Monaco - Monte Carlo - race day. For me it's the beginning of the end. I couldn't sleep until my alarm. Maybe I'm too excited by the prospect of the race, like a kid on Christmas day. Or maybe I'm not used to sleeping until 9am!? I'm pretty sure its the excitement. I have to be there by 11am. Aussie young gun Daniel Ricciardo will be racing in the Formula Renualt 3.5. Like Mark he won the race last year, and today he starts from pole position. From the time the lights go out until the chequered flag he leads, another great drive from the next Aussie in F1. It was a pretty action packed race with a few safety cars and some really amateurish crashes. It's hard to pass in Monaco but some of the stuff they were trying was ridiculous, needless to say a few cars got airborne. All drivers were fine and no one was injured, just some bent race cars and the national anthem. Before hand the national anthem to me hasn't had much significance, but to hear it in another country it was a very chest filling, proud moment. I don't know why in AFL finals they play the national anthem, maybe to remind everyone where they are? Seems a bit American to me. Bit off track there.
Speaking of off track. Yachts, multi million dollar mega luxury yachts litter the Monaco harbour, more so than 6 months ago, obviously! There was two big ones behind my stand. The Indian Empress and Force India. I even got to see the owner, Vijay Mallya, team owner of Force India F1. It was an interesting place to people watch, especially with rich Indians around! For my local seven eleven guys around the corner, I put in a good word! It was very cool as the drivers do a parade lap, this time all on the back of the F1 branded truck. Its a specially made truck to house all of the drivers as they wave to the crowd. Unfortunately they are all taking to each other so they don't do much waving. And if you have rotten fruit to throw you only get one good opportunity, if they are in individual cars you can target who you'd like to wamp. I think that's my new favourite word, wamp! But the cool part that I started to talk about it as the drivers are going around, the yachts are blowing their horns. Its such a cool sound that only the wealthy can do. Some of us commoners might have a air horn, but it pails in comparison to the yachts 'bull' horn. It's like comparing a house kitten to a Lion. Not only does it signify their wealth but also their appreciation for the drivers. There is a great atmosphere around Monaco. It's a race people come from all over the world to see. There are heaps of Aussie flags around too! It's a race with a special touch, housed in the second smallest country/principality with drivers, teams and fans from all over the world. It's a great place to impress sponsors and VIPs, and if you're either of those, take everything they give you! Before the race I chill out at the base of the grandstand, legs over the edge of the blue harbour out of the sun, taking in the moment, that I know I have to hold onto for the rest of my life. Once in a lifetime trip, you'd certainly think so. There is more phases in my life that will probably take priority over this cavalier travelling that I'm doing. Once in a lifetime trip, I certainly hope not! As much as I'm doing this trip with Liz, it's still special moments like one of my lifetime dreams that you want to share with someone. I don't think Liz understands how big this part of my trip is. This is the reason I'm over here. Monaco F1! The race itself is a spectacle, the most entertaining race in many years. Again not the best for our Mark Webber but it's a great racing spectacle, and it had everything, even some controversy. The warm up lap does two things, for the drivers they get to check everything on the car, warm the tyres and brakes. For the fans it's about the anticipation, it's about to start, next time me we see them they will be racing to win the jewel in the F1 championship, the 69th running of the Monaco Grand Prix! I still think it's funny I'm seeing the 69th one! If you don't get it, then your too young, or too old to do that anymore. All eyes are on the big screens, my ears are listening to the revs, you can tell which light sequence they are at by the revs. The main straight/grid is just 50 metres away, so you can hear it easily. Alonso gets another great start from the dirty side, he passes Mark into turn one, so it's Vettel, Button, Alonso and Webber. Similar to Barcelona, shit, bum, fuck, bugger! There are some faster drivers backed back in the pack due to poor qualifying yesterday, so they are trying their hardest to pass people on a track that is notoriously hard to overtake, but not impossible. One driver is trying harder than most, second in the championship Lewis Hamilton, formula ones first black driver, for south park fans he'd be called token. As much as I don't like Lewis, he's a bloody good driver and deserves the success he has had. Why don't I like him, it's his playboy image, his strut, arrogance and silly line of facial hair. I think anyone with a pencil line of facial hair is a tool. But he can drive and is not afraid to have a go. One of those people who would try a move that may kill him. It's a championship every race for Lewis, not a race in a championship. So he slowly makes his way through the pack, picking of far slower cars, nerfing (touching) Michael Schumacher out of the way to get past him, then has a collision with Massa, earned him a drive through penalty, then late in the race hit Pastor Maldonado who was driving his best race in his rookie year. After the race, Lewis was hit with another penalty for that hit too. They were both borderline "attempts" to overtake, not clean racing maneuvers. They deemed it to be making avoidable contact with another driver, which was the same with his first pace, but he did no damage to Schumacher's car. I his press release statement he was asked why do you think they penalized you so much, he said jokingly "maybe cause I'm black!"
The race was all over the place, bad pitstops ruined some races, Webber's included. A safety car, and with 9 laps to go the leaders were coming up to lap a few other drivers, in attempt to get out of the way, one car ran onto the marbles (tyre debris) slid back across onto the track making contact with two others. How the three leaders made there way through it without damage is beyond me. Webber dodged something similar last year with about 5 laps to go, two cars came together right in front of him, they looked like they were mounting each other (piggy backing for you young ones). After two laps behind the safety car they red flagged the race, one of the drivers had some pain in his leg and they had to get the ambulance and medical team. Apparently he's fine this morning and has been discharged from hospital with a sore ankle. This is the controversial part of the race, something that I didn't know and something that a few of the drivers didn't know. During a red flag situation, normally you cannot touch the cars of change anything. If 75% of any race is completed full point can be awarded. All F1 races are 300+km in length (besides Monaco 260km) or two hours in length. The race restarted at 4:05 and teams were allowed to touch their cars. Lewis had a damaged rear wing, Sebastian Vettel had very old tyres and the two drivers behind him had much fresher and faster tyres. So the advantage the drivers behind had was now gone, Seb had new tyres and Lewis had a fixed rear wing, which didn't effect his race at all. The only good thing to come of it was that Webber changed tyres too and gave him the speed to overtake after the restart. He had to overtake Kamui Kobayashi for fourth place. Kamui is one of the hardest guys to overtake, and a great driver to watch, he's always on the edge! I personally think the best japanese driver ever. With Webber's car coming alive with new tyres he made the pass on the exit of the tunnel, not easy, but he did it, it was a clean pass too! That was a bit of a fist pump moment for me too. That was as far as he was going to go, the guys at the front all had new tyres and they didn't get a chance to overtake Vettel. So two weekends, two F1 races, two Vettel wins, two Webber fouth places.
Then it all sinks in...... Its all over. No more racing. No more screams of F1 engines. I just stand there, looking around, taking it all in. It was quite an emotional moment for me. You look around and see the people going through what you are. It's hit them too. It's Monaco, and it's over. Talk about the all time buzz kill. The only thing I can take away is the ringing in my ears. I have photos, audio, video, a t-shirt, ticket and memories. I feel very flat and sad. You want to hold on to this for as long as possible. But you soon get ushers getting everyone out of the stands. I sent Pete a message and told him "shame it's over." He simply said "don't make it the only Monaco GP u see dude, that simple." I know I can, but it's not cheap and I have no idea what holds for me in the future, and where my priorities lay. That sinking feeling stays with me the whole night. I don't think Liz understand the gravity of this time, and what it means to me or what the weekend means to me. We've only been dating for a few months so she's a long way off knowing and understanding me, and I can't hold it against her. Most people reading this have known me for years and will understand just how big and important this trip is for me. Liz has known of me for over a year, but only spoke and hung out a but after I got back from yurop part I. You never really know how much something has an impact on your life until it's over. Something you're passionate about, whether it's family, friends, relationships, sport or even a cup of tea. It's not easy when it's at the end. And this moment is a sad one. Sure I can tick it off my bucket list, but that's it. A tick. It wouldn't have mattered if Webber had won or whatever, the event, the reason I'm in Europe again is over, that sadness and emptiness won't be shaken easily. Clichés aren't much use right now. Sure all good things come to an end, doesn't mean you want them to. And you don't want to hear them either. It doesn't help. I'm a realist and I know this feeling will go away, I know life goes on, and I know that everything will be OK.
It just sucks is all.....
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Spain - Antibes - The journey to F1 in Monaco!
Back onto traveling. Now this one was a journey and a half! Bus from St Feliu De Guixols, train to Figueres, train to Narbonne, train to Montpellier, train to Antibes, then bus to accom. All in all 10.5 hours. Some trains were 19min and 26mins apart, so they had to be on time. First train was 7mins late, the next two trains were spot on time. But the last one was over 30mins late, luckily that was our last train, so it didn't matter so much. Most of the trains were about an hour journey, except for Montpellier to Antibes which was just over 4 hours. I love the trains over here, so easy to relax. Very easy for Liz too, she slept on every train and bus! And yeah i woke her for every stop too, how nice of me!!! Found our accommodation in Antibes pretty easy. I've been pretty good when it comes to finding what and where I'm going, very well prepared, google maps, and street view help a lot. I generally load the map on my phone the night before, the 3G signal will display a blue dot (even the direction I'm facing) and follow the yellow brick road. Sometimes the little blue dot says that I'm in the middle of the Mediterranean!! I do have to check, nope my shoes are still dry. I had a laugh while on the train to Antibes, and we head through Cannes, all I could think of was the second Mr Bean movie (the funny one). Did my best Bean impersonation, "Cannes" and "beach."
I'm glad Liz informed me of what is down in the south of France. While I was planning I had 2 days between Spain F1 and getting to Nice. She told me that Antibes had Marineland, a marine park with Orcas, dolphins and seals etc. So once she decided to come along for the yurop part duex trip we had to go. We booked a VIP package through their website which was mostly in French! We made it..... An hour early as Liz didn't want to be late. It cost €169, so not the cheapest, and no photo or DVD included! But we spent a good three hours doing a tour of the park, mostly before it opened and interactions with a seal, dolphin and got close to a killer whale! The price even included entry. I know sea world back home TFAD program includes more little things but misses the big stuff. $500 TFAD program + entry $69. We had a tour from one of the senior trainers, she spoke French and english, had breakfast in the restaurant that looks into their penguin exhibit, showed us more of the exhibits explained some of the animals and a good background of knowledge (she had been there over 15 years). She'd worked with the Orcas and then asked to change to the interactive dolphin/seal area. It was a great day. A park not massive in area, but a good walk around. Maybe similar to SW but not in a straight line. They had a great polar bear exhibit, and the bears had some very similar pattern behaviors to ours. The seals and dolphins for me weren't the highlight for me, we have similar species and the training is the same principle, though different hand signals. Their seals were very switched on and they were very well behaved, either in the show or in the interactive time we had. In the seal show they had some very cool new behaviors which I'm keen to describe to our seal team back home. All the shows are very enthusiastic, lots of colour, and heaps of energy from the trainers. The music is pumping too, and really gets the crowd involved. The dolphin show had some cool different behaviors too. They wouldn't get the massive numbers we might get at sea world but they don't need it. They have no rides in the park, and the park is well signed and themed. It has a clear identity. The stores are simple, not cluttered with junk and the products are very impressive. No hot wheels, transformers or generic named stuff. They did have a Lego type product, but it was all marine themed. I really liked the 3D postcards and some of their photos were well presented and framed.
