WACA

WACA

I was in Perth last week. I took the opportunity one afternoon to visit WACA. I was quite excited about the visit. I was in Perth CBD and the ground is within walking distance from there. As I approached the stadium, a flood of random memories and images relating to WACA came to mind...

Lillee 

Sachin's bestestestest Innings

Bounciest track on the planet

Long cracks on the pitch

Tony Grieg's lost key 

Curtly's 8-for

Gilly's marana adi to Flintoff & friends

Justin Langer

Sachin's upper cut over slips against Brett Lee 

Nammakal Anjaneyar's 381

Who on earth is Freemantle doctor?

McGrath's hatrick

Shane Warne c M Richardson b Vettori  99

A Parore, L Vincent, S Fleming make merry in '00 test.

India's test win in '08

Damien Martyn

SAffer's win in '08

...and some more

I checked WACA's website and booked in for the Ground tour and Cricket Museum.

WACA Cricket Museum

If you are a cricket lover, this cricket museum is a must-see. Of the things I saw, these stood out:

a. The Under-arm ball: They have the actual match ball bowled by Trevor Chappell. And just to rub it in, they had a Silver Fern cap and a NZ Cricket Blazer near the ball. Rascals!

b. The Bradman Room: WA seem to adore Bradman more than any other state. I've done the MCG tour, apart from the big statue outside the ground, MCG didn't have anything significant on Bradman. Here, there were several portraits, rare action shots, couple of his jerseys, his match caps, his handwritten letters, original newspaper banners, autographed bats and handwritten score-books of matches played by Don. Superb collection!

Bradman in a net session

Also one of WACA's hospitality room is named after him too. Though Don was a South Australian, WA seem to love him as their own.

c. The Indian Cricket Team: There were numerous memorabilia from each India Cricket team that had toured Australia over the years. I was pleasantly surprised to see photos, signed exhibits of the first India cricket team to visit Australia in 1946. I think the team was captained by Lala Amarnath. It was great to see such rare items preserved so well.

WACA Ground Tour

WACA is different from the test match venues I've seen in Australia. It is a relatively small ground, and unlike a MCG or SCG it does not have the "Colosseum feel" when you walk through the gates. WACA is laid back. There are two stands on each ends with a smattering of corporate boxes, on the sides are a grass-bank and a make-shift stand. The ground could really do with a renovation. WACA, in its current state, reflects the attitude of the place to a certain extent. The cricket in the middle is played the hard way, the fair chunk of general public who come in enjoy the sun & beer and aren't too fussed over overt comforts. No frills, just froth and some good cricket!

Here are some photos from the Ground tour:

Our Ground Tour guide looks at a photograph and reminisces the day when Aussies reclaimed the Ashes

Son of the soil: J L Langer

We were taken to home side's dressing room. They had this to warn players it is time to get on the field

WA Test Reps. Please whistle pottufy for M E K Hussey.

View from the WACA's visitors' dressing room

Western Australia's Team of the Century!

We were taken to 'Stump Lounge' which had a autographed stump from each Test played at WACA

We were taken onto the playing arena. It felt surreal to stand on the very place cricket legends have played.

It was the off-season, so we didn't see a proper cricket pitch. It felt good to stand in the middle of one of the historic test match venues in the world.

WACA pitch. Looked more like a pitch at Basin Reserve, Wellington, NZ.

AU$15 well spent! :-)

Great Barrier Reef

It's meee. Naandhean :D

Having lived in Queensland for a little over 3 years, and to say, I haven't been to the Great Barrier Reef is akin to living in Tirupathi and not trekking up to see Venky even once. I exaggerate, obviously :-) But you get my point. So last Friday, I landed at Cairns to spend the weekend Scuba Diving and Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. It was arguably the best weekend of 2011.

I booked with these guys. Their rates are a tad expensive, but they had excellent reviews and my colleague - a certified Scuba diver, recommended them.

They took us to six coral reefs over the weekend. I scuba dived in four reefs and snorkeled the remaining.

On Saturday, we sailed into the Coral Sea from Port Douglas at 8AM to the location shown below.

On Saturday

On Sunday

The reef was ~50kms from the shore and it took 2.5 hours to get there. There were about 30 people onboard - an eclectic mix of Aussies and foreigners.

