at each shop I went to was that there was no point staying with 16". So it began I started looking at 17" & 18". All within budget constraints. I ended up buying a set of 18" wheels off the display car. And as you can see they are a pretty standard 5 spoke, reasonably similiar to the styling used by HSV. I'm most happy with them and I have been quite surprised by the only small change in general ride comfort from going from 60 profile down to 40. On the highway the difference was barely noticeable which brought me a great deal of joy.

So onto next week I should be heading out to the Gold Coast to visit a few people and should be spending a couple days out that way. Looking forward to seeing some people I haven't had a chance to see in quite some time.

Holiday # Entry 2

I've been kicking back a few days now and I am really enjoying myself. Got a few things to keep my occupied and still have mates to catch up with yet. Sadly I've only a bit more than a week to go.


So this was the result of driving through Sydney. Being the highly skilled driver I am, I turned off the M5 throwing myself directly into the Sydney CBD. However I did get to go over the Harbour Bridge. Most nostalgic.

Further on I spent a day and a half in Coffs Harbour. It really is a very pretty area. This is the view from the look out out over the wharf. It amazes me the progress of towns like Coffs Harbour. It has been two odd years since I was last there and I swear everytime I visit the place is totally different. Spent some time wandering around and had myself a pretty decent cup of coffee along at one of the many coffee shops that seem to have appeared just about every two metres.

Moving along to Balina, here resides one of Australias very ridiculous novelties. Big Things! The big prawn has seen far better days and a lick of paint really wouldn't go astray. There is also some sort of attempt at a Ayers rock (whats the PC name now?) further south after Newcastle somewhere but I couldn't be bothered to pull over and take a pic. Fear not, it is ever more crass than the Big Prawn. I did think about taking a picture of the Big Banana (Coffs Harbour's very own 'Big' thing) but again just couldnt be bothered pulling over at the time.

The final run up into Brisbane was pretty mundane. The M1 is an excellent road. 4 lanes wide there is room really for everyone. I almost had trouble keeping up with this to get a picture but it did make me laugh. At least someone has a sense of humour.

Holiday Entry#1 - Spare Time

Had a pretty sweet old drive north. Managed to confuse highways whilst on M5. I'm retarded I know. Up sides were that I only lost probably only 30 odd minutes in Sydney, caught a hilarious sign (picture shown later) and got to drive across the Harbour Bridge for the first time in many years.

Operation North Roads was still in full effect during the journey to Coffs Harbour. From Newcastle up to Kempsey the police presence was highly obvious. Much money spent on road side lit up signs.

The Calais was fantastic on the juice given its around town "economy". Pleasant journey - much singing and grooving. However I think Bec has a theory I am quite loopy. FYI. Bec is my mate Duncans missus. Lovely person, whom was able to communicate like a human being during the drive. Most appreciated.

Arrival to Coffs Harbour was reasonably normal (Sawtell/Toormina infact) with the usual standard I have set myself of getting lost everytime I arrive. But I do have an excuse! Everytime I turn up, all my land marks have been heavily transformed or get lost amongst the new ones. Now there is a gigantic Supermarket 2 minutes down the road that didn't even exist just over a year ago since my last visit.

Time spent this morning on the car. Drinking coffee feeling like a yuppy by myself in the 'CBD' side of Coffs Harbour. Brief shopping stint and an afternoon of kicking back in the sun.

I may be on Holiday?