I wanted to do these things, so I bought a skateboard.

I was fully prepared for people to say - Have you skated before? Aren't you too old for that? Why? or Bahahahaha!
 
They never did.

I love my new board, made by Arbor, who pride themselves on using environmentally sustainable materials, like the Koa wood that adorns the deck, layered with recycled glass for grip, and the wheels made of sucrose based bio-urethane (whatever that is). I even invested in one of the most pricey panda friendly versions of the Kahuna Big Stick, made from bamboo, it flexes quite a bit like my favourite SUP paddle.

Of course I street SUP, it fits in perfectly with my paddling, in fact so perfectly that my master arm on my paddle board is the opposite to that on my skateboard; perfect cross training!

So far street SUP has provided me with another smile inducing past-time, I arrive home from a skate with a smile on my face wanting more every time (sometimes minus some skin, but it grows back). Added enjoyment has come from the new set of tech specs and build and design characteristics I am getting my head around, as well as the great craftsmanship of each component; boards really are wonderful bits of work.
 
On a good afternoon I'll cover 15km at around 10-20km/h, it definitely isn't a challenge overtaking runners, most rollerbladers and most commuter bicycles, the issue comes when pushing up hill; but after 2 hours of Street SUP I'm not even sore, not like conventional pushing. It is almost identical to paddling.
 
While skating the other day I wondered if street SUP will take off and one day in the future you'd be dodging wayward sticks on every path in the country. I don't think so, not because it's not fun or it's too hard; but because younger people don't see it as skating and older people see it as skating!

Oh, and of course, I bought another board. And so it begins.....

Mountain biking follows a narrow ribbon of single track, while the speed and requirement for extreme agility makes for fun, a certain freedom is lacking. Paddleboarding has that freedom but lacks the speed, especially on flat water. I wont go in to road cycling, more a matter of life preservation.

I wouldn't give any of these activities up for the world but street sup has brought something new to my quiver. Carving, day or night, it has a different feel all together. Better than regular skating, it allows you to push 100% of the time, even on corners; your feet are planted, you may as well be surfing or skating downhill. Of course you can also portage pizza.

Like any other Saturday, the world was my oyster. So I woke and decided what to do. An offshore wind meant a drive to the beach would be the better option for a skate as I'd get a nice tailwind home, then I'd ride back to pick up the car later in the day. No real tailwind, more of a cross, but a very fun 22km all the same.

From the beach to the 'burbs. Averaged 14km/h, which isn't great but pretty good considering the nature of the water damaged and vintage suburban roads on the outskirts of the CBD. Once on the bike paths it was around 16km/h all the way home. As I write this my shoulders are a bit tender, better than a sore ass from sitting on the couch I always say.

The ride to pick up my car saw me shoot some more test images with the CV 15mm. Daylight meant I set it to f/16, focused on infinity, strapped it under my arm and forgot it even had a viewfinder; firing away without a care. I'm very glad I bought this lense. In reality a street shooter could own this and a fast 35mm; a 50mm really sets you apart from the action in comparison.

Just picked up another little lense from 'my dealer'. 15mm f4.5 Cosina Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar (Aspherical)....I think I got it all...

Collected it five hours ago, shot a test roll, developed and scanned. Even fitted a quick skate in while the film dried.

To say I love the lense is an understatement, it is going to get a lot of use. Yep, it's a little slow, which is why I tested it at night to see what it could do. The occasional blur, but in general perfect results. I do look forward to some daytime street shooting, according to all reports everything is in focus at f5.6 and above!

You may have noticed that it accentuates my wonky horizons....sorry.

Those of you that only know Jon through the various monochrome images on this website may be surprised to find that in real life he is actually in full colour.

No, it's not some computer trick, it's actually colour film!

I haven't felt that much anticipation since waiting to board the flight for my last overseas trip. The 24hr wait to get my colour negs back from the lab was killing me!
 
I'd ordered some colour dev chemicals but later found out they were back ordered and not anticipated 'til early June, which meant more than a month until I could have a play and get some results. So I cheated and paid $4.95 a roll to get them developed......hang-on, at that price it's only barely worth my time and the cost of chems to dev them myself......hmmmm.
 
Jon visited this weekend gone, which gave the perfect opportunity to shoot a bit of colour around Townsville as I showed him the sights, sounds and beer; so, here it is, in full colour.

We explored by bike and made it to the beach before the sun went down with enough time to watch the supermoon form in the sky.

We paddle boarded and then hit Mt Stuart to watch Beat The Bastard, a gravity fed fest of all things small wheeled. Needless to say, I want a leather suit, wider trucks and stiffer bushings.

Electrickery does have it's place in the action.

The action....

Sunday we headed to the island for some fun in the sun on our two wheels machines.

We ferried across, swam, walked and basked.

iPhone trickery.

We eventually got over the $3.20 combined fuel bill and returned to the mainland for some final drinks and steak before Jon returned to the cold, bright and early in the morning.

