i90: January 2011

Cycling to the beach

On the night of the 27th of December 2010, I was sitting in front of my computer and attending to my mayorial duties in Cityville... And then I decided that I should cycle to the beach the next day.
...
No la... It was actually something that I've wanted to do for a long long time - cycling to the beach and along the beach. Thus a few days before the 28th, I've searched and searched the internet again on bicycle routes and paths towards the beach. Finally, with the help of Google Earth and an Australian cycling website - OZ Bike Trails, I've decided on a route that takes approximately 15km to reach the beach and will continue another 15km along the beach.
Initially, I've planned to take the train from Southern Cross station back to a train station near my accommodation. But after cycling 30km, I was quite addicted and wanted more, thus, I decided to cycle back... which turned out to be a disaster...
While cycling towards the beach, I was too busy making sure that I am not making the wrong turns and did not realise that it was a mostly downhill path... not until the time I cycle back.

Anyway, long story short, cycling back to my place was very very very tiring and my legs were about to give way (literally). It was so painful that I only recovered after a few days (and the pain nagged me a little during badminton a few days ago). So... here are some pictures, mixture of RAW, unedited and photo-butchered. Lol. I'm still learning to photoshop.

^First picture upon reaching Sandringham...

^They have this small pool of water beside the road...

^Some medication ad for headaches.

^Paint job inspired by "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"

^Bokeh-licioussss

^Seagulls. (I thought I removed this pic)

^Baywatch anyone?

^This kite was flying on its own... the string was pinned in to the sand.

^Someone doing their wedding photoshoot...

^Argh... composition abit off

^The dog POOPed in the sea!!!

^It's like a bicycle highway!! Rightt???

^They are watching some cricket match... Foldable cardboard chairs FTW! =D

^Near the end of my route

^Some shoes hanging on wire... near Sandringham

^Pardon the strings... Photoshop didnt merge properly

^Postcard from Brighton beach! =D

^A series of panorama... taken using multibursts instead of the cameras' stitch assist thingy... Photoshop's automated merging thing rocks! Oh, content aware fill rocks too. XD

That's all from my bike trip! =D Looking forward to the next one soon! =D

NZ Day 8-9

Yeay! Finally, I'm wrapping up the pictures from New Zealand! =D

^On the way to Franz Josef.

^Snow-capped mountains, grasslands and cows... Almost classic NZ pic? Too bad no telephoto lens.

^Hm... Can't remember

^At Fan Tail Falls. A rock with a heart shaped pattern.

^After my camera dropped into the sand and almost can't open it's lens cover. Damn sand.

^Look! Natural vignetting! No photoshop!

^At Franz Josef glacier (or Fox, I'm not sure).

^Glaaaaacier

^MEOOOWWWWWWWW! lol!

^Another view far far away from the glacier

^At Lake Ianthe... there are seriously ALOT of sandflies underneath this dock thingy

^Back in Christchurch for last day in NZ...kinda liketh the arrows.

That's all for the selected pictures from NZ!
Kinda wished that I took all the pictures (or most of them) with RAW...
But all in all, it was a very memorable and fun trip with my family... And there were some funny moments... like the one below: