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Having been in Sydney for a few months now it is about time that the blog was updated.
I flew out from the UK to Sydney with British Airways. I chose them primarily on price but I was a bit dubious about them having had a generally poor experience with them in the past. However, I have used Malaysia Airlines on a number of previous occasions, but the more that comes out about the unfortunate loss of MH370, the more I realise that I will never fly Malaysia Airlines again. It is a combination of things such as influence, culture, training of cockpit crew and the mishandling by government that puts me right off them.
I am renting a place in Kirribilli and when I look out of the window I see this view
Yes, that is the Queen Mary 2
We had has some foggy mornings
The sunsets can be good too.
The flagstaff up on observatory hill
The Manly ferry is approaching its destination
The city can be seen in the distance from this North Head monument
Manly beach
Opera House
South Head lighthouse at the harbour entrance.
Practising over the harbour prior to the Melbourne Grand Prix
The Newcastle harbour entrance
Foreshore houses seen on a trip to Paramatta
There was a big fire on the Barangaroo building site
Ocean Shield at Garden Island. It is now searching for MH370 in the Indian Ocean.
At Milsons Point
Pelicans in Woolongong
The industrial bit of Woolongong
In March I went on a heritage train trip to the wine growing area of Cessnock in the Hunter Valley.
Although I had to get a local train from here to Central first.
There was plenty of wine tasting.
Some Hunter Valley vines.
A Noisy Miner bird at Kirribilli
Disappearing on Cockatoo Island
Warehouse waterfall
Sunbathing
A Sunday morning paddle
Kirribilli as seen from the Harbour Bridge
Tinnies
Bondi Icebergs
Pink handbag outside the Customs House
On the bridge
Container ship leaves Port Botany
I have been watching the 2014 Formula 1 races on a local free to air tv channel. I must admit that the new cars sound awful so I will not be going to watch any lives races while this continues. Someone at a track described the cars as sounding like a "sewing machine on wheels". Maybe the powers that be, do not care if you do not go to watch races live, as long as you watch the races on tv. In practice that seems to mean using some sort of subscription tv service. In my case I just record or download the race and watch it at my leisure while skipping over any ad breaks. I use free to air channels or the delayed free BBC coverage.
The other thing that is spoiling F1 is the requirement to make the race run at a time so that it can be seen live during a peak viewing time in Europe. As it is a world championship series, this often results in races been run at peculiar local times of day such as dusk when the sun is at a low angle, or at night. The trend towards night races around dusty, desert circuits with no crowd seems harmful to keeping enthusiasts such as me interested. On top of that there seems to be a raft of silly new rules. For instance this year the drivers have all had to lose weight in order to meet the new weight rules with a heavier car design. Some drivers are realling struggling with weight loss and are close to being unfit to drive with the possibilty of this causing safety issues.
As my interest in F1 has waned, my interest in cricket has increased. In fact the FIA and Formula One management are pushing me away from motorsport.
Recently the World T20 championships have been taking place in Bangladesh. Both the England and Aussie men teams were knocked out before the final and I was following the fortunes of the England Women's team.
They seemed to do OK as the tournament progressed but there were some strange team selections. For instance Tammy Beaumont is supposedly a batter although she is also apparently quite good in the field. Anyway she played in four of the five matches in the tournament coming in as the number 3 bat on two occasions. Her batting average over these four matches was just 2.5 runs.
Surely a more agressive batter is needed this high up the order. Although the England Women made it to the final against Australia, England were thrashed by Australia (again) on the day. During the tourament the Aussie womens scored 18 sixes (3 during the final) while the England women did not score a single six during their entire time in Bangladesh. Says it all really. I will continue to support the England Womens team and have seen them win a lot of matches in the past, but I cannot help wondering about some of these team selections, especially when many other nations teams are impoving rapidly.
Ah well, having had a bit of a whinge, it is time to get back to enjoying my remaining weeks in Sydney before I return to England under the care of British Airways.
Bye for now
Peewit
I watched this on tv having seen the previous semi finals live a couple of days ago. It was great to have two of the lesser rated teams in the final.
The match got under way with the ACT Meteors batting. They got off to a slow start and struggled to score from the bowling of Holly Ferling and others. Both the batters and the fielders seemed very nervous during the first few overs, and mistakes were made by both sides. Nicola Browne got run out and was unable to replicate her batting performance from the previous match.
Eventually the ACT Meteors struggled to 107 runs off their twenty overs.
Holly Ferling was interviewed at the completion of the innings. She had been off the field for some of the time having taken a whack on the shin with the ball. However she still picked up two wickets during her spell of bowling.
