Thursday, June 08, 2006

Rained out in Sydney

Sydney was a wash out. It rained incessantly for 2 and a half days and I only got to skate for half an hour the day I arrived in Manly. Although I'm old for a skater and probably should have found something else to do by now, I find it tough to keep myself occupied when it's too wet to skate; one day of being a tourist in each city is quite enough.

Obligatory photo of Sydney Opera House. There was a huge skatepark at the Sydney Olympic Park, although as it was bike day I couldn't skate.
The whole of Olympic Park was like a ghost town, which was pretty weird. They do hold big matches there but I guess there are probably more stadiums and facilities there than any city could need outside of the Olympic games.
Manly beach in the rain; there are signs advising you not to swim after a storm due to pollution being washed into the sea from the drains.
Another obligatory tourist photo, of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the day
and at night.

Last of Melbourne

On my way out of Melbourne I stopped at a couple of the skateparks I'd skated to get a photo. I don't usually carry my camera when I skate as leaving electrical equipment sitting around for people to steal isn't that smart. This is a cool little park in Prahan near where I stayed that hosts quite a few demos. View from other side including mini and halfpipe in background.
Riverslide is the main central skatepark in Melbourne and this photo doesn't do it justice.
I had about 6 hours to kill before my overnight train to Sydney so I sat in pubs and cafes in one of Melbourne's more arty districts.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Frankston Skatepark

This is probably the sickest skatepark I've ever been to. The place is super smooth with a good mix of street spots and transitions. The street course is on 3 levels, so you can pump down through the park hitting ledges or stairs.
The main bowl is super big; 6 feet deep in the shallow and about 11 feet in the deep.
I only saw one BMXer and no roller-bladers, which was such a change from English skateparks.
They were still fixing up some parts of the park but everyone just skated round the maintenance guys.

Most of the skaters look like Baker kids with skin tight jeans and punk rock tee-shirts. Dustin Dollin comes from Melbourne so I guess he's the local hero.

Friday, June 02, 2006

High Life

After the trip to the zoo I headed to Melbourne Observation Tower to check out some good views of the city. There's a skatepark in the middle of this photo and you could see what tricks the skaters were doing through the free binoculars. This is a view down towards St. Kilda, which used to be the ghetto area of Melbourne but is now on the way up. The arty crowd have moved in and the area is good for veggie eats.
Skyscrapers in the city.
I'd deliberately arrived around late afternoon so I could see the sun go down. I took a few photos, grabbed a beer and waited for the sun to set.
Sunset.
Setted sun.

Animal Crackers

I had to find something to do to try and let my body recover after 3 days of skating. I've been sitting behind a desk and only skating for about an hour a week for the last 6 months. I'd been cycling a bit in Colombo but it's not quite the same muscles as you use to push on a skateboard. I figured I'd go to the Zoo; although I'm not sure what my stance is on zoos exactly. Having quit being a vegetarian I guess if I was on a high horse I've fallen off now.
Bear essentials.Liono Underwater windows; not swimming with seals. Australian Pengoo Chimp in the ghetto; their compound was pretty trashed. Strange insect Weird ass mutant horses What you looking at Ru?
After about 3 hours there I was pretty zooed out. The big cats had looked well bored but the smaller animals seemed OK.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Welcome to Oz

I touched down in Melbourne at maybe 5 in the morning. I handed the immigration guy my passport, went to stand at the side of his booth and he started giving me attitude. He started telling me he didn't know what it's like in England but you can't just walk through here; like I was going to wander off leaving my passport with his dumb ass. As I'd put my address in Australia as various hostels another guy started asking me loads of questions trying to see if I'd come to Australia to work illegally. Yeah, I've come to Australia to make sandwiches or labour on a building site for minimum wage. After a little chat they let me on my way. By the time I picked up my baggage it was maybe 6 o'clock. I got the skybus (it's just a bus) and arrived in the city 15 minutes later, not the most convenient time to arrive. I figured the hostel probably wouldn't open until 8 so instead of taking a cab or a bus I skated through the city towards the district where I was staying. The top photo is a public space with art gallery, bars and the main tourist information centre. I crossed the bridge below and headed towards Prahan and the hostel. It took me just over an hour to skate but I found the place pretty easily. I went to bed for about 3 hours and then hit the skatepark. I'm seriously rusty after 6 months in Sri Lanka but I'm pretty old school now anyway.
The skateparks are sick and I've seen video footage before of both the ones I've visited. No pictures of the skateparks yet as I don't want to leave my camera lying around while I skate.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Sing a poor

Singapore here I come.

Cityscape with mechanical-bee's nest on right hand side. The bees come out at night and suck all the filth and scum off the streets, which is why Singapore is so clean. There are disappearances that people say, in whispered voices, are because of the mechanical-bees.

I was walking through a subway towards the theatres and it turned into a modern art gallery. In England it would last about 5 minutes before someone spray painted a tag across it or smashed it up on the way home from the pub.

They even travel in spaceships in Singapore. I caught this one just as it took off from behind this government type building. I think it was taking the president of Singapore to some kind of intergalactic conference.

Fascists. They have mechanical killer bees and spaceships but they still oppress the skaters. Fight the power; I would have but I didn't bring my board. I knew I wouldn't be here very long and I had to watch out for those pesky killer bees.

This is the lobby of my hotel. The green light surrounds the teleporting area where you can be immediately transported to anywhere in Singapore. It turns the atoms in your body into electrical energy, beams them through space and then reassembles you at your destination.

Bladerunner, the city of the future.

World's biggest fountain or something. Walk around clockwise 3 times touching the water with your right hand and make a wish; superstitious hocus pocus.

Old meets new. New buildings / old boat down by the river.

Another flying saucer parked on the roof.
Night-time at the mechanical-bee's nest. They turn all the people they abduct into honey that glows outside the nest attracting more innocent souls to an untimely demise. Oh yeah, I quit being a vegetarian in Singapore. The fish called out to me and asked me to eat them so it would have been rude not to. Oysters, scallops, crab, salmon and prawns all had to be sampled and I must say, they didn't taste bad. Just warn me if you see the vegetarian police coming in my direction. I'll hit them with a wet fish.