The Old Candle Factory

See the website for details.... HERE. It's a  wonderful island with  the warm easterly winds bringing exotic smells from Casablanca. Currently reading THIS

This extraordinary race is well under way, with 4 balloons still flying towards Romania and the Swiss team having landed on the beach of the Black Sea after nearly 60 hours in a wicker basket. Their blog is HERE Some of my pictures from the launch are  HERE. The main Gordon Bennett site is  HERE.   and live tracking is HERE.

In the ground around Sydney Harbour you will find circular bronze plaques with wise words quoted from learned writers like Anthony Trollope.     (Click on any image for a larger version.) What was his name?  Trollope? But it is to him that we attribute the traditional British red pillar box,  so he can't be all bad.

The group of people pictured below got together in Australia and pooled their skills and talents and humour and shared some extraordinary experiences. That delicious 'end of term' feeling fills all our hearts as we go our separate ways in the certain knowledge we will meet again. I found the picture HERE with story.

Never have those words sounded so good. It was only after returning from Canowindra to Sydney that I realised just how  much adrenalin I have been using. So when my body heard the magic words 'It's a wrap' it said 'OK, time to rest.'  So I now find myself wandering around like a zombie slowly recharging my batteries. Last night, my batteries were boosted by the wrap party , where accolades were handed out and the legendary egg trick performed!! (Click on images for larger size.) George Clooney was seen lurking in the bushes on location recently..... The rare moments Adam has to himself, he relentlessly practices his dance moves so when the time comes, he can remind us all he is THE MAN. And whenever Sarah finds time, she practices her cheer-leading skills twirling the baton. Is there no end to this girl's skills?? Richard bought me a box of matches a few days ago, and only a handful of us know just how precious that simple purchase proved to be!

Will Pugh is a wizard DOP, and it was he who captured the footage that made up this programme. See a sample showreel on his website HERE. I think the sample showreel that will ultimately appear on the website of my current DOP will be somewhat more dramatic!

My head is bursting with stories...... but they have to remain under my hat. So read about THIS instead. A sculpture on the wall of Manly LIfe Saving Club. They hold an annual charity swimming race nearby.  These people are seriously tough.  Read HERE! I'll stick to ballooning thanks!

The pilots are apparently religious.......

Popped up to Brisbane on a Virgin Blue. Sounds like the start of a song or a poem, but it was the start of a magic 24 hours spent with a good friend who I last saw 25 years ago. He has been a busy boy in the mean time. Sailed around the world. Married his lovely sweetheart who has produced two charming girls and they all live in a fantastic Carl Larsson -esque house. We visited the hangar containing The Southern Cross. Read about it HERE. And then we went a-wandering and found a few old cars..... And then we came home and peeped inside the Aladdin's Cave......... Champagne was poured and we talked until I fell asleep.... very happy.

'A little bit of powder and a little bit of paint makes a lady into what she aint.' I can tell you - the same goes for fellahs! I can't visit Sin City ( as Sydney is known) without tasting the night life now can I? Wandering around cyberspace it's amazing what you find! It's just as well I didn't have my camera with me last night. I'm sneaking off to Brisbane tomorow to visit an old chum I've not see for 25 years. He flew a balloon across Australia (click for story.) There's also a photographer who lives in Brisbane called Garry. You can see his pictures HERE.   I very much like his style. He took this picture of a moonbow.

Yup.  Back in Sydney and the rain is falling here too. Never mind.  I had tea today with a lovely Lady from Guyana. She's something high up in the city. Sydney City. 16th floor to be exact. The first black woman cabinet minister. A very smart Lady. Adam drove me there and I wish he'd been there to keep his beady eye on me.  Too late now (blush). So he then took me for a tour of Sydney via THE harbour bridge. Cough up $200 and you can walk over the top. Well... forget that. For a wee bit more you can take an aerial tour in a SEA PLANE !! I confess I am tempted.  Watch this space..... The bridge is like an enormous meccano set and is affectionately known as the 'Coathanger' It was opened on March 19th 1932 by Premier Jack Lang after six years of construction. Made of steel the bridge contains 6 million hand driven rivets. The surface area that requires painting is equal to about the surface area of 60 sports fields. The Bridge has huge hinges to absorb the expan

We leave Melbourne today and I tell you here and now I shall one day return. Goodness knows how or when, but let's wait and see. Saturday was free so I found the best rare book shop and was very impressed with their stock. I resisted buying anything and explored the city whilst listening to the grand prix cars doing ther final practice sessions. I discovered a shop called Il Papiro which sells hand-made paper and books and pens and inks etc etc. All made in Florence.... the glass pens hand blown. If you're going to have a helicopter, paint it red. The temptation to blow alot of money on an exclusive aerial tour of the city was partly because of the shiny livery. But I resisted.

Lewis Hamilton: Formula 1 driver's Mercedes impounded by police in Melbourne Click HERE for story.

The Eureka Tower is the world's tallest residential tower, and as I walked towards it and around it the walls echoed with the sound of Lewis Hamilton achieving fastest time in friday's practice session on Melbourne's city centre grand prix race track. See HERE. The lifts travel at 9 metres per second and are the fastest in the southern hemisphere. The glass on the top 10 floors is 24 carat gold plated, and reflects the dramatic events of the gold miners' struggle for fair trade. The red stripe visible towards the top of the tower is a memorial to those miners who lost their lives. The tower has 92 storeys, 3,680 stairs, used 110,000 tonnes of concrete, weighs 200,000 tonnes and the top can flex up to 600mm in high winds. The building took 4 years to build and cost A$500 million.

Today has been a memorable day. Instead of taking more pictures of stunning architecture, finding myself walking into book shops, watching the world go by in the myriad of pavement cafes, riding the free tram system, etc. etc. I went exploring much further afield. And Bingo. I stumble across a French-built Salmson.

Melbourne is an exciting city to behold. Young and vibrant, old and new architecture and a pleasing number of ambassadors for the latest in lightweight sexy bicycle technology.