But I am enjoying the learning experience so far...
Santa managed to sneak a few audio goodies down the chimney for me. Some success for the Humphries family at the Porsche Club annual awards this year. Check out more details here.
Great news in late November with Robin winning her class at the Victorian State Quarter Horse Show in sunny Tatura. Well worth the six hour round trip drive to see her and Lily salute!
Robin and 'Lily' - 2011
At last some hi fi news. I recently purchased a First Watt Aleph J power amplifier. Initial thoughts here and a new DAC / headphone amplifier from Benchmark here. Also I recently attended the Australian A/V and Audio Show and a brief report can be found here.
The last Porsche Club track day for the year was held at Sandown Raceway on Sunday. My summary report can be found here.
Told you it was wet on Presidents Day at Sandown! - Photo by Rod Prior 2011
We are just back from another excellent long weekend in Benalla for a test day at Winton on the Friday then a PCV Sprint event on the Sunday. Full report here.
A panorama of the Bright township from Huggins Lookout - 2011
So what's new?
- A new toy has arrived in the form of HD Video Sunglasses by Imging. Strange but true! See the product details here.
- An early morning drive with the car club to the nearby hills recently, click here for more details.
- I am delighted to see the Bombers make the finals this year. The results fell our way over the last couple of weeks and I am looking forward to the mighty Bombers making a stand and maybe causing an upset or two in September! Update: We lost in the first week to Carlton to finish eighth, but a good year boys. Well done!
- Another Porsche Club competition event at a sunny Phillip Island on Sunday was fantastic. And a personal best time to boot! Details here.
- Robin had a win on 'Lily' at a recent West Gippsland Show. Good work! The happy couple pictured below.
Greetings from a wet and wintry Mt Eliza. I am however taking advantage of this chilly period to focus on my personal fitness and wellbeing. Great news as my autographed copy of Matthew Lloyd's book, 'Straight Shooter' has arrived just in time for some holiday reading on our trip to Maroochydore. I am looking forward to learning more about this Essendon legend. Also I picked up a copy of Ben Collins's 'Stig' expose. A nice racy read!
Our recent cultural attentions can be found here, and follow our latest news on the Bombers progress. And in early July I had an excellent outing in the GT3 at Phillip Island. Check out my report and videos here.
Thinking - 2011 (Leica D-Lux 5)
As usual, we were looking forward to our annual Queens Birthday long weekend trip to Benalla, in northern Victoria to compete in the Porsche Club sprint at Winton Raceway. Full details here.
The Big Rig leaving The Comfort Inn Motel, Benalla - 2011 (iPhone 4)
A report on recent activities around hi-fi / music and a quick word about my new camera.
Plenty happening in May and it has been a big audio and photography month so far. Check out the hi fi news here and photo stuff here.
My Porsche Club Hunter Valley Tour trip report is slowly taking shape. Follow the progress by clicking the picture below.
Early morning on Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra - 2011
April has already been very busy, with the huge Anzac Day AFL clash still to come. Go Bombers! Update: We lost... I have just finished a quick cleanup & refresh of the website layout. I hope you like it. Plus, check out my YouTube Channel for some of our latest motoring videos. And we recently took the chance to attend a Bob Dylan concert.
A Museum Collection 962 Le Mans race car at Porsche Centre Melbourne - 2011
In mid April, we head off in the Boxster S for a tour of the Hunter Valley with the Porsche Club. It seemed like a great opportunity to buy some new stuff. A new GoPro Motorsports Hero HD video camera has been acquired. Attached by suction cup to the front of the Boxster, it took this video of Robin driving Mt Panorama at road speeds.
Click on the above picture for the Gizmodo review
We are back from a four day holiday in Lorne, a pretty town on the western Victorian coast. Click the lighthouse for more details.
Cape Otway Lighthouse - March 2011
I competed at the Broadford Hillclimb circuit with the Porsche Club last weekend in the GT3. Details here.