So to come away, I think back home we need Stellar sea lions and Orcas. Stellar sea lions are massive. I first saw one at a friends park in Holland. Adek was his name and he was 900kg! He'd lost 300kg too! The ones we saw were from that park too. Over 700 kg mammoths and they are eating 40kg of fish everyday! I think the Orcas are the drawcard for sure, we could use a new massive stadium that could house these beautiful animals. How ever much it costs would certainly be worth it, and no doubt you'd get your money back. Just to emphasize I'm not talking wild Orcas either, but captive bred animals. The orca show was very cool, and man are those animals big. I think with dolphins and Orcas you have their eyes, mouth etc quite close together at the front. It looks big but nothing too massive. But you have no real appreciation for size unless they are out of the water. And then you get to see just how big and impressive they are. It's funny since I have never taken photos of these guys before, you would see the hand cues and pan to the area they are being prompted....... Wait....... Wait........ Wait some more. It takes a long time, and a lot of energy to get themselves out of the water to jump! Great music, great energy and some very nice people too! So thanks to Katia and the team at Marineland in Antibes, we had a great day, memories to last a lifetime, and some nice shots too!!
Antibes is a beautiful place, nice and relaxed and close to nice, Monaco and Cannes. And probably only an hour from Italy! Not far from our hotel we found a shopping centre, most of it was closed except for a shop called carrefour. Holy shit this place is massive! Picture a big w with woolies and a dan murphys under the one roof! Goodluck finding plastic cutlery, gave up after about 15-20mins! On our departure day we had a bit of a sleep in, then lugged our baggage down to old Antibes, a gorgeous part hidden away behind the old town wall. I saw a bus that was going to Super Antibes, man that place must be awesome. Most of the places I wish I had a bit more time to study the area and find the stories behind each place, but F1 in Monaco calls..... So goodbye Antibes, thanks for beautiful weather, great views and marineland!
A short 15mins train trip and we are in Nice. I did only go through here on my last visit, but now we have a fee hours to check in and check this Nice place out. Let's just say, if you yearn for the smell of urine, come to Nice, you wont be disappointed. In my book it's the pissiest city in europe! It smashed Naples! Liz will be exploring Nice, have a day trip with me to Monte Carlo (on the F1 rest day/party day) and then head into San Remo to explore the home of gluten Italy! Apparently 30% of Italian children are diagnosed with gluten intolerance. So Liz will test her stomach with a hit of gluten from Italy! She may be in bed the next day, so she has no plans. For me, it's Monaco, Monaco, Monaco, Monaco!
I think the first F1 race I remember watching was the Monaco F1 race. It's the jewel in the F1 crown. It's slow, it's dangerous and it really doesn't show off the true ability of a formula one car. But this race has prestige, history and every driver wants to win it! Mark Webber won it last year, he's won in F3000 and F1! And boy did he celebrate last year by jumping in the harbour! He's always been quick around here, so fingers crossed, in fact cross everything! It will be on back home at 10pm on one HD, if you're up, check it out and cheer him on.
Wind myself back to Thursday, up nice and early. Monaco runs F1 on thurs, sat and sun. The only place that does. I have everything organized, tickets to be picked up and train travel there! On my way I notice a bit of an F1 officiando, Tom Clarkson, writer for F1 racing magazine among other things. He did a ride from the top of the UK to the bottom with Mark Webber in I think 2001...? As we were pulling into Monaco train station, I introduced myself and we just walked and talked for about 10mins. I got to pick his brain and just have a good chat with a genuine nice bloke. Thursday was a bit surreal, it's hard to put into words my emotions. I am here, Monaco, the toughest street course in the world with some of the famous corners, sections in the world. I walked the track and I said I had to come back when the cars are here. Well six months later and I'm seeing them come around the left hander of massenet (corner name at the casino) then right hander called casino. A great change of direction after the cars go flying up from st devote and beau rivage! Those who know F1 will know those corners. If not watch an F1 onboard clip via YouTube. For photos it's a little bit difficult when you are sitting in a stand and if I use my big lens I will wamp the guy in front of me with it when I pan. So I decided to give myself a challenge, mega blur shots, handheld 50-500mm lens shooting 1/10th and 1/20th sec. I knew I wouldnt get much that would work, but getting a formula one car still is easy, showing speed isn't....especially without a monopod to keep my lens on a stable horizon whilst I pan. About every half hour I was shaking my head in disbelief, Monaco F1! This is more about watching cars than photos anyway. Last weekend proved I could take a good formula one photo, this week is all about the event, the location and the grandeur. If I was working it, it'd be totally different. For such a dangerous track, the photographers can get very very close, and for photographers, the closer the better. Our Gold Coast event is so anal about safety. The inside of hairpins and 90 degree corners should be fence free for photographers. Have the fence behind them for spectator safety. You'd get much better photos and coverage of the event, you sign a waiver at the start of the weekend anyway!! Thursday done, and it still feels surreal. I've been keeping my eyes out for Mark Sutton, F1 photographer, so I can give him a portfolio of my motorsport work over the years. I did see his brother Keith, but he was on the other side of the track.... I had the disc ready. It's gotten a bit banged up over the travel, I hope that isn't held against me if I see him! I did manage to see Darren Heath too, another F1 photographer, he's a bit of a guru, cares too much about his hair, and has a sweatband. But the guy has some pretty good clients and always produces spectacular images. The kind of images that are art gallery type! You'd hang them on your wall and not know that it was an F1 car.
Friday-F1 free day. And the track will be open for walking at 1-1:30. There was some racing earlier in the day but rushing there wasn't our major concern. We made it in and I dragged poor Liz around the majority of the track and explained why it's the bees knees of F1. If you went to F1 with the same track design as monaco nowadays you be laughed away. It's about racing heritage. It's so unique most teams have to specially design components just for this race. Pitlane is open to anyone with a grand prix ticket, ooh lucky I have two! I've never been down an F1 pitlane, needless to say neither has Liz. Just outside the entrance there are drivers signing autographs. I lifted Liz up to see some of them, but she didn't know who was who anyway, I was even pointing to Mark Webber but she was looking for someone with redbull gear on and missed him. I gave her my spare ticket and headed in to the pitlane. As soon as we arrived in Webber had finished his session of photos. So he walked right past us, Liz saw him this time. I've met Mark many times over the years in Melbourne and he seems so much more relaxed in Europe. In Australia every journalist, tv station and radio want a piece of him while he's home, and after Melbourne his schedule eases up massively. Maybe that's why he has struggled in previous years? Too much on his plate! He stopped for every photo, signed every autograph. Hopped the pitlane fence, not to avoid people but to go easily down pitlane and sign something for everyone. He was extremely relaxed, had a joke with a kid, even fixed his hat up so the photo would look good. I managed to get Liz's brand new Monaco hat a signature and a photo with him. Behind him you can see other drivers avoiding the fans yelling out their names. Everyone is so happy that a driver of Mark's calibre is happy to take time to sign autographs and pose for photos. I told him he's doing Australia proud "thanks mate" was his response. He's been a bit off form and his team mate has lifted the bar this year, but he keeps trying and never gives up. Aussie grit!
I managed to see Mark Sutton in the paddock, but the F1 rights owner and billionaire Bernie Ecclestone had just walked in a grabbed his attention. Dammit, how am I going to get the disc to him.... I'll have to try saturday or sunday. We walked through the tunnel and saw the tyre debris just after one day of running! Liz has a part of F1 tyre now to take home. The new pirelli tyres degrade more and leave heaps of tyre debris (marbles) on the track. Why marbles, well if you go offline and they stick to your tyres, driving after that is like driving on marbles. On our last section of the lap I caught a glimpse of Keith Sutton again, this time in a restaurant. Should I wait, go in and bother him. Nah I'll wait. Bit stalker'ish but there is an innocent motive. So there is more than one exit out of this restaurant.... So down the hill we go, try and beat him down and intercept, like an ambush. Liz has thought we've missed him. She was even giving me hand signals as to where he was (very cute), but I knew exactly where he was. Intercepted, disc delivered and a big sigh of relief. He seems likes nice guy too! I hope he gets a look at my work too! Ah everything accomplished. All to do now is turn up Saturday and Sunday and enjoy what I've travelled this far for. The 69th (hehe) running of the Monaco grand prix!
An early start on Saturday after a long night of watching movies on my iPad. Due date was a very funny movie! A movie with a masturbating dog has to be a winner every time! Liz and I make our way to the trains, she'll be heading to Ventimiglia and then onto San Remo. Me, no surprises Monaco. I want to get there to support Daniel Ricciardo, James van der Drift and kiwi Brendon Hartley in the European Renault 3.5 series qualifying. Daniel had been quickest all weekend, he didn't disappoint me by grabbing pole just ahead of the kiwi. So they will race tomorrow before the F1 race. The days have been perfect, the sun has been out, turning all poms bright red and keeping me lathered up in sunscreen. I'm not looking forward to the cool weather when I get home. Temps here at the moment are 19-29! Last practice before quali, and it's littered with incidents and red flags (session stop). Nico Rosberg and Vintantonio Liuzzi try to beat the walls, but no surprises the walls kick their ass. Unfortunately in practice the clock keeps ticking, though in qualifying when a red comes out the session stops. And the session certainly came to a stop! Sergio Perez came out wide of the tunnel (he's got marbles now) and instead of backing off he still attacked the corner. When you run wide especially at Monaco, you have to back off or else you will tear corners off your car and make your team spend all night fixing or putting together a new car. And don't forget the fact you could seriously hurt yourself! His car pitched straight in the wall, tore off a couple of corners of the car and then went ploughing into the barrier side on. Session stopped and it took them approx 15mins to extract him from the car. The car was a mess and he's ok which is the main thing. I'm sitting directly opposite swimming pool, two tricky corners followed by a difficult chicane. You can see into the pitlane too. I've wanted to be in this spot ever since I saw F1 at Monaco. It's so quick and you can easily see how hard the drivers work in these corners. And you can tell who's quick and who's about to make a mistake. Hamilton made the mistake. Went in to deep and cut a corner, there goes pole! And it went to Vettel, again! Webber in 3rd. Not bad, clean side of the track and hopefully a good start might see him gain a position or two. Monte Carlo is very pretty and you get an awesome view of the mountains, cliff faces, real estate and the massive yachts/boats parked in the marina. The two behind my stand are owned by billionaire Vijay Mallya, these are massive!! Time to go home at watch the champions league final! Liz is keeping me informed of her movements throughout the evening, she's missed a train then had a mix up with times, but she got home safe and full of gluten and her hands filled with bags! Half time and it's 1-1. Liz chatted to me in the background as I watched the second half, Barca were out playing Man Utd and soon it was 3-1. Somethings aren't meant to be. But it's great to watch it in the evening and not at 5am back home! Liz, well she thought Man Utd won (even though I wasn't jumping around). "oh, so they won?!" No, they didn't babe. "Oh I thought that was Man Utd." I had to recall to her all of the shops, balconies and people walking around Barcelona in the red and blue of Barcelona. "awww yeah, that's right!" I was in a particularly dry mood after seeing my team get beaten by the best in the business, but it did give me a chuckle.
I go to bed tonight knowing my Monaco F1 experience ends tomorrow. It's pretty sad, but at the same time it's the crescendo that I've been waiting for. Sit back, relax and enjoy the race!
I know I will!
I'm glad Liz informed me of what is down in the south of France. While I was planning I had 2 days between Spain F1 and getting to Nice. She told me that Antibes had Marineland, a marine park with Orcas, dolphins and seals etc. So once she decided to come along for the yurop part duex trip we had to go. We booked a VIP package through their website which was mostly in French! We made it..... An hour early as Liz didn't want to be late. It cost €169, so not the cheapest, and no photo or DVD included! But we spent a good three hours doing a tour of the park, mostly before it opened and interactions with a seal, dolphin and got close to a killer whale! The price even included entry. I know sea world back home TFAD program includes more little things but misses the big stuff. $500 TFAD program + entry $69. We had a tour from one of the senior trainers, she spoke French and english, had breakfast in the restaurant that looks into their penguin exhibit, showed us more of the exhibits explained some of the animals and a good background of knowledge (she had been there over 15 years). She'd worked with the Orcas and then asked to change to the interactive dolphin/seal area. It was a great day. A park not massive in area, but a good walk around. Maybe similar to SW but not in a straight line. They had a great polar bear exhibit, and the bears had some very similar pattern behaviors to ours. The seals and dolphins for me weren't the highlight for me, we have similar species and the training is the same principle, though different hand signals. Their seals were very switched on and they were very well behaved, either in the show or in the interactive time we had. In the seal show they had some very cool new behaviors which I'm keen to describe to our seal team back home. All the shows are very enthusiastic, lots of colour, and heaps of energy from the trainers. The music is pumping too, and really gets the crowd involved. The dolphin show had some cool different behaviors too. They wouldn't get the massive numbers we might get at sea world but they don't need it. They have no rides in the park, and the park is well signed and themed. It has a clear identity. The stores are simple, not cluttered with junk and the products are very impressive. No hot wheels, transformers or generic named stuff. They did have a Lego type product, but it was all marine themed. I really liked the 3D postcards and some of their photos were well presented and framed.
