Robot Claw

I walked the full Fernleigh Track today. I’d wanted to do this for years, since I’d only done it once before (in 2012), but the logistics of getting home were always an obstacle. Thankfully, Sue came to the rescue!

She picked me up on her way to work and dropped me off at the Belmont end of the track. My plan was to walk the entire track home with a break at Charlestown for some lunch.

I started the track at 7:21 am. The first mile or so is heavily shaded by trees, which kept the temperature low. I was wearing shorts and it was quite chilly (8C/48F) but thankfully my rugged Australian constitution kept me going.

For the first third of the walk the birdsong was raucous and nonstop. There were no other walkers and a few cyclists so perhaps they were squawking at me? I loved it, especially the bellbirds, and occasionally found a sunny spot to pause and enjoy the sounds.

I was curious as to how long the walk would take so kept careful track of time (and steps) as I walked. The Belmont to Whitebridge leg is about two thirds of the track, and took me almost exactly two hours (and ~13000 steps). I wasn’t even tired yet, and it was time to divert and head to Charlestown Square for lunch.

This was no small side-trip either, since the walk to the mall from Whitebridge (and back) added 2.5 hours (and ~14000 steps) to the expedition! I ate some maccas, bought some magic cards and then had a nostalgic walk past old places we’d lived before rejoining the track in the early afternoon.

By this time the sun was high in the sky and I was in shirtsleeves, and maybe even getting a little sunburned? I’d done the Whitebridge-Adamstown leg many times and freshly refueled with frozen coke I knocked it out today in only one hour (and ~7000 steps). Once again I completed the entire track in one go, and I’m probably good for another decade or so! In total the track (alone) had taken me almost exactly three hours and a tad over 20,000 steps.

Of course I still had to walk back to mums, and it was this final leg of the trip – only a half hour or so after many hours of walking – where I started to feel the burn. But (of course) I made it, and when I finally reached mums I had been walking for 7.5 hours and 40,010 steps. My legs were spaghetti, but it had been a good day.

But I bet I’ll be feeling it tomorrow!

I’m back home. My suitcases were stuffed like never before, and actually slightly overweight. I get 50 lbs/case, and combined the two were about 104 lbs, although the check in lady let it pass. Many many things came back with me, and here I’ll showcase a few.

I discovered LOZ bricks in Australia, and have been amazed by the quality of these LEGO competitors. I invested heavily, and eight sets came back with me. If you see these in shops, pick one up!

Sydney now has (at least) 5 Gacha machine stations, and as you can see I partook. My usual modus operandi for these is to keep them closed until I return home, lest I keep sinking money to get the particular item I wanted. We’ll open these over the next few weeks.

A couple of figures came back with me, both won from the same machine (at a cost I won’t discuss…) at the ufo catcher shop in Sydney. I’ve already opened them and both are high quality and look good on my shelves.

Yes I bought two Star Wars figures! I was surprised by the high cost and easy availability of these in Australia. While they’re considerably cheaper here, they’re almost never found in shops and the two above I’d never seen. The main reason I bought them though is that the elimination of plastic from packaging ensures the future of these figures is clouded, and the above may well be the last I ever buy.

I love the manga series Quintessential Quintuplets so when I saw an entire box of ‘wafer + card’ sold at the anime shop on Pitt Street I jumped at the chance. This was one of my most exciting purchases in Oz!

If you’re glancing over the photos so far and thinking ‘But wasn’t he in Australia?‘ then I’m not surprised. Much of my cases were full of Japanese stuff or old magazines (thanks AW!). But rest assured I have left the best for last, and the majority of the weight in my cases was this:

Behold chocolate! This isn’t even all of it, but can you believe all that candy?!? There’s even more:

Astonishing I brought back about 40 pounds of candy! Some of it will be gifted, but the remainder is for me and Kristin to enjoy over the next few months.

Other stuff not shown here: money (collectible coins mostly), coffee (for kls), kitchen goods (plates, tea towels), books, shirts and probably other stuff I’m forgetting due to jetlag. 🙂

I slept in today, and when I finally got up on this, the last day of my trip, I started the tedious chore of packing. I’ve bought or acquired too much, and as always I’m concerned I’ve exceeded my weight limit. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow.

Mid morning I headed to The Powerhouse Museum to see the microcar exhibit. Seventeen tiny vehicles were on display, all working and most original. Many were from the 1950’s and 1960’s and I learned several were born from novel ideas on how to repurpose WW2 aircraft factories such as the Messerschmitt above, which is built around a modified plane body.

The above shot shows the legendary Sinclair C5 from the 1980s alongside a similar vehicle from only a few years ago. Tiny electric cars seem like a great idea: why aren’t we there yet?

I also had a look at the electronic keyboard and synthesizer exhibit, although I found it lacking. The pieces were simply displayed (with no context or even information), and it would have been great to be able to hear example sounds from them. Don’t just tell us the Roland shown above was responsible for the iconic sound of Eurythmics Sweet Dreams, let us hear it!

Afterwards I did some more exploration (I found a fourth Gacha station) and lots of last-minute shopping before it was time for final packing and locking the bags.

I couldn’t decide what to eat for dinner, and ultimately went with my own hybrid I’ll call McPorto, which ended up being just right.

My flight is early which means I rise before the sun. It’s been a fast and exciting and busy and memorable month, and after 2.5 years it was wonderful to be able to do this again:

610,000 steps in 30 days means a daily step average of over 20,000. I’ve sent an insane amount of postcards (which take time) and done 30 daily blogs which I’ve never done before. All this left very little time to relax and I fear I’ve pushed myself perhaps a little too far.

I’m going to need a vacation!

Did some more shopping and exploring the city:

Before taking a break for packing and eating ‘chicken for babies’ for lunch:

And then in the evening I went out to see the rest of Vivid:

That’s a tiny model; the umbrella was maybe an inch wide. It was part of a series of detailed models in boxes that all used light creatively.

Central Station was spectacular. It’s a massive building and the projection was extremely colourful and very crisp. It animated through various scenes and didn’t repeat in the several minutes I watched.

I also visited The Convergence, which was at the end of a dead-end street. There was a long line when I arrived and since it said the wait was 15 minutes I joined it and amused myself by watching the slow motion projection of a dancers feet that was on a nearby building.

But the 15 minute wait got longer and longer and it wasn’t until almost an hour later than I entered the installation, which was a long tunnel full of lasers and smoke.

It was mildly insane, and at times dazzling, but so full of people I had to get creative to take photos. At the very end the line turns but the tunnel cleverly seemed to continue into infinity:

It was like being in a mad hybrid of The Matrix and Frankie’s Relax music video and while not worth an hours wait was another of the best Vivid installations.

I think I ended up seeing at least 45 of the 47 official Vivid attractions, which means I got my moneys worth (it’s all free)! If I’m ever in Australia during Vivid again, I’ll absolutely make plans to be in Sydney because I think it was great 🙂