Deutscher Trip 2015 – Part One: Arrival

February 23, 2015 by Brad

In early February I decided to take a last minute trip to Germany to visit some good friends who I have not seen in a number of years.

Booking a major trip five days before leaving is completely opposite to my usual modus operandi, but things fell into place really well and I saw myself flying from Sydney to Munich via Abu Dhabi on a Thursday afternoon in early February.

I was last in Germany a little under two years ago and I have such great friends there that I simply had to go back. It’s a long way from Sydney and there are no “easy” ways to get there. On my last trip I flew with Etihad and had a good trip up, but a bad trip back. While there were other airlines who offered trips with similar flight lengths and prices I ended up flying on Etihad again as they had the best arrival time into Munich (mid-afternoon).

The first flight, 14.5 hours from Sydney to Abu Dhabi went well. It is a very very very long flight, and despite having done a few of these ultra long-haul flights now one still gets restless over the final few hours. I had been dreading spending the layover in Abu Dhabi after a bad experience there two years ago, but this time we arrived at a different terminal which was super clean and the three hour layover went relatively quickly.

Goals for 2015

January 2, 2015 by Brad

Continue learning German
Learn python
Go to Europe
Read 20 books

Happy 2015 – Fireworks from Sydney

January 1, 2015 by Brad

I spent New Years Eve in Sydney with friends overlooking the harbour. This year we went to Athol Lawn, Bradleys Head on the North Shore.

After being sent in the wrong direction by security, we got inside and found a good spot on the lawn looking between the trees across the harbour to the bridge and the city. We then had a eight hour wait for midnight, firstly in direct sunlight and then being cooled by cloud in the late afternoon.

The views from Athol Lawn were impressive. We were further from the bridge than we thought we would be, but being able to see five or six barges along the harbour is a view that I haven’t been able to see before. Glancing back at my photos from previous years, this is one of the best views of the whole city that I have seen.

2014 – The Year of Growth

December 31, 2014 by Brad

Another year comes to an end. During this year I have achieved many of the goals I set myself in January:

Continue Learning German – and go back to Germany.
- I did well with the German in the middle of the year, but in the later months I have done none.
- I still have a massive desire to return to Germany.
Summit Mt Kosciusko
- Fourth year in a row that this hasn’t happened. But I did go skiing in the Snowy Mountains.
Read at least ten books – including the six paperbacks I currently have unread.
- I have read 36 books! But have now amassed 14 more to be read. In May I decided to start reading on the bus in the morning rather than reading Facebook and Twitter on my phone.
Buy a VF Commodore – I’ve wanted a Holden since I was in my teens.
- Still a pipe-dream
Keep this blog up to date.
- I blogged fewer times than any previous year, so I avoided the problem.

The year has had many highlights:

Photos: Extreme Sailing Series – Act 8 Sydney

December 31, 2014 by Brad

A few weeks ago Act 8 of the Extreme Sailing Series was held in Sydney.

I went down to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair to watch some of the racing on the afternoon of the first day.

Below are a few photos taken from the shoreline.

Photos: V8 Supercars Sydney 500 2014

December 13, 2014 by Brad

Last weekend I went to the Saturday races of the Sydney 500 round of the V8 Supercars at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush.

Below are some of the photos and a video from the day, it was really good to see the old supercars on the circuit.

Sculpture By The Sea 2014

November 1, 2014 by Brad

The past two Saturdays I’ve been down at Bondi with friends checking out Sculptures by the Sea.

Below are a few shots of my favourite sculptures from this year.

Photos: A day in Katoomba

October 6, 2014 by Brad

A few weeks ago I went to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for the day. We did a very short walk and caught the scenic railway back up the cliffs.

Skiing Perisher 2014

October 5, 2014 by Brad

In mid-September I went with some mates to Perisher in the Snowy Mountains. This was the first time I have been skiing in Australia and the first time in three years I have been on skis.

After an hour or so of slow blue and green runs I finally sorted myself out and got my skiing mojo back, and my the end of the weekend was happily skiing some “basic” black runs.

I have to make a massive mea culpa though, for the past four years I have written off Australian ski fields without even visiting them. But Perisher was amazing. It is huge, there are so many lifts and this means there are no big queues, the snow was great, yes there were trees, but there were no rocks and a massive variety of terrain to ski on.

The weather was brilliant, actually ridiculously hot for skiing, 13c at the base area, and I didn’t crash into any trees.

Below are some of the photos taken on the trip.

A Weekend in Brisbane

October 4, 2014 by Brad

In early September I went to Brisbane for a weekend to celebrate a birthday with members of my family.

This was my first proper time in Brisbane, and I was fortunate that the weekend I visited coincided with the start of the Brisbane Festival, which meant there was lots of fun stuff to see and do.