So to come away, I think back home we need Stellar sea lions and Orcas. Stellar sea lions are massive. I first saw one at a friends park in Holland. Adek was his name and he was 900kg! He'd lost 300kg too! The ones we saw were from that park too. Over 700 kg mammoths and they are eating 40kg of fish everyday! I think the Orcas are the drawcard for sure, we could use a new massive stadium that could house these beautiful animals. How ever much it costs would certainly be worth it, and no doubt you'd get your money back. Just to emphasize I'm not talking wild Orcas either, but captive bred animals. The orca show was very cool, and man are those animals big. I think with dolphins and Orcas you have their eyes, mouth etc quite close together at the front. It looks big but nothing too massive. But you have no real appreciation for size unless they are out of the water. And then you get to see just how big and impressive they are. It's funny since I have never taken photos of these guys before, you would see the hand cues and pan to the area they are being prompted....... Wait....... Wait........ Wait some more. It takes a long time, and a lot of energy to get themselves out of the water to jump! Great music, great energy and some very nice people too! So thanks to Katia and the team at Marineland in Antibes, we had a great day, memories to last a lifetime, and some nice shots too!!
Antibes is a beautiful place, nice and relaxed and close to nice, Monaco and Cannes. And probably only an hour from Italy! Not far from our hotel we found a shopping centre, most of it was closed except for a shop called carrefour. Holy shit this place is massive! Picture a big w with woolies and a dan murphys under the one roof! Goodluck finding plastic cutlery, gave up after about 15-20mins! On our departure day we had a bit of a sleep in, then lugged our baggage down to old Antibes, a gorgeous part hidden away behind the old town wall. I saw a bus that was going to Super Antibes, man that place must be awesome. Most of the places I wish I had a bit more time to study the area and find the stories behind each place, but F1 in Monaco calls..... So goodbye Antibes, thanks for beautiful weather, great views and marineland!
A short 15mins train trip and we are in Nice. I did only go through here on my last visit, but now we have a fee hours to check in and check this Nice place out. Let's just say, if you yearn for the smell of urine, come to Nice, you wont be disappointed. In my book it's the pissiest city in europe! It smashed Naples! Liz will be exploring Nice, have a day trip with me to Monte Carlo (on the F1 rest day/party day) and then head into San Remo to explore the home of gluten Italy! Apparently 30% of Italian children are diagnosed with gluten intolerance. So Liz will test her stomach with a hit of gluten from Italy! She may be in bed the next day, so she has no plans. For me, it's Monaco, Monaco, Monaco, Monaco!
I think the first F1 race I remember watching was the Monaco F1 race. It's the jewel in the F1 crown. It's slow, it's dangerous and it really doesn't show off the true ability of a formula one car. But this race has prestige, history and every driver wants to win it! Mark Webber won it last year, he's won in F3000 and F1! And boy did he celebrate last year by jumping in the harbour! He's always been quick around here, so fingers crossed, in fact cross everything! It will be on back home at 10pm on one HD, if you're up, check it out and cheer him on.
Wind myself back to Thursday, up nice and early. Monaco runs F1 on thurs, sat and sun. The only place that does. I have everything organized, tickets to be picked up and train travel there! On my way I notice a bit of an F1 officiando, Tom Clarkson, writer for F1 racing magazine among other things. He did a ride from the top of the UK to the bottom with Mark Webber in I think 2001...? As we were pulling into Monaco train station, I introduced myself and we just walked and talked for about 10mins. I got to pick his brain and just have a good chat with a genuine nice bloke. Thursday was a bit surreal, it's hard to put into words my emotions. I am here, Monaco, the toughest street course in the world with some of the famous corners, sections in the world. I walked the track and I said I had to come back when the cars are here. Well six months later and I'm seeing them come around the left hander of massenet (corner name at the casino) then right hander called casino. A great change of direction after the cars go flying up from st devote and beau rivage! Those who know F1 will know those corners. If not watch an F1 onboard clip via YouTube. For photos it's a little bit difficult when you are sitting in a stand and if I use my big lens I will wamp the guy in front of me with it when I pan. So I decided to give myself a challenge, mega blur shots, handheld 50-500mm lens shooting 1/10th and 1/20th sec. I knew I wouldnt get much that would work, but getting a formula one car still is easy, showing speed isn't....especially without a monopod to keep my lens on a stable horizon whilst I pan. About every half hour I was shaking my head in disbelief, Monaco F1! This is more about watching cars than photos anyway. Last weekend proved I could take a good formula one photo, this week is all about the event, the location and the grandeur. If I was working it, it'd be totally different. For such a dangerous track, the photographers can get very very close, and for photographers, the closer the better. Our Gold Coast event is so anal about safety. The inside of hairpins and 90 degree corners should be fence free for photographers. Have the fence behind them for spectator safety. You'd get much better photos and coverage of the event, you sign a waiver at the start of the weekend anyway!! Thursday done, and it still feels surreal. I've been keeping my eyes out for Mark Sutton, F1 photographer, so I can give him a portfolio of my motorsport work over the years. I did see his brother Keith, but he was on the other side of the track.... I had the disc ready. It's gotten a bit banged up over the travel, I hope that isn't held against me if I see him! I did manage to see Darren Heath too, another F1 photographer, he's a bit of a guru, cares too much about his hair, and has a sweatband. But the guy has some pretty good clients and always produces spectacular images. The kind of images that are art gallery type! You'd hang them on your wall and not know that it was an F1 car.
Friday-F1 free day. And the track will be open for walking at 1-1:30. There was some racing earlier in the day but rushing there wasn't our major concern. We made it in and I dragged poor Liz around the majority of the track and explained why it's the bees knees of F1. If you went to F1 with the same track design as monaco nowadays you be laughed away. It's about racing heritage. It's so unique most teams have to specially design components just for this race. Pitlane is open to anyone with a grand prix ticket, ooh lucky I have two! I've never been down an F1 pitlane, needless to say neither has Liz. Just outside the entrance there are drivers signing autographs. I lifted Liz up to see some of them, but she didn't know who was who anyway, I was even pointing to Mark Webber but she was looking for someone with redbull gear on and missed him. I gave her my spare ticket and headed in to the pitlane. As soon as we arrived in Webber had finished his session of photos. So he walked right past us, Liz saw him this time. I've met Mark many times over the years in Melbourne and he seems so much more relaxed in Europe. In Australia every journalist, tv station and radio want a piece of him while he's home, and after Melbourne his schedule eases up massively. Maybe that's why he has struggled in previous years? Too much on his plate! He stopped for every photo, signed every autograph. Hopped the pitlane fence, not to avoid people but to go easily down pitlane and sign something for everyone. He was extremely relaxed, had a joke with a kid, even fixed his hat up so the photo would look good. I managed to get Liz's brand new Monaco hat a signature and a photo with him. Behind him you can see other drivers avoiding the fans yelling out their names. Everyone is so happy that a driver of Mark's calibre is happy to take time to sign autographs and pose for photos. I told him he's doing Australia proud "thanks mate" was his response. He's been a bit off form and his team mate has lifted the bar this year, but he keeps trying and never gives up. Aussie grit!
I managed to see Mark Sutton in the paddock, but the F1 rights owner and billionaire Bernie Ecclestone had just walked in a grabbed his attention. Dammit, how am I going to get the disc to him.... I'll have to try saturday or sunday. We walked through the tunnel and saw the tyre debris just after one day of running! Liz has a part of F1 tyre now to take home. The new pirelli tyres degrade more and leave heaps of tyre debris (marbles) on the track. Why marbles, well if you go offline and they stick to your tyres, driving after that is like driving on marbles. On our last section of the lap I caught a glimpse of Keith Sutton again, this time in a restaurant. Should I wait, go in and bother him. Nah I'll wait. Bit stalker'ish but there is an innocent motive. So there is more than one exit out of this restaurant.... So down the hill we go, try and beat him down and intercept, like an ambush. Liz has thought we've missed him. She was even giving me hand signals as to where he was (very cute), but I knew exactly where he was. Intercepted, disc delivered and a big sigh of relief. He seems likes nice guy too! I hope he gets a look at my work too! Ah everything accomplished. All to do now is turn up Saturday and Sunday and enjoy what I've travelled this far for. The 69th (hehe) running of the Monaco grand prix!
An early start on Saturday after a long night of watching movies on my iPad. Due date was a very funny movie! A movie with a masturbating dog has to be a winner every time! Liz and I make our way to the trains, she'll be heading to Ventimiglia and then onto San Remo. Me, no surprises Monaco. I want to get there to support Daniel Ricciardo, James van der Drift and kiwi Brendon Hartley in the European Renault 3.5 series qualifying. Daniel had been quickest all weekend, he didn't disappoint me by grabbing pole just ahead of the kiwi. So they will race tomorrow before the F1 race. The days have been perfect, the sun has been out, turning all poms bright red and keeping me lathered up in sunscreen. I'm not looking forward to the cool weather when I get home. Temps here at the moment are 19-29! Last practice before quali, and it's littered with incidents and red flags (session stop). Nico Rosberg and Vintantonio Liuzzi try to beat the walls, but no surprises the walls kick their ass. Unfortunately in practice the clock keeps ticking, though in qualifying when a red comes out the session stops. And the session certainly came to a stop! Sergio Perez came out wide of the tunnel (he's got marbles now) and instead of backing off he still attacked the corner. When you run wide especially at Monaco, you have to back off or else you will tear corners off your car and make your team spend all night fixing or putting together a new car. And don't forget the fact you could seriously hurt yourself! His car pitched straight in the wall, tore off a couple of corners of the car and then went ploughing into the barrier side on. Session stopped and it took them approx 15mins to extract him from the car. The car was a mess and he's ok which is the main thing. I'm sitting directly opposite swimming pool, two tricky corners followed by a difficult chicane. You can see into the pitlane too. I've wanted to be in this spot ever since I saw F1 at Monaco. It's so quick and you can easily see how hard the drivers work in these corners. And you can tell who's quick and who's about to make a mistake. Hamilton made the mistake. Went in to deep and cut a corner, there goes pole! And it went to Vettel, again! Webber in 3rd. Not bad, clean side of the track and hopefully a good start might see him gain a position or two. Monte Carlo is very pretty and you get an awesome view of the mountains, cliff faces, real estate and the massive yachts/boats parked in the marina. The two behind my stand are owned by billionaire Vijay Mallya, these are massive!! Time to go home at watch the champions league final! Liz is keeping me informed of her movements throughout the evening, she's missed a train then had a mix up with times, but she got home safe and full of gluten and her hands filled with bags! Half time and it's 1-1. Liz chatted to me in the background as I watched the second half, Barca were out playing Man Utd and soon it was 3-1. Somethings aren't meant to be. But it's great to watch it in the evening and not at 5am back home! Liz, well she thought Man Utd won (even though I wasn't jumping around). "oh, so they won?!" No, they didn't babe. "Oh I thought that was Man Utd." I had to recall to her all of the shops, balconies and people walking around Barcelona in the red and blue of Barcelona. "awww yeah, that's right!" I was in a particularly dry mood after seeing my team get beaten by the best in the business, but it did give me a chuckle.