We visited three coral reefs (Nursery Bommie, Barracuda Bommie and Helm's Deep) on Saturday, spent roughly 2 hours diving or snorkeling at each reef. Each scuba dive lasted 30 to 40 minutes or as long it took to use up 80% of the air tank.


The first dive at the Nursery Bommie was an introductory dive where we were taught and told to demonstrate three important skills of scuba diving.

1. To keep breathing through the mouth piece when under water. More importantly, to keep breathing and not hold the breath...even if those beautiful corals and colourful fishes are a breathtaking sight.
2. To equalise the ears regularly by pinching and blowing the nose.
3. To know how to use the emergency breathing apparatus.

I was in a group of four, which comprised of 3 divers and a diving instructor. I initially had difficulty equalising my ears as we went deeper, but I got it sorted soon, and rest of the dive went smooth. Usually in the first 5-10 minutes of the dive, if the instructor is happy with your basics, he/she lets you wander on your own as long you stay close to the dive group. About half way into my first dive, I was my own.

The stuff I saw in the dives will remain etched in my mind for a long time. Our earth is so bloody beautiful. At first, it felt like I was inside the world's most exquisitely decorated aquarium. I was surrounded by plethora of colours in the form of intricately shaped corals and thousands of fishes. Thinking about it now, I feel the fishes fascinated me more than the corals. The size of the fishes ranged from the length of the little finger to an arm's length. They moved around me, with me, in complete freedom, unrestricted, their world not constrained between glass walls, they swum around casually with such nonchalance that they didn't bother to give me a second look. It was as if the moment we plunged under water they accepted us as one of their own. It was their domain and it's a different world down there.

In all my dives we reached a maximum depth of 11 metres. The dives were done either late morning or early noon. Even at that depth - 11 meters in scuba diving isn't very deep anyway - still, there was a lot of light. To look at the sun from that depth, through the surface ripples, was a beautiful sight.

The dive at Helm's Deep was the most exciting dive. The reef teemed with marine life, way more compared to Nursery or Barracuda Bommie. I saw a Stingray for the first time. The Stingray was lying on the sea bed, well camouflaged. When I came near it, it quickly took off. Its amazing how fast and gracefully it can move without disturbing the sand under it. Its barb was about a meter long. For a second, I thought of Steve Irwin. This bastard killed him. Pch. We saw a big green sea turtle soon after.

The main highlight of the dive was the close encounter with the Reef Shark. Our instructor gave the shark signal (by placing his fingers vertical against his forehead) and signalled us to come close to him. In a few seconds, the reef shark, about 1.5m long, appeared just 6-7 metres from us. I've read the Reef sharks are harmless and normally don't attack divers unless provoked. But when you see the monster face to face, you forget all that. Oh. Ffff. I hope he doesn't go for us. The shark slowly glided past us. We stayed still. It was a thrilling experience to come so close to one of nature's greatest predators. Phew.

I am holding a Sea cucumber. And it is not a vegetable.

In my fourth dive on Sunday, we forayed over the amazing coral gardens and almost went to the edge of the reef. As we went closer to the edge, it looked as though we were approaching a dark blue wall. I moved into the "wall", I looked down to see the seabed, and it felt as if I was looking down a cliff. My instructor signalled not to go any further. When I got back to the ferry, I learnt that the depth at that spot went from 16 metres to 1500 metres!

Of the three things I did, snorkelling was fun; free-diving was even more fun; Scuba diving was the best. 

Things I want do next:

1. Complete a open-water certification course - which means I'll be officially qualified to dive without an instructor next time :D
2. Scuba dive at night. I didn't know they do this till I got onboard. Damn. Apparently they dive with UV glow sticks and dive torches. Crazzzy!
3. Watch Finding Nemo. Everybody was going gaga about this small fish called "Nemo" which hides inside corals. I haven't watched Finding Nemo so was wondering what's the fuss is about :-/

The Great Barrier Reef - truly one of nature's gifts. You gotta see it! :-)

Jumping crocs at Top End

"Watch out for the crocs man. They are blimmin everywhere" 

...my good friend, Rossco, emailed me when I wrote him my work is sending me to Darwin for few months. True to his word, after a couple of hours of landing here, many warned me to stay away from the beach and other waterways. Apparently, if the Box Jelly fish doesn't get (sting) you, the Salt water crocs will. If crocs dont get you, the sharks will. Watta pity! Darwin has got lovely beaches - white sand, clear blue water and all that, sunny warm weather...but no one dares to take a dip.