Just as in the semi final the Queensland Fire soon chased down that low total with Delissa Kimmince putting in a stellar batting performance and getting 78 not out. This time Rhianna Dick was not to repeat her bowling success.
The ACT Meteors were probably upset but getting to the final could be the first step to a brighter future.
It was hugs all round for the winners.
Handshakes at the end of the match.
Player of The Final is interviewed.
The winning captain raises the new more robust trophy. I recall that E Inglis dropped the previous one.
Winning team photocall. Well done Queensland Fire.
Peewit
Hooray, I'm back in Sydney.
Firstly, just a heads up on something you should know.
It is apparent that Google are carrying out a systematic campaign of breaking their programs in order to force you into doing things that you do not want to do. I know that both Youtube and Picasa now have serious issues of things that used to work and now do not. There are plenty of rants on these problems to be seen on the internet.
I will be avoiding any new Google apps from now on.
Anyway I was back in Sydney in time for Australia Day. It was a bit cloudy on the day. Here is the finish of the Tall Ships race.
The view across the harbour from my new apartment. By the way you can see my webcam showing the view over to Circular Quay by clicking here. The link opens a new window.
The bridge and opera house from Milsons Point.
There was some racing on at the North Sydney pool.
At the NSW art gallery.
Opera House seen from the Harbour Bridge walkway.
I can see my apartment in this photo from the bridge.
I watched all of the Women's Ashes matches being played in Australia. I had to watch them with media, either streamed or on tv. I had seen some of the previous Ashes live back in England last summer. England had won that series but it was a tough challenge to take on the Southern Stars on their home soil. The test match was held over a four day period at the WACA in Perth. It was like a roller coaster ride with both teams taking apparently dominant positions. The English women bowlers found themselves bowling in temperatures of 48 degrees C. However England won the match that gave them a 6-0 points lead in the series. England won an ODI then subsequently sealed the retaining of the Ashes in a T20 at Hobart where the skipper Charlotte Edwards hit the winning 4. Out of all of the seven matches played, the Southern Stars did win four of them but not the test match. There were comments afterwards that the points system placed too much emphasis on the single test match. However even if the points had been 5 for a test match win, 3 for an ODI win and 2 for a T20 win, England would still have retained the Ashes.
It was now my chance to actually go and watch some live cricket at a ground.
I chose to watch the two T20 semi final matches of the Women's state teams. The games were being held at the Blacktown Sportspark. I had vowed never to go there again after a visit last year when the match was rained off. Apart from that the place is in the middle of nowhere and it is a one hour train ride and a half hour walk to get there. However I thought that I would give it another go.
Part of my walk to the ground from the Rooty Hill station is alongside the M7.
The first match started at 10am and was between the NSW Breakers and the ACT Meteors. The Breakers were the strong favourites for the match and I had seen them play quite a few times and they always won.
The ACT Meteors were batting first.
The ACT girls batted really well and got 146 runs during their 20 overs. This did seem a competitive total but I have seen the NSW Breakers chase down these scores in the past.
However a certain Rhianna Dick put on an amazing bowling performance for the ACT Meteors. Here is the scoreboard just before the last ball. NSW are going to lose this one.
A wicket off the last ball as Southerland plays and misses and is stumped.
Celebrations for the ACT Meteors for a well deserved win.
The teams leave the field.
The final scores with R Dick getting an amazing 6 wickets.
So the ACT Meteors are in the T20 final. There was now a long lunch break before the second semi final was due to start at 2:30pm.
As the QLD Fire came onto the field to warm up they did look rather like a bunch of kids in the local park.
However there were some of Australia's best cricketers amongst them. Here is Holly Ferling who is the emerging fast bowler for the Southern Stars. She seems to be quite good at getting the wicket of the England skipper.
With these players from the Victoria Spirit I must have seen almost the entire Women's International team that played in the Ashes on the field today.
The match gets started and Holly Ferling claims the wicket of Villani in her first over.
It was a mainly cloudy day and was only just warm enough for spectators.
After their 20 overs, the Victoria Spirit had only managed a low total of 118 runs. A bit of a surprise considering their batting lineup.
Now it was time for the Queensland Fire to come on and bat.
They raced up to 117 runs in just 15.2 overs and only needed 2 more runs to pull off a famous victory.
Mooney hits 4 to score the winning runs.
The final scoreboard.
Handshakes and it is yet another upset as the Queensland Fire get to the T20 final.
Back at Rooty Hill Station ready for my one hour train ride to Sydney.
Later I heard that the final will be played at the WACA and so I will not be going to watch it, but at least it is on tv.
It had been a really enjoyable day of cricket, with some great skills on show, and both underdog teams making the final.
Peewit
