- Author: johnnymestizo
- Filed under: Australiana
- Date: Jan 1,2008
A hectic buzz filled the air as a sea of bobbing heads filled St Kilda Road bridge and Flinders Street Melbourne. People came from all over, across the Yarra, down from Elizabeth, Queen and Swanston Street all vying for a central spot to watch the fireworks show due at the stroke of midnight - the birth of 2008!
My friends and I pushed through this crowd which seem to flow all the way to Federation Square - an excellent viewing spot for the festivities. Also anywhere along the Yarra riverbanks from Batman to Spencer would also be an advantage. Read the rest of this entry »
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is aimed to motivate readers to increase their financial literacy. This first book in the successful Rich Dad series first published in 1997 and Kiyosaki hopes to impart financial wisdom through simply worded dialogues with ‘his real dad’ and ‘his rich dad’.
Robert Kiyosaki background before writing the Rich Dad series spans from joining the Marines as a pilot, to selling Xerox machines and to starting his own Velcro wallet company. No doubt his story is famous enough now for me not to bore you with specifics. Read the rest of this entry »
Sydney-Hobart Line Honours Winners and Times
2007 - Wild Oats XI - 1d 21h 24m 32s
2006 - Wild Oats XI - 2d 8h 52m 33s
2005 - Wild Oats XI - 1d 18h 40m 10s
Watch Channel 7’s Race Update No. 3 for winning video footage
Read post win writeup “Oates may return for fourth attempt” by Adrian Warren
Today is a special day. It is the beginning of the Sydney to Hobart - the great Australian yacht race.
This is the 63rd Sydney to Hobart yacht race to be held with a total of 82 participants. The race starts from Sydney Harbour, journey through the Tasman Sea to Tasmania, Storm Bay and the culminates 12 miles into the Derwent River. The fastest race record is 1 day 18 hours 40 minutes and ten seconds (01:18:40:10) and set by Wild Oates XI in 2005.
See official start article ‘Wild Oats XI leads Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet out of the harbour‘ from the official Rolex Sydney to Hobart website. Also available, an up to date tracking system to track your favourite yacht’s progress in the race, a complete yacht list of entrants, and up-to-date standings (current ranking of the yacht). Download Official Poster. For more information visit the official sites of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Christmas was excellent. I have been privileged to spend time with family this year. My best wishes go out to all of the men and women who have to be away from family and friends for work reasons.
Chickens, Cheezels and cheesecakes have been devoured in outstanding numbers but this morning is a new day. I hit the road with my Xmas pressie, my new Asics runners. A simple 25 minute Long Slow Distance run in Adelaide’s North Eastern suburbia. Getting back into fitness, the tequila shots stop now! Nothing cures a hangover better than an enduring sweat-fest jog.
Nothing beats seeing family for Christmas! Wishing you all a safe fun filled Christmas season!
Ingatz
- Author: johnnymestizo
- Filed under: Australiana
- Date: Dec 23,2007
Packing some light fruit and sandwichs is a habit for me for long drives. A good 6 litres of water also helps me power on only stopping to fill the tank. However, when crossing the South Australian border just before Pinaroo watch out for the quarantine station. They raid your car and take your delicious carefully sliced fruit and drop it into a bin. I was distraught and grunted at the service attendant at the next SA gas station to make passage to Adelaide. Read the rest of this entry »
Having a pleasureable time in a top end restaurant on Dean Street in Albury, New South Wales. The Border Wine Room places you in a relaxed setting - polished floor boards surrounded by walls of wine racks and ambient jazzonova. The comprehensive wine list provides recommendations to my eye fillet cooked to medium rare perfection. A succulent joy to eat and drink here at the Border Wine Room. Located upstairs at 492 Dean Street, opening times are from 4pm til Midnight from Tuesday to Saturday. In-house private luncheons and functions can be catered for. Phone: (02) 6021 0900
More of a massive technical update than content at the moment. Moved to BlueHost servers and now using the Wordpress.org software. The transition from Free hosting on Wordpress.org has been seamless, no problems so far. All this will technically and financially allow johnnymestizo.com to exist for the long term.
This will free me up to ‘John Chow‘ the site. Monetization to cover the costs of hosting and deliver on some goals for the page. Namely - I will review my favourite books and people can get it delivers (via an amazon app) right then and there. We will see how we go. Of course I will always stay true to ‘Content is King‘.
Ingatz
In two and a half days I have driven 2800kms. Australia is a big country! A massive thanks go out to the Driver Reviver stations potted out along main connected highways. Without their gold-coin-donation coffees and bikkies I would have been a goner. Drive - Revive - Survive! Driving from Townsville QLD to Albury NSW is no easy feat to do by oneself. Every two hours have a ten minute break. A lot of the time the reviver stations provide a brew and double for a toilet stop service stations do the same. Yeah petrol is like $AU1.45 in some places - budget for it a few months before.
Alarm bells should be ringing the moment you do that quick little ‘yawn’. Stop, walk around and stretch, water and get back into it. When it’s 1250AM and your doing that boring straight in regional wherever try not to speed. If you start singing along to a track that’s ok. When the CD stops and you’re still singing, you start seeing people on the side of the road when at the third glance its a dead tree, you try to stay within the lines and resort to ‘that’s good enough’, and you yawn is so big you have to close your eyes - STOP. Grab the quilt and crash out in the backseat - I did and I’m still alive and breathing.
‘Don’t die for a dead line.’ These highway safety messages are engraved into my memory. They are on all the highways in Australia. Hopefully the holiday death toll stays down this year.
Big motivation - When you haven’t seen your girl for 3 months you’ll do what it takes. 
Ingatz
A map of this journey is available however it is too big to fit into a minimap. See my google map Sturt St (Townsville) to Dean St (Albury) that I drove. Enjoy!