Anyway, back to crocs. I went on a Jumping Crocodile cruise today. It is a one hour cruise on the Adelaide River which is home to about 9000 fresh water and salt water crocs. Trained personnel hook a large chunk of meat (Pig head chops. Oua!) at end of a cloth string, and tempt the crocodile to leap out of the water to grab the meat. We fed about 10 crocs. It was fantastic to watch one of nature's beasts in their natural habitat at such a close range. One of the crocs, nicknamed Bogart, was a BIG one - he was the King of the river stretch, a 5.5m monster, weighing about 650kgs, almost 70 years old, and was missing a leg. When Bogart leapt out, almost 60% of his body was out of the water. It was a spectacular sight.
 
Worth the $38.
 
Here are some pics:

 All aboard The Adelaide River Queen

Even the eagles wanted a bit of Pig's head.

Come on ya Bast..ket!

Treats bucket. Pig head chops.

 Aaa kaatu!

Croc "Bugger"

 Croc "sweetheart" going to its nest for an afternoon nap

Ayers Rock

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

I visited Uluru (also called Ayers Rock) with my parents last week. Uluru is a huge sandstone formation in the middle of Australia. It is one of Australia's popular and most recognisable tourist destinations. Uluru is a UNESCO world heritage site and it is of immense cultural significance to the Aboriginal people. Below are some pictures I took during the trip.

Uluru at sunset.

This picture was taken ~10 minutes before sunset. Uluru is famous for changing colour at different times of the day due to changing lighting conditions. It offers a spectular sight at sunset and sunrise. I saw the rock change colour from rusty brown ->bright orange -> bright red -> pink (just before sundown).


~5 minutes before sunset. Uluru in a beautiful pink-orang-reddish glow.

~2 minutes to sunset. Pink.

My parents.


Uluru at sunrise.

It was unfortunately a cloudy morning so we couldn't see the sunrise. There aren't many cloudy days at Uluru. Thankfully the clouds were only sparsely scattered, so we could see the skies lit up in the early morning light.


...and it was a COLD morning. REALLY cold. The guide told us it was 4 deg C when we reached sunrise viewing area - a secluded sand dune. I did dress accordingly, but did not bring any gloves. I couldn't feel my fingers.

Sunrise viewing area. Desert awakening.


The desert road.
The Aussie outback is known for its Red soil. No wonder Northern Territory is called the The Red Centre.

Ayers Rock
Strong winds. Shucks! I badly wanted to climb the rock. Next time!

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas)

The other attraction near Uluru is Kata Tjuta (known as The Olgas). Kata Tjuta is a collection of dome-like rock formations. Kata Tjuta means "many heads". It is 50kms to the west of Uluru. Kata Tjuta is also very sacred to the local aboriginal people. Some rock formations were out of bounds because they aren't supposed to be viewed or photographed by the public.

Walpa Gorge walk

Kata Tjuta

Sound of Silence - Stargazing

We did a tour called Sound of Silence. The tour started out with viewing the Uluru and Kata Tjuta at sunset from a great viewing spot, then we walked to the dinner area in the middle of the desert for a candle-lit three-course buffet (the main items were Kangaroo burgers, Crocodile meat, Barramundi Fish fry and Lamb Chops. Being vejjitarians, we had to settle for a onju pona pasta and salad. Hmph. The outback is not a good place to be a vegetarian). While we were getting ready to have desserts, suddenly all the lights were turned off. We were in the middle of nowhere and it was pitch dark. Just then, an astronomer introduced himself and gave us a tour of the southern night sky. In the darkness, the night sky was a breathtaking sight. Just...wow! We could see so many stars, I could clearly see the Milky way spread across the wide horizon.