I go to bed tonight knowing my Monaco F1 experience ends tomorrow. It's pretty sad, but at the same time it's the crescendo that I've been waiting for. Sit back, relax and enjoy the race!
I know I will!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
circuit de catalunya - mucho gusto
European F1. A dream now a reality. The first will be the Spanish grand prix at the circuit de catalunya. A track that doesn't produces the best "racing" but it is a track that has sweeping fast corners that really shows off how good and fast these cars are. I know the track through many years of playstation, and the drivers know every single centimeter since they test here during the winter, doing over 130 laps in a day (grand prix distance is 66 laps). This race wasn't the reason I came back to Europe. Monaco was, it just turned out that the Spanish GP was on one week earlier.
So online I went in search of grand prix tour packages. One jumped out at me, motoexpress. A UK based tour company that organizes your accommodation, transfers to the track and whatever ticket you would like. They even have breakfast and dinner included in the accom price. So instead of staying in Barcelona and getting public transport to the track with every other Manuel and Sergio and the occasional Juanita, the package was perfect for what I needed and more. Communication was perfect and the booking process was easy. We were based about an hour away from the track, and the opposite direction of Barcelona so traffic wasn't a problem. Motoexpress has the experience and know how to make everything smooth. That's enough of a plug! Honestly if I was doing more races that they are covering and I had the money I have no hesitation booking with them again.
The track. Wow! Coming from the highway you can see it in the distance. The excitement builds for me, I'm actually going to the Spanish GP! It's hard to think that I'm here, bit like the first time I explored Europe. But this is it, the circuit de catalunya. The stands stick out like a sore thumb. Especially the main grandstand! It's like a colosseum of motor racing. When our bus arrives, our guide explains how to get to the track and the usual standards of Friday at track. Lenient to zero standards really, in Australia they have a person on each grandstand permitting only pass holders on to the designated seats. Friday, Spanish GP you can walk and sit anywhere. This is something should be encouraged throughout the world. There is never that many people on the first day of a motor racing event, so open it up for everyone. You feel you get great value for money that way too. I walked in with the screams of engines that can only be F1. My guide took me up to the stand along the straight. What a view, you can see the cars exit pit lane then look left, turn one and two, straight ahead you can see the exit of turn five and entry to six and seven. If you want a great place to view motor racing, go to this track! I had one hour left of morning practice, so off I go straight to the outside of turn one. They come barreling down the straight at over 300kph, brake heavily to a series of fast corners. A right, left, followed by a long 180 degree right. The hills are heavily banked so you can clearly get a good shot of the cars through this section. I love it. All races I have been to as a spectator have been street circuits, high safety fences and no hills to be able to get a clear photograph without the safety fences in the way. There are ways around it, but the conditions have to be right. But here, at this track, you can see everything! I'm constantly smiling behind the camera, the smell of the fumes, the sound of the screaming 2.4L V8s as they produce over 700bhp, revving limited to 18,000 RPM, in cars that weigh a minimum 650kg (with the driver). They look great without fences to ruin my view, and the shots are good too. I'm so happy to be able to get clean crisp photographs of one of the things I'm most passionate about. Talk about a match made in heaven! Me, photography and F1!!! All the time, I keep saying, this is so worth it. I wish Liz or someone I know went along to experience this with me. I like to share my passions with people I care about. Liz says she likes fast cars, well there was no racing cars faster around is track than F1. They are the pinnacle of motorsport and will stay that way for a long time. The one thing I know is that F1 doesn't disappoint me. If I turn up so will they.
The track is quite big, but it backs onto itself a few times, so you don't have to walk far to get a view from another corner. It was so good to have the opportunity to go pretty much anywhere and sit wherever you want. Some places had views of 5-6 corners, and there is always a screen to view it from. You can stand in places and can see the different driving lines, styles and who is quick and where they are quick. And you can see the drivers struggle. Melbourne you may see them for 2-3 corners and they are pretty similar kinds of corners 90 degree or 90 degree that open up on exit. And in Melbourne there's only three of the sixteen corners that are fast, challenging corners. By having this viewing freedom, it then opened up different types of photography styles that I could try, that I've wanted to try. Still couldn't get a braking blur shot with a locked up wheel, I'll try that one in Monaco. At the circuit they have a big leader board, it's like a massive totem pole with 10 places and next to it the number of the car. Mark Webber is no.2 this year, and it was good to see at the end of the first two practice sessions he was P1 for both. So certainly a good start! On the friday morning I got to see the next Aussie in F1, Daniel Ricciardo. He's a real talent and is pushing very hard to get a drive in the second Red Bull team (Torro Rosso). He was good too, he was faster than the other Torro Rosso driver to which his times are always compared to. Two weekends in a row he's been quicker than the other driver. Very interested to see how he goes at Monaco, he certainly knows the track, he won there in a junior category last year! For all three days at the track e weather has been prefect, not a cloud in the sky and there is numerous trees and shaded areas if you want to escape the heat. Saturday morning practice and the grandstands and member areas are monitored by stewards. Couldn't get to one area, which I thought was a pelouse (grassed hill area for anyone) but in fact it was for circuit member only. So I sat in between two corners, and I knew in this section the drivers would be activating their DRS (drag reduction system). It's a lever or button on the steering wheel that moves a section of the rear to flatten out..... To explain it, when you're driving along and stick your arm out the window, tilt your hand down, the force of the wind pushes your hand down, flatten it out and it just cuts through the air with ease. It reduces drag and therefore increases the speed. This is a new element in F1 and I was very excited to see it in action. I know I know, lame huh. Most things in F1 are hidden and under the body work, so to see this in person was something cool, well for me anyway. Saturday morning practice is when the drivers get a chance to fine tune their cars before qualifying. Webber did a hard tyre run , then a soft tyre run, and Sebastian Vettel did the same, though his one run on soft tyres topped Webber's time by.08 of a sec. So it was close between them. Webber doesn't seem to have the form that Vettel has at the moment. Mark has been quicker on occasions in practice but qualifying has been outdone 4-0. Advantage Vettel. According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, Mark has been struggling to come to grips with the new Pirelli tyres. I'm sure soon enough he'll find the sweet spot, start getting poles and fighting for wins.
Qualifying - Saturday afternoon. I went to the grandstand in which I had booked with my tour, and boy am I glad I booked that one. It was a packed stand, probably more in one grandstand than a whole crowd at a Gold Coast United home game! A view of six corners, all of them with a different approach, one uphill, one downhill, off camber and a dinky chicane, noisy, you better bloody believe it! Ear plugs? Nah, you get used to it anyway. It's like a rock concert, go away with your ears ringing! And with the wind sweeping towards the grandstand the smell of fumes just brings a smile to my face. It's not a coughing, bad smell but the pure racing fuel burn smell. Whether it's F1 or even the Indycar/V8s ethanol fuel its a great smell for motorsport enthusiasts - aka rev heads. If you are to dodge a bad fuel smell it would be top fuel dragsters, that stuff burns your eyes, nose, lungs and the engine sound is penetrating, and not the oh good let's experiment kind of penetrate :-D sorry I had to put that one in!! There are three stages to F1 quali, Q1, Q2 and Q3. All 24 cars do at least one run for 20mins in Q1, slowest 7 get eliminated. Q2 next pretty much the same thing but with 15mins and Q3, the top ten fight it out for pole position (start the race at the front). Mark Webber won from pole last year, let's hope he can do it again. Tyres and reliability became an issue and one of the slow teams cars made it into Q2. That session was a little bit more straight forward, with both Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bulls getting through. The last part of qualification. All teams are now opting to run once instead of the previous twice to save tyres for the race. So you get a good look at each driver go through the 6 corners I can see and see who's quicker. The red bulls were clearly quicker through there, and they were a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton in third. I watched Mark's run closely and the first corner that is in our view, he ran fractionally wide, missing his apex, at that point I had given up, it's not much of a mistake but with how close Vettel and Webber have been all weekend it might be the undoing. And it wasn't, P1 for Mark, .200 sec quicker that Vettel, it looked like pole position for Webber. There was still the McLarens and Ferraris to run their quali laps, but seeing the pace of the red bull all weekend it was going to be Mark or Seb to get pole. Alonso did a great job, he hit every apex and exit perfectly and ended up fourth, splitting the two McLarens. I knew Mark had clinched it when they were showing Vettel pull his steering wheel out of his car. Finally, pole position, Mark's first of the year, and the first I have seen live! I was happy, but I knew that you don't win races on Saturday. But you start from the best spot.
An early rise and an early bus for race day. Slowly we've worked ourselves to an 8am departure for the track. They are predicting big crowd numbers, though I don't think it eventuated with only high to mid 70,000 crowd. A shame really, but I was there, so that's all that mattered. Lather up with sunscreen again. You can tell who the brits are, they are either very white or very red! Watch the GP3 and GP2 races from grassy hill where I watched Saturday morning practice. You get to see them coming down the straight and then not as they turn into the first corners. But the bit that was visible we saw a big crash. A few guys squeezed each other for room until there was none, BANG! Race over in a few hundred metres. After applauding the GP2 I went off to my grandstand to get settled in and lather up again. I did get stopped by a one armed drunk Spanish guy who had to tell me why he loved Australia so much! How could he tell, well the fact that I was wearing the Australian flag as a cape would do it! He was very tipsy and didn't speak to much English, but he made a good point. Cities are shit, too pretentious, but the rest was beautiful, especially W.A. And he loved the people too, so if you're reading this and are an Australian, this one armed Spanish guy, loves you! Awwww!
I pop myself in my seat, lather up again. The driver parade is coming along. Each driver siting in an old pre WWII car waving to the crowd. Sebastian gave his hat away to a marshal, Mark had some fun gesturing comically with the same marshal. He saw looked up and pointed up to me on the stand with the Aussie flag fluttering in the breeze, it was a moment we had..... It wasn't that special, no blushing from me, just wanted to show there is an Aussie up here in a see of red support for Alonso. It's good to have drivers acknowledge the crowd, sometimes they are chatting away to the driver and don't even look up. So one hour to go before it's race time. We get to see the cars briefly while they do one-two laps before they line up on the grid. This is a time that drivers can do system checks and make sure everything is bolted on the car properly. The festivities die down on pit lane as the 5 minute board is displayed. Then the drivers set out on the warm up lap. This is the final lap before the race starts. The drivers swerve back and forth, generating heat in their tyres, then performing burnouts again to get the rear tyres hot and sticky. From where I'm sitting you can see the grid from the reflection of the windows on the main grandstand. All eyes are on the big screens. One of the guys on our tour said at the start, the noise was so bad he had to close his eyes and put his fingers in his ears, and the noise of 24 formula one cars revving was too much to handle. As each light goes on the drivers select a gear, increase the revs to a ideal point, and wait....... As the lights go out, dump the clutch paddle behind the steering wheel, go up the gears (also behind the steering wheel) and for Mark, check your mirrors. Circuit de Catalunya has a very long straight so anyone behind Mark can get a slipstream and therefore and advantage. Vettel gets in behind Mark, Mark covers the inside line, so Vettel goes to the outside, out of no where home tow hero Alonso comes from the dirty side of the second row and gets Mark and Vettel for the lead into the first corner. The crowd goes berserk! The home town hero in the lead! Vettel manages to stay othe outside of Mark and keep the inside line into the next corner. For Webber fans, fuck it! Shit, bum, fuck, bugger! For Mark being behind Vettel means that his strategy had changed. It ended up being a great race, and in our section of track we go to see a lot of action and overtaking, and some bad attempts too! Disappointment, a little bit. But that was the best result I have seen from Mark in person. So fourth it was. Always mid way through the race you start to think, it's about to end. This race weekend is all about to end. And normally for me it's oh well, see you next year. You try to hold on to the feelings and the excitement of the event by traveling on the track after the race in Melbourne, pointing out oh that's where that happened, that's where they crashed, is there any pieces left around? And then walk to the start/finish straight, check out the colour, spirit and fanfare of F1. I still have that ringing, only slightly now when it's really quiet.