At some point in the not too distant future, this site will get a freshen up. A bit of a new look. I am seeking something cleaner, more modern and integrating the content more effectively while still giving easy access to specific areas of interest. Should be exciting to design & build. I am looking forward to the challenge.
I am back! Sorry for the delay in updating our recent news. Lots of reasons, but nothing that would pass close scrutiny. Of course, there has been plenty happening here. Family stuff, new toys, football, weather (!), cars, photography, horses and more. Keep reading & follow the links for the details.
First up is some photo stuff. A new 'lens' purchase plus a few interesting (I hope) animal pictures.
Robin competing on 'Lily' at Halter Showcase Australia - March 2011
I mentioned in the lead in that the weather has been interesting here this summer. Strangely cool AND humid, very wet, not very hot with almost none of the 40+degree days with the hot north winds we usually experience in summer in Melbourne. Of course with floods up and down the East Coast, the whole country's weather pattern seems heavily disturbed. As an example of the strange season, the following photo was taken a week or so ago at our dam. Water levels would usually be much, much lower with the surrounds of the dam brown and cracked. Not in February 2011.
Our dam in February really shouldn't be this full - 2011
I had my first outing for the year in the GT3 at Sandown recently. A full report here plus a video of the rolling start for the first (wet) lap. I was scared!
Your humble pilote focusing... - Photo by Julie Mason 2011
After some scouring of eBay, I finally found a set of Ping irons I might like, a new set of S59. Graphite shafts, new grips. They look really good. As a blade style, they are a bit tricky to hit with my slightly variable swing plane...
*** Happy New Year ***
We had a great 2010 and wish all our friends a happy & healthy 2011!
*** Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2011 to All ***
As always, December is a hectic month. So what have we been up to?
- The Christmas Day lunch was again held at our place this year. I think a great day was had by all;
- The mighty Essendon Bombers are getting their act together for a big tilt at the finals next year. We saw a glimpse of the future in late December;
- Robin and I attended the Porsche Club Annual Dinner in early December. A great night with a 'Martini' theme. A few more details can be found here.
I have done a little new work on the hi fi front as I have started to dabble in 'hi res' computer based audio. It is a 'challenging' area with some interesting results so far.
Well, spring has finally arrived but the cold and wet conditions have continued here on the Peninsula. The sun has briefly shone through, enough to make the grass grow seemingly as you look at it. I am spending as much time driving the ride-on mower as driving the Porsches these days! But it is worth it to see the lush greenery around the property after several years of the 'big dry'.
So what have we been up to lately?
- We took in a great Dire Straits 'Brothers in Arms' recreation concert. Check out my review here;
- Also I have discovered the best pizza in Victoria!
- We took the Boxster on a club run to Mt Macedon;
- Made what I hoped were my final GT3 'upgrades' for the year;
- And my final Porsche Club of Victoria competition event for 2010 was at Winton Raceway in late October. A sweet and sour outing with full details here.
In mid September I took a few pictures for the Porsche Club at Calder Raceway. See the back story and some more pics here.
I am pleased to offer a very warm welcome to the new iPhone 4 and iPad (64GB wi-fi) that landed at Chez Humphries recently. Click the highlighted link for my original & updated thoughts.
Some trouble here in early September. A large storm ripped across South Australia & Victoria leaving floods and wind damage in it's wake. Sadly, we were hit by the wind and lost another couple of trees and some large branches. The one below took out part of the electric fence as well.
An ex-tree and an ex-fence tended by 'Chainsaw' Robin
A couple of weeks earlier, some heavy rain caused a landslip on the Esplanade at Mount Martha. A very picturesque road closed for many months I suspect.