The astronomer showed us the following:

a. Zodiac signs. Signs like Capricorn, Scorpio, Aries were easy to recognise. Certain zodiac signs required us to use extensive imagination to recognise them from cluster of stars.

b. Southern Cross. The astronomer told us how ancient explorers and native Aboriginal people used Southern Cross for navigation. He showed us how to determine which direction is south by applying simple trigonometry on Southern Cross. Very neat!

c. There were two telescopes from which we could see Saturn and the Butterfly cluster. I've never seen Butterfly cluster before. It was a beauty!

d. Nebulae, Venus & Mars.

It was a fantastic night. I'd do Sound of Silence again just to gaze at the stars in pitch darkness.

Stradbroke Island

Last weekend, I visited Stradbroke Island with my friends. Stradbroke Island (or Straddie, colloquially) is 40kms SE of Brisbane. Straddie is known for its rugged landscape and spectacular white sand beaches. There are numerous scenic walk tracks and picnic spots. However people visit Stradbroke Island for its main attraction - beaches.

We decided to reach Stradbroke Island by 9AM. We drove to Cleveland Bay to catch the 8AM ferry. The ferry ride takes ~45mins to reach Straddie. The weather god wasn't in his best mood at the start of the day. The skies were cloudy and there was the odd drizzle too. By afternoon, good-old Queensland weather was back! It was hot and humid. We didn't feel the 32 degrees heat though. We were in the water - swimming, body-boarding, surfing, playing beach cricket (with yours truly half destroying a kid's sandcastle with his signature cover drive)....yea. Awesome fun! :D

This was a one day trip. We had time only to visit two of the four popular beaches in Stradbroke Island.

Main Beach: The best beach at Straddie. There were strangely not many people in the beach that day. The big swells and strong waves were perfect for surfing and body boarding. We spent most of our time here.

Main Beach

Cylinder Beach: A very picturesque beach. This beach is relatively shallow hence the waves were small. Compared to main beach, there were lots of people around. Kids playing in the water/sand, people sunbathing, barbecuing etc. The music was on...the beers flowed freely. It was very lively. Cylinder beach must be the most family-friendly beach I've ever been to.

Cylinder beach

There were many lifeguards on patrol at Cylinder Beach. I had a chat with couple of them. I learnt that most lifeguards at Stradbroke Island are volunteers. The majority of them are school/uni students. They love the beach, the surf, and working as a lifeguard is way to be out there and help people. Good on you guys!

Lifeguard patrol

We spotted this famous guy (carrying the surf in the pic below) at Cylinder beach. He's one of Queensland's favourite sons. Recognise him?

Bheem boy

We did the scenic coastal track before we left the island. The ocean view from the lookout points and the headland were simply breathtaking. Here are some pics.

friend_1 admiring the view

Scenic walk

friend_1 & friend_2 taking in the view

Point Lookout

"Take me away" - at the edge of the cliff. Wattey view.

Overall, an awesome weekend! :D

Out and about

I've been playing around with my new SLR camera (Canon 450D) for the past one week taking pics of random things around the house. This weekend I visited some of the pretty locales in the city to take photos and apply whatever I've learnt from the camera manual and some digital photography sites.

Here are some pics.

The Story Bridge - one of my fav places in Brisbane

Story Bridge climb - gotta do this!

Friendship

Do you know the name of this flower? She looks like Sunflower's cousin. Beautiful isn't?

It had just rained. The sun finally broke free.

I remember looking at light trail photographs during those library periods at school. Light trail photography always fascinated me and I've wondered how such pics were taken. I managed to shoot light trails, took pics at different shutter speeds with varying results.

The museum

The Big wheel at night

City museum again

I love my new camera. So,



oops. missed the dot for the ' i ', here again...

None of these pics are post-processed. It's hot off the camera. I am still learning about digital post processing. Hope you like these pics! :-)

--

Update (9th Dec 2009):

Few people have asked me how I did the 'I Love You' photo. That pic, obviously, is another attempt at light trail photography. The camera was perched on the tripod. I selected Manual mode (M), set an f-stop of 11 or 16 or could be even lower aperture and set an exposure of 10 seconds. The ISO was set to 100. I used a torch to write " I 'heart' you ". You can probably guess how I managed to place the dot above the ' i '. Cheers :)