For me, it's not oh well, next year. It's oh yeah, bring on next week......
MONACO
So online I went in search of grand prix tour packages. One jumped out at me, motoexpress. A UK based tour company that organizes your accommodation, transfers to the track and whatever ticket you would like. They even have breakfast and dinner included in the accom price. So instead of staying in Barcelona and getting public transport to the track with every other Manuel and Sergio and the occasional Juanita, the package was perfect for what I needed and more. Communication was perfect and the booking process was easy. We were based about an hour away from the track, and the opposite direction of Barcelona so traffic wasn't a problem. Motoexpress has the experience and know how to make everything smooth. That's enough of a plug! Honestly if I was doing more races that they are covering and I had the money I have no hesitation booking with them again.
The track. Wow! Coming from the highway you can see it in the distance. The excitement builds for me, I'm actually going to the Spanish GP! It's hard to think that I'm here, bit like the first time I explored Europe. But this is it, the circuit de catalunya. The stands stick out like a sore thumb. Especially the main grandstand! It's like a colosseum of motor racing. When our bus arrives, our guide explains how to get to the track and the usual standards of Friday at track. Lenient to zero standards really, in Australia they have a person on each grandstand permitting only pass holders on to the designated seats. Friday, Spanish GP you can walk and sit anywhere. This is something should be encouraged throughout the world. There is never that many people on the first day of a motor racing event, so open it up for everyone. You feel you get great value for money that way too. I walked in with the screams of engines that can only be F1. My guide took me up to the stand along the straight. What a view, you can see the cars exit pit lane then look left, turn one and two, straight ahead you can see the exit of turn five and entry to six and seven. If you want a great place to view motor racing, go to this track! I had one hour left of morning practice, so off I go straight to the outside of turn one. They come barreling down the straight at over 300kph, brake heavily to a series of fast corners. A right, left, followed by a long 180 degree right. The hills are heavily banked so you can clearly get a good shot of the cars through this section. I love it. All races I have been to as a spectator have been street circuits, high safety fences and no hills to be able to get a clear photograph without the safety fences in the way. There are ways around it, but the conditions have to be right. But here, at this track, you can see everything! I'm constantly smiling behind the camera, the smell of the fumes, the sound of the screaming 2.4L V8s as they produce over 700bhp, revving limited to 18,000 RPM, in cars that weigh a minimum 650kg (with the driver). They look great without fences to ruin my view, and the shots are good too. I'm so happy to be able to get clean crisp photographs of one of the things I'm most passionate about. Talk about a match made in heaven! Me, photography and F1!!! All the time, I keep saying, this is so worth it. I wish Liz or someone I know went along to experience this with me. I like to share my passions with people I care about. Liz says she likes fast cars, well there was no racing cars faster around is track than F1. They are the pinnacle of motorsport and will stay that way for a long time. The one thing I know is that F1 doesn't disappoint me. If I turn up so will they.
The track is quite big, but it backs onto itself a few times, so you don't have to walk far to get a view from another corner. It was so good to have the opportunity to go pretty much anywhere and sit wherever you want. Some places had views of 5-6 corners, and there is always a screen to view it from. You can stand in places and can see the different driving lines, styles and who is quick and where they are quick. And you can see the drivers struggle. Melbourne you may see them for 2-3 corners and they are pretty similar kinds of corners 90 degree or 90 degree that open up on exit. And in Melbourne there's only three of the sixteen corners that are fast, challenging corners. By having this viewing freedom, it then opened up different types of photography styles that I could try, that I've wanted to try. Still couldn't get a braking blur shot with a locked up wheel, I'll try that one in Monaco. At the circuit they have a big leader board, it's like a massive totem pole with 10 places and next to it the number of the car. Mark Webber is no.2 this year, and it was good to see at the end of the first two practice sessions he was P1 for both. So certainly a good start! On the friday morning I got to see the next Aussie in F1, Daniel Ricciardo. He's a real talent and is pushing very hard to get a drive in the second Red Bull team (Torro Rosso). He was good too, he was faster than the other Torro Rosso driver to which his times are always compared to. Two weekends in a row he's been quicker than the other driver. Very interested to see how he goes at Monaco, he certainly knows the track, he won there in a junior category last year! For all three days at the track e weather has been prefect, not a cloud in the sky and there is numerous trees and shaded areas if you want to escape the heat. Saturday morning practice and the grandstands and member areas are monitored by stewards. Couldn't get to one area, which I thought was a pelouse (grassed hill area for anyone) but in fact it was for circuit member only. So I sat in between two corners, and I knew in this section the drivers would be activating their DRS (drag reduction system). It's a lever or button on the steering wheel that moves a section of the rear to flatten out..... To explain it, when you're driving along and stick your arm out the window, tilt your hand down, the force of the wind pushes your hand down, flatten it out and it just cuts through the air with ease. It reduces drag and therefore increases the speed. This is a new element in F1 and I was very excited to see it in action. I know I know, lame huh. Most things in F1 are hidden and under the body work, so to see this in person was something cool, well for me anyway. Saturday morning practice is when the drivers get a chance to fine tune their cars before qualifying. Webber did a hard tyre run , then a soft tyre run, and Sebastian Vettel did the same, though his one run on soft tyres topped Webber's time by.08 of a sec. So it was close between them. Webber doesn't seem to have the form that Vettel has at the moment. Mark has been quicker on occasions in practice but qualifying has been outdone 4-0. Advantage Vettel. According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, Mark has been struggling to come to grips with the new Pirelli tyres. I'm sure soon enough he'll find the sweet spot, start getting poles and fighting for wins.
Qualifying - Saturday afternoon. I went to the grandstand in which I had booked with my tour, and boy am I glad I booked that one. It was a packed stand, probably more in one grandstand than a whole crowd at a Gold Coast United home game! A view of six corners, all of them with a different approach, one uphill, one downhill, off camber and a dinky chicane, noisy, you better bloody believe it! Ear plugs? Nah, you get used to it anyway. It's like a rock concert, go away with your ears ringing! And with the wind sweeping towards the grandstand the smell of fumes just brings a smile to my face. It's not a coughing, bad smell but the pure racing fuel burn smell. Whether it's F1 or even the Indycar/V8s ethanol fuel its a great smell for motorsport enthusiasts - aka rev heads. If you are to dodge a bad fuel smell it would be top fuel dragsters, that stuff burns your eyes, nose, lungs and the engine sound is penetrating, and not the oh good let's experiment kind of penetrate :-D sorry I had to put that one in!! There are three stages to F1 quali, Q1, Q2 and Q3. All 24 cars do at least one run for 20mins in Q1, slowest 7 get eliminated. Q2 next pretty much the same thing but with 15mins and Q3, the top ten fight it out for pole position (start the race at the front). Mark Webber won from pole last year, let's hope he can do it again. Tyres and reliability became an issue and one of the slow teams cars made it into Q2. That session was a little bit more straight forward, with both Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bulls getting through. The last part of qualification. All teams are now opting to run once instead of the previous twice to save tyres for the race. So you get a good look at each driver go through the 6 corners I can see and see who's quicker. The red bulls were clearly quicker through there, and they were a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton in third. I watched Mark's run closely and the first corner that is in our view, he ran fractionally wide, missing his apex, at that point I had given up, it's not much of a mistake but with how close Vettel and Webber have been all weekend it might be the undoing. And it wasn't, P1 for Mark, .200 sec quicker that Vettel, it looked like pole position for Webber. There was still the McLarens and Ferraris to run their quali laps, but seeing the pace of the red bull all weekend it was going to be Mark or Seb to get pole. Alonso did a great job, he hit every apex and exit perfectly and ended up fourth, splitting the two McLarens. I knew Mark had clinched it when they were showing Vettel pull his steering wheel out of his car. Finally, pole position, Mark's first of the year, and the first I have seen live! I was happy, but I knew that you don't win races on Saturday. But you start from the best spot.
An early rise and an early bus for race day. Slowly we've worked ourselves to an 8am departure for the track. They are predicting big crowd numbers, though I don't think it eventuated with only high to mid 70,000 crowd. A shame really, but I was there, so that's all that mattered. Lather up with sunscreen again. You can tell who the brits are, they are either very white or very red! Watch the GP3 and GP2 races from grassy hill where I watched Saturday morning practice. You get to see them coming down the straight and then not as they turn into the first corners. But the bit that was visible we saw a big crash. A few guys squeezed each other for room until there was none, BANG! Race over in a few hundred metres. After applauding the GP2 I went off to my grandstand to get settled in and lather up again. I did get stopped by a one armed drunk Spanish guy who had to tell me why he loved Australia so much! How could he tell, well the fact that I was wearing the Australian flag as a cape would do it! He was very tipsy and didn't speak to much English, but he made a good point. Cities are shit, too pretentious, but the rest was beautiful, especially W.A. And he loved the people too, so if you're reading this and are an Australian, this one armed Spanish guy, loves you! Awwww!
I pop myself in my seat, lather up again. The driver parade is coming along. Each driver siting in an old pre WWII car waving to the crowd. Sebastian gave his hat away to a marshal, Mark had some fun gesturing comically with the same marshal. He saw looked up and pointed up to me on the stand with the Aussie flag fluttering in the breeze, it was a moment we had..... It wasn't that special, no blushing from me, just wanted to show there is an Aussie up here in a see of red support for Alonso. It's good to have drivers acknowledge the crowd, sometimes they are chatting away to the driver and don't even look up. So one hour to go before it's race time. We get to see the cars briefly while they do one-two laps before they line up on the grid. This is a time that drivers can do system checks and make sure everything is bolted on the car properly. The festivities die down on pit lane as the 5 minute board is displayed. Then the drivers set out on the warm up lap. This is the final lap before the race starts. The drivers swerve back and forth, generating heat in their tyres, then performing burnouts again to get the rear tyres hot and sticky. From where I'm sitting you can see the grid from the reflection of the windows on the main grandstand. All eyes are on the big screens. One of the guys on our tour said at the start, the noise was so bad he had to close his eyes and put his fingers in his ears, and the noise of 24 formula one cars revving was too much to handle. As each light goes on the drivers select a gear, increase the revs to a ideal point, and wait....... As the lights go out, dump the clutch paddle behind the steering wheel, go up the gears (also behind the steering wheel) and for Mark, check your mirrors. Circuit de Catalunya has a very long straight so anyone behind Mark can get a slipstream and therefore and advantage. Vettel gets in behind Mark, Mark covers the inside line, so Vettel goes to the outside, out of no where home tow hero Alonso comes from the dirty side of the second row and gets Mark and Vettel for the lead into the first corner. The crowd goes berserk! The home town hero in the lead! Vettel manages to stay othe outside of Mark and keep the inside line into the next corner. For Webber fans, fuck it! Shit, bum, fuck, bugger! For Mark being behind Vettel means that his strategy had changed. It ended up being a great race, and in our section of track we go to see a lot of action and overtaking, and some bad attempts too! Disappointment, a little bit. But that was the best result I have seen from Mark in person. So fourth it was. Always mid way through the race you start to think, it's about to end. This race weekend is all about to end. And normally for me it's oh well, see you next year. You try to hold on to the feelings and the excitement of the event by traveling on the track after the race in Melbourne, pointing out oh that's where that happened, that's where they crashed, is there any pieces left around? And then walk to the start/finish straight, check out the colour, spirit and fanfare of F1. I still have that ringing, only slightly now when it's really quiet.
For me, it's not oh well, next year. It's oh yeah, bring on next week......
MONACO
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Chasing tails
Ola! ¿Que tal? Bien gracias!
Hello, how are you? Good thanks!