There has been plenty happening around here lately. Very heavy winter rain has seen more than 300ml falling on the property making it one of the wettest winters since we moved to the Peninsula in 2002. Our holiday went well and catch up with some photos & details here. There has been positive progress on the hi fi front over the last couple of months. Check out the details in the 'Hi Fi Journal'. Also I have been getting plenty of enjoyment and challenges from the GT3, including sprint days at both Phillip Island and Sandown. Finally, I am now back home again after another round of surgery. Thanks to the medical and nursing staff at The Bays in Mornington for their professionalism, skill & care.
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A holiday two course meal...
Apologies for the lack of updates but here are some roundecent highlights. I am still drinking too much, especially enjoying a run out special of 2007 Red Hill Estate Chardonnay and some tasty King Valley Pinot Gris; exercising too little although a recent golf outing saw me play to my handicap for the first time in ages; plenty of fun with the Porsches in competition days, two advanced circuit driver training events and social runs; Robin has purchased another horse (welcome Lily) and I am continuing to enjoy my photography, especially with my new 1D. Sadly, the 'once mighty' Bombers continue to lose... And while we haven't yet taken the iPad plunge, I certainly see a new iPhone 4 in my future.
I am currently mentoring two really talented women as part of the Vic ICT for Women Mentoring Program and being just a small part of their development is really satisfying.
We have finally found Dad some permanent support at SomerCare, an aged care facility in Somerville. It is a modern purpose-built building just 15 minutes from home with a bright and airy feel to it. The management and staff are excellent and Dad seems to be settling in very well.
You can catch up with the Porsche news from Winton, Blue Pyrenees and Harcourt and more here, plus an update on the new shed!
On the way to Harcourt (Photo by Mardi Peters - 2010)
I had the pleasure of taking the Turbo out for a spin last weekend. So after a gentle wipe and chamois over, we 'quickly' found ourselves at the Rye Wine Lounge and spent a very pleasant hour or two chatting with the owner, Geoff and trying a couple of peninsula chardonnays and pinots, before (reluctantly) making our way home again. I am looking forward to getting back there again soon to try some of the mighty tempting sounding tapas which they have to offer.
On the Thursday before Easter, we left on our road trip to attend the 'Porsche Clubs at Bathurst 2010' event and returned some eight enjoyable days later. Click on the picture below to get the full story.
Yours truly 'at speed' at Mount Panorama (Photo by Julie Mason - 2010)
My guess is that he will be in the Caulfield Hospital for another week or two (sincere thanks to the staff at the Alfred and Caulfield Hospitals for their superb care) before hopefully coming a little closer to us in a rehab/care facility on the Peninsula.
Check out our evening at The Beatles tribute show, 'Rubber Soul', here.
It's March and footy is back so let's go to an AFL match in Morwell. Yes, really!
Another Canon bird landed today. A thing of beauty to be sure. Appropriately, click on the picture below for more details.
A sort of enjoyable but mechanically disastrous day was had at Sandown last weekend. Read all about it. And in the lead up to Bathurst, more trailer news here.
We took a drive to the You Yangs National Park recently for a picnic lunch and to take the Turbo out for a spirited run. Click on the image below for more pictures and details.
Robin & 'The King' - (Canon 5D, 50mm) © 2010
Robin was competing on 'Scooter' at the Victorian Appaloosa Championship Show in Tatura this past week and they duly won the 'Novice' dressage and scored a number of placings in other events. Great riding from Robin and a big thrill. Please click on the picture of 'Scooter' for more details and pictures.
The Blue Ribbon Boy! @ VACS Tatura - (Canon 5D, 24-105mm) © 2010
I have just completed the first PCV event of the year at the fast and challenging Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit in hot conditions. See my results and details here. Also I had an outing with the local camera club recently. Beware of some average photos here.
Bathing Boxes, Mornington (Canon 5D 24-105mm) © 2009
My enthusiasm for photography is returning and have been taking all sorts of pictures with the 5D, the IXUS and my iPhone lately. I had a semi-serious outing with the Canon 5D recently and a few of the results can be found here.