Great weekend, soon we'll trade places and I'll be enjoying the Canberra.......climate.

All in all I'm over the moon with the results of my colour escapades, I will get out and about with colour far more often, reducing my digital usage even more. So here's a couple of the leftover test images.

The 'dregs of capitalism' are those things that are a product of today's 'rich' and somewhat wasteful society. For instance, a middle aged man wants to get into stand up paddleboarding so he buys a very nice board, he decides it's not for him so he sells it for a fraction of the cost he bought it for after barely any use. When I began in MTB there was no such thing as good conditioned second hand, everything had been ridden to within an inch of its life and sold only because a new model had come out or it was well and truly worn out; no one bought an expensive bike 'just to try it out'. These days, by watching the second-hand 'as new' market you can pick up things such as the Voodoo Canzo frame I purchased for $360. The entirety of it's build came from my garage (apart from a $35 seat post) so I thought, why not try dual-sus-SS?.

I'm pretty sure I have created the perfect single track monster for my hometown trails (rocky!).

Now, I maintain dual suspension 29ers are, to me, generally a waste of time; but I do concede that they do hold some advantages and are are fun!! This bike allows me to hit uphill switch backs and rock-gardens with a little extra speed, allowing me to roll up the obstacles and making SSing a dream on the Douglas trails. Then the downhills.......wow!

Went for a ride last night.

Enjoyed some architecture.

Explored an abandoned hilltop mansion, until I found a junkie in the room labelled 'The Shooting Gallery'. Amazing how quietly you can back track out of somewhere when you know you have $6000 worth of stuff in your backpack and there's only one very narrow way out.......

Glimpsed into the past.

And captured whatever else caught my eye.

It feels good to reach that point. Contentment, knowing you have everything you need.

Leica M2 loaded with colour (Kodak Gold 400) w/ VC II meter. Panasonic GF2 w/20mm f/1,7. CV 50mm f/1.1. Leica M6 loaded with B&W (T-Max 400) w/35mm f/1.4. Red, yellow and ND8 filters. Panasonic 14mm for those wide angles. Leica to M4/3 adapter giving the GF2 a nice 100m f/1.1 capability. Leica 1.4x magnifier to assist in focusing at f/1.1. Two rolls of T-Max. Batteries. Durex condom for a few reasons (great emergency waterproofing, seriously). Self timer. Cleaning cloth. iPhone 4.

All fits perfectly in the Domke!

If only it was possible to have one bike to rule them all. In case of fire I would jump on that bike (probably the Velosmith tourer), throw the Domke over my shoulder, and Elroy and I would embark on a touring trip of epic proportions, surviving on the proceeds of the occasional photo sale and de-husking coconuts.

Taken while out for a walk with Elroy.

So eventually I arrived back in the North with Kevani for Easter. We personalised the beach sands with Elroy, after which he de-husked coconuts for fresh Pina Coladas later in the day.

Went bowling with the locals......the results were not that great, for me, although I do appreciate Kevani lying to me about how scoring actually worked in order to make me feel happy for winning. She later broke the bad news.

Riding. Backyard yachts.

Fresh prawn picnic at the Palmetum.

Then we headed north, past Wallaman Falls, that's 268m down! Power!

We were deep in the tropics with some great sights, roadside fruit, Mission Beach mini crabs and dead (?) people.

Eventually we reached our destination, Port Douglas.

The weirdest part was that Mossman Gorge was empty, despite the fact that Port Douglas was uber busy. I can only assume everyone was too lazy to leave the luxury of their resorts. All the better for us, privacy and crystal clear cooling waters (I wont mention the scars I received from random spikey creapy plants, freakin' ouch). Not sure why Kevani is clapping......but honestly, how great are the trees behind her, stunning.

A quick skate around town before an interesting night in town and out the next day.

We decided not to have coffee for breaky, saving up our urges for when we arrived in Mareeba and hit Coffeee Works; just like Disneyland!?!? Right. Must say the coffee was good though, it'd wanna be!

It was a great week, hard not to enjoy some nice weather, company and landscapes in perfect weather. Now it's back to work though and all a bit of a blur.

Another barrage of images from Melbourne. Probably mean nothing to most, but to me they are moments of my life, caught. I could mark my favourites but if you have time I'll let you decide.

Richmond streets, train travel, comedy spruikers, The European, Der Raum, Dimitri's, antique shopping, art galleries, Cookie (bar), Josie's Bones, lounging in bed, Citroens, tram travel, Fed Square comedy, graffiti, construction, Young and Jackson's, abandoned wharves, 'fitness' instructors, laundries, child labour (lemonade sellers), 1 Hour Photo signs............what more could there be to such a diverse city?

Bet you're glad to see the back end of that load......

.......but wait, there's more.

Aeroplanes, country pie shops, country pubs, abandoned wharves (again).....and Leicas!!!

That is all.