Once again the most used phrase in spain so far is do you speak English? I find it a polite way to start instead of just oi, yeah I'll have a few of those thanks. My Spanish phrase app has certainly come in handy, and I've remembered certain phrases to get me through, ask for the bill. I'm awake and feeling better, I'm still not 100% but feeling good. We've survived Barcelona and we've seen a fair bit of the city and some really beautiful things along the way.
It's hard getting used to writing, we instead of I, my and me. But it's not hard to get used to travelling with someone. There are little things to get used to like, informing Liz that I'm crossing the road, is Liz hungry and since I have a backpack and she has a wheeling suitcase, I have to make sure I don't cut across streets and use a ramp so it's easier for her.
I have to say the ever conscious knowledge of pick pocketing and theft, didn't play on my mind too much. And there are so many stories of people being mugged, beat up and had a heap of things stolen. We were lucky. My friend Gina, wasn't. She also had heaps of stories from other tourists who had bad experiences in Barcelona. One German tourist had his money and passport stolen, and he had a plane to catch in three hours! So unfortunate to have a holiday in such a beautiful place soured by petty theft that is evident! Yesterday morning we hit the streets, and I'm pretty sure I witnessed two guys going through a satchel (man purse) lifting out a passport, flicking through it quickly, and I thought, wow. They are right there, could have been us. I have never locked my small backpack ever until I heard Gina's story. I have been through Rome, Naples, Venice and I just kept my wits about me. I never thought I'd have to lock up my backpack. Liz was even afraid of mentioning it, just in case she jinxed us. I don't believe in that so I said say it, if it happens it happens. You can't control the actions of a desperate person, but you can limit your vulnerability. I know that we were lucky.
Now the reason why we were chasing tails is that we were planning to catch up with Gina and Kelly whilst on the Barcelona open top tourist buses that go pretty much everywhere. We left late, mostly my fault, its hard to get your hair looking perfect with limited supplies. So I gave up on that and just put my hat on! Straight out of the hotel we hit the ground running, Plaça Catalunya is our destination, where we can catch the buses from. It took about 30-45 mins to walk there. Being my second trip I'm well prepared on how to find places and get to where I need to go. Liz is always surprised how well everything is planned and mapped out whilst still having that freedom. Load a map of the destination beforehand, keep the 3G on your phone and keep an eye on your blue dot. It was another beautiful day in Spain, no rain falling on the plane, just beaming sun and a cool wind off the water. So we get on the bus, forget getting off until we get to the Sagrada Familia, a massive church. Designed by Gaudi, as like a few of the structures and parks around Barcelona. The bus has an audio tour with a heap of different languages, I tried Dutch at one point, yup still didn't understand a word! But the English audio was done by a woman who wanted to end her life. No inspiration what so ever! And Gaudi was killed by a tram in 1929. Another piece of useless information brought to you by the sober traveller. Gina and Kelly arrive at the Sagrada Familia about an hour ahead of us. The walk to Plaça Catalunya took longer than first thought. So we got there, messaged the girls to inform them of our arrival. Took some shots, missed the couple of texts that explained that they were getting on the next bus and heading out to the next location. I can understand them leaving, they had been there over an hour. We missed them, just! So we managed to keep walking around the Sagrada Familia and into the souvenir shops trying to find my holiday flag patch! The church is massive, very impressive and it's awe inspiring. Every photo I have seen of it has always had cranes continuing to grow this mammoth structure. It should be finished in 2026.
Another place on our Barcelona tour was Parc Güell. I had no idea about it, and was going there to just meet up with Gina and Kelly. We didn't find them! But we did see an amazing park, yeah that's right an amazing park! A lot different to the run down uninspiring park that I have ever seen. Apparently it was meant to be a residential area. It certainly has a fantastic view of the city! It was designed by.... You guessed it Mr Gaudi. It's really hard to describe the magnitude of his work. He aims big, not for smooth lines, but something out of the norm that seems to come together. It's an amazing place and a place where we saw some interesting people. Of course with any true tourist area, you get the gypsies, the gipolas, the gip meisters. On our way up to the park (bit of a hill, and a struggle for fatties) we came across a black man, not racist, he was and probably still is a black man. He was from the UK, and had approximately 5-6 dogs with him. And he was going off!! Just walking around swearing, telling people to fuck off! Loved it! Yeah you give it to 'em. And we came across a singer...... I should just stop there, but I won't. This guy had leopard print pants, a guitar, lyrics that weren't even Spanish, just random noises that a baby would make. He had long hair, and had guitar sunglasses, I don't know if anyone had paid him as a dare or if it's his attempt as busking? Though he is following the mantra of dance like no one's watching, and sing like there is no one around! So all in all the park was superb, I highly recommend it!
One more night in Barcelona turned into an early night for us. We hadn't managed to cross paths with our fellow tourists, but that did change briefly the next day. An early start, up and hit the streets, the early night had done us good. We headed to La Rambla, checked out the tourist strip and the markets, then we headed back to our hotel, checked out and off to the train station for a short venture to Girona.
Now Girona, bit of a shit hole, not too much going on. I dare say most of the people were not on the streets, nor running eatery businesses. The train was late so we missed the bus by 5 mins. In hindsight it gave us a story to take to our grave. We were very hungry and found a little bar/cafe, offering Italian food. And it was run by Chinese, who spoke Spanish and no English what so ever. That's fine, we'll breach the language barrier together. We had a menu with pictures, and one in Spanish. We went with the pictures. We chose our pictures, but she kept going back to the same chicken dish....... Ok I get the hint, no chef, and the thats the only thing you can cook. Bit like fawlty towers and the man wanted a waldorf salad..... I chose a pizza (of course) and Liz decided to go with the chicken she had been pushing! We had half hour left to wait for our bus so I made sure she knew that we had to go (point at specific time and then point to the door, simple). She understood, pizza only then..... Liz can't have gluten..... So out she comes 10mins later with some sampling of chicken for Liz. Fried chicken....(not gluten free) Like KFC said Liz. My pizza was being microwaved at the same time. She came out with more chicken, my pizza and two cold spring rolls. We think that it was her lunch leftovers. So lesson learnt, don't rush lunch from an asian woman who is in Spain and will only cook one dish.
We take the bus to St Feliu De Guixols where our hotel is for my F1 package tour. This is truly a beautiful place. It's a very quiet town with no much to do outside of tourist season. I did a google street view before hand just to find the place where the bus stop is, and came across a hilarious picture of a woman tripping over a child at the pedestrian crossing! So I have to get a shot of me tripping over on the pedestrian crossing before I leave! The hotel.......one word. Baron! It did end up being quite busy over the weekend, but the first day we got in, we explored the premises. The place looks like it gave up many years ago.I'm sure in it's heyday it was a wonderland. The surrounding backdrop is gorgeous, the rooms were clean and tidy, but the place looked like it had stopped caring. Even the escape plan had originally four stars, but now one is covered up. It has so much potential, but it just doesn't get the tourist traffic all year round to maintain the standards (I'm guessing) it originally had. Pool area-run down, gym-cobwebs, outside chairs-smell of mould and dirty, and they even had a pizza bar.........HAD a pizza bar! And there is even a statue who looks like one of the blues brothers........ and he's missing a foot. For me, its a bed, shower and somewhere to keep my stuff. the funny part of it is, for the first two days we felt like we were the only people in the place. And it had looked like it had been abandoned, like there had been an outbreak or something. But there was two people working there, the receptionist and the bar guy, who every time we walked past was cleaning glasses. Go for an explore (hours), he still there cleaning, looking at you as you walk past the bar. Very creepy and the whole place had a Steven King vibe about it! I was tempted to tell him that he forgot a glass, but I was afraid he would coke me with his cleaning cloth! The best part of the town is the restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Amazing pizza, good food, great owner lady, always smiling and delivers the bill in a different receptacle every time. Wooden box one night, pasta tin the next. Very cute and unique thing. The days have been long for both of us, for me it's been F1 all day in the sun taking photos and the hour there hour back bus trip. For Liz she has been out exploring, walking the town, napping on the beach, diving the Mediterranean, sampling the tapas and paellas. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight!!
I'll write a blog about my F1 on my way to Antibes tomorrow. I have to catch up since as soon as I'm home from the track I'm zonking out straight away! I'm sure not everyone will be super keen on my F1 writing. Hope everyone is well!
Hello, how are you? Good thanks!
Once again the most used phrase in spain so far is do you speak English? I find it a polite way to start instead of just oi, yeah I'll have a few of those thanks. My Spanish phrase app has certainly come in handy, and I've remembered certain phrases to get me through, ask for the bill. I'm awake and feeling better, I'm still not 100% but feeling good. We've survived Barcelona and we've seen a fair bit of the city and some really beautiful things along the way.
It's hard getting used to writing, we instead of I, my and me. But it's not hard to get used to travelling with someone. There are little things to get used to like, informing Liz that I'm crossing the road, is Liz hungry and since I have a backpack and she has a wheeling suitcase, I have to make sure I don't cut across streets and use a ramp so it's easier for her.
I have to say the ever conscious knowledge of pick pocketing and theft, didn't play on my mind too much. And there are so many stories of people being mugged, beat up and had a heap of things stolen. We were lucky. My friend Gina, wasn't. She also had heaps of stories from other tourists who had bad experiences in Barcelona. One German tourist had his money and passport stolen, and he had a plane to catch in three hours! So unfortunate to have a holiday in such a beautiful place soured by petty theft that is evident! Yesterday morning we hit the streets, and I'm pretty sure I witnessed two guys going through a satchel (man purse) lifting out a passport, flicking through it quickly, and I thought, wow. They are right there, could have been us. I have never locked my small backpack ever until I heard Gina's story. I have been through Rome, Naples, Venice and I just kept my wits about me. I never thought I'd have to lock up my backpack. Liz was even afraid of mentioning it, just in case she jinxed us. I don't believe in that so I said say it, if it happens it happens. You can't control the actions of a desperate person, but you can limit your vulnerability. I know that we were lucky.
Now the reason why we were chasing tails is that we were planning to catch up with Gina and Kelly whilst on the Barcelona open top tourist buses that go pretty much everywhere. We left late, mostly my fault, its hard to get your hair looking perfect with limited supplies. So I gave up on that and just put my hat on! Straight out of the hotel we hit the ground running, Plaça Catalunya is our destination, where we can catch the buses from. It took about 30-45 mins to walk there. Being my second trip I'm well prepared on how to find places and get to where I need to go. Liz is always surprised how well everything is planned and mapped out whilst still having that freedom. Load a map of the destination beforehand, keep the 3G on your phone and keep an eye on your blue dot. It was another beautiful day in Spain, no rain falling on the plane, just beaming sun and a cool wind off the water. So we get on the bus, forget getting off until we get to the Sagrada Familia, a massive church. Designed by Gaudi, as like a few of the structures and parks around Barcelona. The bus has an audio tour with a heap of different languages, I tried Dutch at one point, yup still didn't understand a word! But the English audio was done by a woman who wanted to end her life. No inspiration what so ever! And Gaudi was killed by a tram in 1929. Another piece of useless information brought to you by the sober traveller. Gina and Kelly arrive at the Sagrada Familia about an hour ahead of us. The walk to Plaça Catalunya took longer than first thought. So we got there, messaged the girls to inform them of our arrival. Took some shots, missed the couple of texts that explained that they were getting on the next bus and heading out to the next location. I can understand them leaving, they had been there over an hour. We missed them, just! So we managed to keep walking around the Sagrada Familia and into the souvenir shops trying to find my holiday flag patch! The church is massive, very impressive and it's awe inspiring. Every photo I have seen of it has always had cranes continuing to grow this mammoth structure. It should be finished in 2026.
Another place on our Barcelona tour was Parc Güell. I had no idea about it, and was going there to just meet up with Gina and Kelly. We didn't find them! But we did see an amazing park, yeah that's right an amazing park! A lot different to the run down uninspiring park that I have ever seen. Apparently it was meant to be a residential area. It certainly has a fantastic view of the city! It was designed by.... You guessed it Mr Gaudi. It's really hard to describe the magnitude of his work. He aims big, not for smooth lines, but something out of the norm that seems to come together. It's an amazing place and a place where we saw some interesting people. Of course with any true tourist area, you get the gypsies, the gipolas, the gip meisters. On our way up to the park (bit of a hill, and a struggle for fatties) we came across a black man, not racist, he was and probably still is a black man. He was from the UK, and had approximately 5-6 dogs with him. And he was going off!! Just walking around swearing, telling people to fuck off! Loved it! Yeah you give it to 'em. And we came across a singer...... I should just stop there, but I won't. This guy had leopard print pants, a guitar, lyrics that weren't even Spanish, just random noises that a baby would make. He had long hair, and had guitar sunglasses, I don't know if anyone had paid him as a dare or if it's his attempt as busking? Though he is following the mantra of dance like no one's watching, and sing like there is no one around! So all in all the park was superb, I highly recommend it!
One more night in Barcelona turned into an early night for us. We hadn't managed to cross paths with our fellow tourists, but that did change briefly the next day. An early start, up and hit the streets, the early night had done us good. We headed to La Rambla, checked out the tourist strip and the markets, then we headed back to our hotel, checked out and off to the train station for a short venture to Girona.
Now Girona, bit of a shit hole, not too much going on. I dare say most of the people were not on the streets, nor running eatery businesses. The train was late so we missed the bus by 5 mins. In hindsight it gave us a story to take to our grave. We were very hungry and found a little bar/cafe, offering Italian food. And it was run by Chinese, who spoke Spanish and no English what so ever. That's fine, we'll breach the language barrier together. We had a menu with pictures, and one in Spanish. We went with the pictures. We chose our pictures, but she kept going back to the same chicken dish....... Ok I get the hint, no chef, and the thats the only thing you can cook. Bit like fawlty towers and the man wanted a waldorf salad..... I chose a pizza (of course) and Liz decided to go with the chicken she had been pushing! We had half hour left to wait for our bus so I made sure she knew that we had to go (point at specific time and then point to the door, simple). She understood, pizza only then..... Liz can't have gluten..... So out she comes 10mins later with some sampling of chicken for Liz. Fried chicken....(not gluten free) Like KFC said Liz. My pizza was being microwaved at the same time. She came out with more chicken, my pizza and two cold spring rolls. We think that it was her lunch leftovers. So lesson learnt, don't rush lunch from an asian woman who is in Spain and will only cook one dish.
We take the bus to St Feliu De Guixols where our hotel is for my F1 package tour. This is truly a beautiful place. It's a very quiet town with no much to do outside of tourist season. I did a google street view before hand just to find the place where the bus stop is, and came across a hilarious picture of a woman tripping over a child at the pedestrian crossing! So I have to get a shot of me tripping over on the pedestrian crossing before I leave! The hotel.......one word. Baron! It did end up being quite busy over the weekend, but the first day we got in, we explored the premises. The place looks like it gave up many years ago.I'm sure in it's heyday it was a wonderland. The surrounding backdrop is gorgeous, the rooms were clean and tidy, but the place looked like it had stopped caring. Even the escape plan had originally four stars, but now one is covered up. It has so much potential, but it just doesn't get the tourist traffic all year round to maintain the standards (I'm guessing) it originally had. Pool area-run down, gym-cobwebs, outside chairs-smell of mould and dirty, and they even had a pizza bar.........HAD a pizza bar! And there is even a statue who looks like one of the blues brothers........ and he's missing a foot. For me, its a bed, shower and somewhere to keep my stuff. the funny part of it is, for the first two days we felt like we were the only people in the place. And it had looked like it had been abandoned, like there had been an outbreak or something. But there was two people working there, the receptionist and the bar guy, who every time we walked past was cleaning glasses. Go for an explore (hours), he still there cleaning, looking at you as you walk past the bar. Very creepy and the whole place had a Steven King vibe about it! I was tempted to tell him that he forgot a glass, but I was afraid he would coke me with his cleaning cloth! The best part of the town is the restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Amazing pizza, good food, great owner lady, always smiling and delivers the bill in a different receptacle every time. Wooden box one night, pasta tin the next. Very cute and unique thing. The days have been long for both of us, for me it's been F1 all day in the sun taking photos and the hour there hour back bus trip. For Liz she has been out exploring, walking the town, napping on the beach, diving the Mediterranean, sampling the tapas and paellas. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight!!
I'll write a blog about my F1 on my way to Antibes tomorrow. I have to catch up since as soon as I'm home from the track I'm zonking out straight away! I'm sure not everyone will be super keen on my F1 writing. Hope everyone is well!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Always be prepared!
It's been 4 months since my last journey blog. My last entry as a virgin traveller was on the 16th Dec 2010. It's May and I'm back traveling. Yurop part two.
My three week journey starts at 5:15am this morning. I've had 3 hours sleep and it's a bit 'fresh' on the gold coast. Nothing like the winter temps I experienced on my last trip! I walk out the door and realise i have four minutes to get to the bus stop. So i run, with two back packs in tow again, but nothing like the cargo i had last time. That warmed me up! Bus leaves at 5:44 (according to translink), low and behold the bus stop says it comes past at 5:40. Don't panic, this was the early bus I would have preferred to catch, but there is another one in half an hour. Sitting there as my body slowly starts to cool from my morning jog, I'm thinking that I could still be in bed right now, but if this is how the journey starts then let's play the waiting game........ (as homer simpson says, "aww, the waiting game sucks, let's play hungry hungry hippos!)
The bus was an easy ride. And I already had my tourist photog eyes on. There is some really nice shots to be taken in surfers as the sun rises in winter. So when I get back more local photography to be had I think. As I make my way through Mermaid Beach I start reading the motel names, costa brava.......hmm going there. Riviera.....hmm going there too! The excitement starts to sink in, it had eluded me for sometime, maybe it's because I'll be traveling with someone, maybe travel has lost that spark already..... Nope it's back!
Arrived at the airport and I'm glad I did the Internet check in, as much as I love standing in lines, the drop off line was two people. Though, have you noticed that it seems to take longer to drop your off bags than to check-in?? You still have to show your "boarding pass" and then they print you another one, then do the bag thing, ask the questions about your bags, that's the same process as checking in!? I did miss out on the queue, but maybe i'll save that one for a special occasion! So a quick drop off of the bags, two checks for bomb making residue (i even shaved, still look dodgy) and a pre flight vanilla milkshake, then into my seat, window, exit, best $40 spent!
I was much better prepared this time, I had roll on deodorant and I didn't offend the air hostesses or myself with a stench! I thought I'd sleep better after 3 hours sleep but, it didn't seem to work out. I still managed 4hours of sleep, but it took hard work, sleep isn't supposed to be hard work! The fat guy who was separated from me by a seat was a massive snorer, and was snoring through the safety briefing. He wasn't a constant snorer, but more of a once every 5 mins power snorer! The constant snorer was behind him. I should have stood up and conducted them, a good constant melody and the crash symbol! ZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzz! Everything was as expected, limited service, a strange mushroom chicken pastry thingy. (I'm pretty sure that was the description in the menu!) I'm not looking for flashy headsets, screens in the back of your seat, and people throwing free stuff at you. Firstly its not free, you paid for the service. I want a plane that flies me to a destination. If it wasn't for air asia, this trip and maybe even the previous on would not have happened. All up, return flights, meals, baggage allowance and choosing my mega leg room seats (there is so much room for activities!) it cost me $1,149. Thanks Air Asia!
I've arrived and sitting on the floor in KL's low cost carrier terminal (LCCT), affectionately called 'the she'd by me. I just happen to see a group of about 8-14 year old boys being led by a man in uniform, I thought they were holding hands, nope the little un were in handcuffs, and he must be a policeman. I have a bit of a wait until our flight to Paris. 10 hours for me, only 3 for Lizzie. She is having fun with some of her family in Singapore. I'm really excited to see her and travel with her. Beforehand I was a bit apprehensive about traveling with someone, I asked people, didn't expect anyone to say yes. Especially if they read my last blog, don't get your hopes up and I hope you don't mind getting lost!! Or as I like to call it, the scenic route. We've been together not even three months, and already traveling together! I had most of my plans sorted and paid for before she decided to come along. I don't believe she'll be joining me at any of the F1 festivities, but we'll see each other pretty much every night, so that's nice to know. Some places not in the same room though. It'll be great to have the company, as last time that was the sad part, not being able to share cool moments unless I was with Gina, Stephan, Alena or Steggles!
Let's just say 10 hours waiting is a long time!! Wouldn't recommend it. But its part and parcel of long haul traveling. Right now I'm two hours outside of Paris. The flight has been pretty good. Both Liz and I were pretty tired by the time we boarded and fell asleep not long after take off. Since I booked in February and Liz sometime after we weren't originally sitting together, luckily someone didn't show up beside me so we got to sit together. The bonus for Liz is she go to, a) sit next to me, and, b) got to sit in the Air Asia 'hot seat' the $40 prepaid seats with mega leg room! And she didn't have to pay for it! We both slept pretty solid for 7 hours straight, then an hour little bit later.
It was very exciting to see Liz when she arrived, walked pretty much past me in the arrivals area. We had planned to meet up at Mc Donald's but i wanted to surprise her when she arrived. She wasn't really sure it was me since I shaved my beard. I don't think she had seen me clean shaven ever! We sat and chatted about her Singapore adventures. She had been talking to her friends and family in Singapore and they had told her to watch out for thieves in Barcelona. Apparently unemployment is at a bit of a high and there has been a lot of theft going on. Well looks like my money and passport is going up my bum! As we boarded the plane I checked my emails and checked out the news on Facebook, you know its not official unless it's on Facebook. My friend Gina had a status update, she'd been robbed in Barcelona, passport, €450 in cash etc! Reality kicks in. I'm not sure if it's stolen a bag, robbed at knife/gun point, or a pick pocket? But I'm thinking extremely carefully about how to carry my valuables. If I wear my jumper I can't get pick pocketed at all. But its late spring and a jumper might be a bit warm. My bag will never leave my side since my camera is in it. We will only be in Barcelona for less than 48hours, but most theft occurs in the first day. I'll have my ear to the ground and fingers crossed we'll have an incident free holiday. I know a few friends who have been to more dangerous areas and been fine, but I know a few that it just happens so soon. But I don't want to have this feel that all I'll be doing is looking for dodgy people. Be aware, be prepared and have fun!
Not long and we'll be touching down in Europe. Have a four hour wait for our Spanish flight then get to the hotel and find Gina. Catch up and see how she is. Our shuttle to the other terminal, i then realised. You're not in Kansas anymore Luke. Our flight was delayed, why? I'm guessing siesta time interfered. I'm just glad there was no siesta'ing while flying our plane. We flew in over the Costa Brava, beautiful day, perfect blue water, and soon I'll be staying there for my F1 grand prix package. Landed, bused it to Plaça d'Espanya followed by a short walk to our accom. It's a really nice place, small would be an understatement, definitely not big enough to swing a cat! I haven't been feeling the best for the last few hours. I think the 42+ hours, of air con, flights and poor airline food has come back to me. It seems like a bit of a chest infection maybe? It's not going to slow me down one iota. I have things to see and places to photograph!
Speaking of things to see, Gina is way up there. She's not receiving my texts but I can get hers. So I can only call her........$$$$$ or Facebook her! So after a long walk along the riviera, seeing columbus' column we made it to Barcelota, the area where Gina and Kelly was staying. I called her and received a text with her address. Walked towards the beach, then just decided to take a different route that looked a bit more promising. And, as my random walking luck would have it one street later I hear a "LUKE, LUKE!" Gina had just got on her balcony to see if I walked past! It was good to see the girls again, and great for them to meet Liz too. We couldn't stay to long as we were pretty wrecked and tired after our long haul flights. I haven't been this tired in a very long time. The candle has no ends anymore, no spark left. We walked our way back to the hotel. It was a bit fresh with the wind coming off the marina. It's 9pm and the sun is just setting. A small restaurant just around the corner had everything we wanted, pizza, no, but maybe tomorrow.
The last few days have been a big journey. A lot of waiting, sitting on cold floors and my immune system taking a back seat for a day (i hope only for a day). I'm very tired and looking forward to a bed, shower, clean teeth and someone next to me. Liz is out and fast asleep, I think it took 4.3secs after her head hit the pillow. Time for me to join her. I hope to be a bit better in future blogs. There are many more experiences and random things to happen. I'm prepared, and bloody tired!
My three week journey starts at 5:15am this morning. I've had 3 hours sleep and it's a bit 'fresh' on the gold coast. Nothing like the winter temps I experienced on my last trip! I walk out the door and realise i have four minutes to get to the bus stop. So i run, with two back packs in tow again, but nothing like the cargo i had last time. That warmed me up! Bus leaves at 5:44 (according to translink), low and behold the bus stop says it comes past at 5:40. Don't panic, this was the early bus I would have preferred to catch, but there is another one in half an hour. Sitting there as my body slowly starts to cool from my morning jog, I'm thinking that I could still be in bed right now, but if this is how the journey starts then let's play the waiting game........ (as homer simpson says, "aww, the waiting game sucks, let's play hungry hungry hippos!)
The bus was an easy ride. And I already had my tourist photog eyes on. There is some really nice shots to be taken in surfers as the sun rises in winter. So when I get back more local photography to be had I think. As I make my way through Mermaid Beach I start reading the motel names, costa brava.......hmm going there. Riviera.....hmm going there too! The excitement starts to sink in, it had eluded me for sometime, maybe it's because I'll be traveling with someone, maybe travel has lost that spark already..... Nope it's back!
Arrived at the airport and I'm glad I did the Internet check in, as much as I love standing in lines, the drop off line was two people. Though, have you noticed that it seems to take longer to drop your off bags than to check-in?? You still have to show your "boarding pass" and then they print you another one, then do the bag thing, ask the questions about your bags, that's the same process as checking in!? I did miss out on the queue, but maybe i'll save that one for a special occasion! So a quick drop off of the bags, two checks for bomb making residue (i even shaved, still look dodgy) and a pre flight vanilla milkshake, then into my seat, window, exit, best $40 spent!
I was much better prepared this time, I had roll on deodorant and I didn't offend the air hostesses or myself with a stench! I thought I'd sleep better after 3 hours sleep but, it didn't seem to work out. I still managed 4hours of sleep, but it took hard work, sleep isn't supposed to be hard work! The fat guy who was separated from me by a seat was a massive snorer, and was snoring through the safety briefing. He wasn't a constant snorer, but more of a once every 5 mins power snorer! The constant snorer was behind him. I should have stood up and conducted them, a good constant melody and the crash symbol! ZZZzzzzZZZZzzzzz! Everything was as expected, limited service, a strange mushroom chicken pastry thingy. (I'm pretty sure that was the description in the menu!) I'm not looking for flashy headsets, screens in the back of your seat, and people throwing free stuff at you. Firstly its not free, you paid for the service. I want a plane that flies me to a destination. If it wasn't for air asia, this trip and maybe even the previous on would not have happened. All up, return flights, meals, baggage allowance and choosing my mega leg room seats (there is so much room for activities!) it cost me $1,149. Thanks Air Asia!
I've arrived and sitting on the floor in KL's low cost carrier terminal (LCCT), affectionately called 'the she'd by me. I just happen to see a group of about 8-14 year old boys being led by a man in uniform, I thought they were holding hands, nope the little un were in handcuffs, and he must be a policeman. I have a bit of a wait until our flight to Paris. 10 hours for me, only 3 for Lizzie. She is having fun with some of her family in Singapore. I'm really excited to see her and travel with her. Beforehand I was a bit apprehensive about traveling with someone, I asked people, didn't expect anyone to say yes. Especially if they read my last blog, don't get your hopes up and I hope you don't mind getting lost!! Or as I like to call it, the scenic route. We've been together not even three months, and already traveling together! I had most of my plans sorted and paid for before she decided to come along. I don't believe she'll be joining me at any of the F1 festivities, but we'll see each other pretty much every night, so that's nice to know. Some places not in the same room though. It'll be great to have the company, as last time that was the sad part, not being able to share cool moments unless I was with Gina, Stephan, Alena or Steggles!
Let's just say 10 hours waiting is a long time!! Wouldn't recommend it. But its part and parcel of long haul traveling. Right now I'm two hours outside of Paris. The flight has been pretty good. Both Liz and I were pretty tired by the time we boarded and fell asleep not long after take off. Since I booked in February and Liz sometime after we weren't originally sitting together, luckily someone didn't show up beside me so we got to sit together. The bonus for Liz is she go to, a) sit next to me, and, b) got to sit in the Air Asia 'hot seat' the $40 prepaid seats with mega leg room! And she didn't have to pay for it! We both slept pretty solid for 7 hours straight, then an hour little bit later.
It was very exciting to see Liz when she arrived, walked pretty much past me in the arrivals area. We had planned to meet up at Mc Donald's but i wanted to surprise her when she arrived. She wasn't really sure it was me since I shaved my beard. I don't think she had seen me clean shaven ever! We sat and chatted about her Singapore adventures. She had been talking to her friends and family in Singapore and they had told her to watch out for thieves in Barcelona. Apparently unemployment is at a bit of a high and there has been a lot of theft going on. Well looks like my money and passport is going up my bum! As we boarded the plane I checked my emails and checked out the news on Facebook, you know its not official unless it's on Facebook. My friend Gina had a status update, she'd been robbed in Barcelona, passport, €450 in cash etc! Reality kicks in. I'm not sure if it's stolen a bag, robbed at knife/gun point, or a pick pocket? But I'm thinking extremely carefully about how to carry my valuables. If I wear my jumper I can't get pick pocketed at all. But its late spring and a jumper might be a bit warm. My bag will never leave my side since my camera is in it. We will only be in Barcelona for less than 48hours, but most theft occurs in the first day. I'll have my ear to the ground and fingers crossed we'll have an incident free holiday. I know a few friends who have been to more dangerous areas and been fine, but I know a few that it just happens so soon. But I don't want to have this feel that all I'll be doing is looking for dodgy people. Be aware, be prepared and have fun!
Not long and we'll be touching down in Europe. Have a four hour wait for our Spanish flight then get to the hotel and find Gina. Catch up and see how she is. Our shuttle to the other terminal, i then realised. You're not in Kansas anymore Luke. Our flight was delayed, why? I'm guessing siesta time interfered. I'm just glad there was no siesta'ing while flying our plane. We flew in over the Costa Brava, beautiful day, perfect blue water, and soon I'll be staying there for my F1 grand prix package. Landed, bused it to Plaça d'Espanya followed by a short walk to our accom. It's a really nice place, small would be an understatement, definitely not big enough to swing a cat! I haven't been feeling the best for the last few hours. I think the 42+ hours, of air con, flights and poor airline food has come back to me. It seems like a bit of a chest infection maybe? It's not going to slow me down one iota. I have things to see and places to photograph!
Speaking of things to see, Gina is way up there. She's not receiving my texts but I can get hers. So I can only call her........$$$$$ or Facebook her! So after a long walk along the riviera, seeing columbus' column we made it to Barcelota, the area where Gina and Kelly was staying. I called her and received a text with her address. Walked towards the beach, then just decided to take a different route that looked a bit more promising. And, as my random walking luck would have it one street later I hear a "LUKE, LUKE!" Gina had just got on her balcony to see if I walked past! It was good to see the girls again, and great for them to meet Liz too. We couldn't stay to long as we were pretty wrecked and tired after our long haul flights. I haven't been this tired in a very long time. The candle has no ends anymore, no spark left. We walked our way back to the hotel. It was a bit fresh with the wind coming off the marina. It's 9pm and the sun is just setting. A small restaurant just around the corner had everything we wanted, pizza, no, but maybe tomorrow.
The last few days have been a big journey. A lot of waiting, sitting on cold floors and my immune system taking a back seat for a day (i hope only for a day). I'm very tired and looking forward to a bed, shower, clean teeth and someone next to me. Liz is out and fast asleep, I think it took 4.3secs after her head hit the pillow. Time for me to join her. I hope to be a bit better in future blogs. There are many more experiences and random things to happen. I'm prepared, and bloody tired!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Clean shaved and ready to GO GO GO!!!
I'm back! Popped my cherry and now I want more......as you usually do!
No longer a virgin, but still sober, 29 years and counting. I may not get as many hits this time around because people search for virgins on the internet and they got my blog instead! Should have named it "Shaved drunk girls gone wild cute kittens dancing fat people sober traveller" then I'd get some extra hits! My last blog recieved over 1250 page hits.
So what am I doing now? Well, after walking the Monaco F1 track I said to myself, I have to see the F1 cars go around here! Air Asia decided they would fly to Paris Orly airport now, they then had a sale and I pounced on it. I then realised that it was the Barcelona Grand Prix one week earlier, might as well do that too! So, three weeks.
Paris > Barcelona > St Feliu De Guixols > Antibes > Nice > Paris.
Planes trains and automobiles all included as well in this trip.
Highlights to "hopefully" achieve:
Barcelona F1
Monaco F1 (bucket list)
Barcelona and see Gina (you may remember her from my last blog)
Antibes (Marineland - killer whales) they cant get away these ones!
AND
PARIS....... I said I would never go there as a single man. So yes I have girlfriend (Liz) and I cant wait to have those romantic moments, turn around and kiss her passionately on the lips! I will also be meeting my fantastic German friends Stephan and Alena. No Europe trip would be complete without them. And if I can't find Liz to kiss, watch out Stephan ;-) pucker up! So a trip to Disney and the Palace Versailles is on the cards.
So I'm going to bed, it's 1:24am and I have to be up by 5am. Why am I up so late... well in Spain it's about 5:24pm. So I'm getting acclimatised early. I think a good sleep on the plane will be the order of the flight!
YUROP part deux!
No longer a virgin, but still sober, 29 years and counting. I may not get as many hits this time around because people search for virgins on the internet and they got my blog instead! Should have named it "Shaved drunk girls gone wild cute kittens dancing fat people sober traveller" then I'd get some extra hits! My last blog recieved over 1250 page hits.
So what am I doing now? Well, after walking the Monaco F1 track I said to myself, I have to see the F1 cars go around here! Air Asia decided they would fly to Paris Orly airport now, they then had a sale and I pounced on it. I then realised that it was the Barcelona Grand Prix one week earlier, might as well do that too! So, three weeks.
Paris > Barcelona > St Feliu De Guixols > Antibes > Nice > Paris.
Planes trains and automobiles all included as well in this trip.
Highlights to "hopefully" achieve:
Barcelona F1
Monaco F1 (bucket list)
Barcelona and see Gina (you may remember her from my last blog)
Antibes (Marineland - killer whales) they cant get away these ones!
AND
PARIS....... I said I would never go there as a single man. So yes I have girlfriend (Liz) and I cant wait to have those romantic moments, turn around and kiss her passionately on the lips! I will also be meeting my fantastic German friends Stephan and Alena. No Europe trip would be complete without them. And if I can't find Liz to kiss, watch out Stephan ;-) pucker up! So a trip to Disney and the Palace Versailles is on the cards.
So I'm going to bed, it's 1:24am and I have to be up by 5am. Why am I up so late... well in Spain it's about 5:24pm. So I'm getting acclimatised early. I think a good sleep on the plane will be the order of the flight!
YUROP part deux!
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