A little while ago, I mentioned that Gold Coast City Council have been performing road works across the city and that timing is everything. I was shocked this morning to see a council worker with a jack hammer punching holes through a section of fresh road which hasn’t been in use for more than two weeks! I would have thought it logical to assemble a list of maintenance items in the area to be completed before the new road was built – apparently, they did not.
Category Archives: General
Brisbane International Motor Show 2006
The 2006 annual Brisbane International Motor Show was held from the 3rd March through the 12th March and there was a reasonable showing this year.
All of the obvious show ponies where there, including:
- Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
- Ferrari F430
- Lamborghini Gallardo (1, 2)
- Lamborghini Murcielago (1, 2)
- Bentley Azure
- Bentley Continental Flying Spur
I was happy to see the new Ford Focus XR5 in the flesh after it received such a glowing review from Top Gear in the UK. The new Focus XR5 sports a powerful 166kW/320Nm 2.5-litre turbo charged five cylinder engine partnered to a slick six speed manual gearbox. I can just about hear the aftermarket manufacturers pencils on paper already!
In the cool factor where:
The most exotic of super cars on show was the Pagani Zonda (1, 2), which was an impressive car to see in the flesh after the onslaught of excellent press it has received. I was disappointed not to see the Bugatti Veyron there, however with such a limit supply – I can understand why.
Close Encounter: The Eight Legged Type
Last night a friend and I stopped for a quick chat outside and noticed a massive spider web being spun. The spider itself would have had a body about 25mm across and a diameter (legs semi-extended) of about 10cm. The main anchors on the top of the web were attached approximate 5-6m high on one side while the opposite were attaching to the smaller trees and shrubs at between knee and chest height. Of course, that doesn’t give you an idea of how big the web was until you realise it was spanning our driveway – probably about 4m wide!
While we chatted, I walked closer to it to marvel at its size and to watch it spin its web. Unfortunately, due to where we were standing in relation to the lamp post – I failed to see another similar sized spider lurking in the darkness about 20cm above my head! As I moved to a better vantage point for spider #1 – the light caught the silk of the second web at which point my eyes immediately trained up to see the spider dangling just above my head.
I love spiders to look at, I think they are an incredible creature. However, due to their size (quite small on the whole), lack of weight and stealth – they tend to freak me out when I find them in unexpected positions. I’m confident that they would have been harmless but they always make my skin crawl when they get a little close for comfort.
Roadworks: Timing Is Everything
I like roadworks, they are carried out to improve the condition of a particular section of road. What I don’t like is that the people that schedule them seem to have little concern for the volumes of motorists which traffic those same sections of roads each morning and afternoon.
If a particular section of road is undergoing major work, then closing the road or some portion of it is justified during peak hour traffic. If on the other hand, the work being carried out is quite minor, then the work should be scheduled for the off peak times of the day.
At the Gold Coast, there are two major arterial roads that run parallel to the beach and they service a huge amount of traffic at peak hour. This morning, a 500m stretch of the right lane was closed inbound to the city. The problem of course, is that they did it at peak hour – so the huge volume of traffic merging caused congestion and delays.
Is it too much to ask that minor roadworks are not carried out between the hours of 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm?
Brisbane Story Bridge Adventure Climb
On Saturday, it was time to use my birthday voucher for the Brisbane Story Bridge Climb.
The bridge climb headquarters are located physically under the Story Bridge on Main Street. When I arrived, I was taken aback by how professional the premises were. For some reason, I had a mental picture that it would, to some extent, be a bit of a backyard type operation – I was very wrong. When you walk in the doors, it’s new, clean, tidy and has a very professional feel.
The climb was scheduled for 5:00pm and we were instructed to be at the headquarters at least 15 minutes prior. Once inside, you hand in your voucher, receive a ticket in its place and take a seat. Shortly, your climb leader will arrive – we had a bloke named Steve and he was excellent.
Your instructor will take you through all the formalities, such as a breath test and indemnity statements. While we waited for everyone to be breath tested (same rules as a car, 0.05 limit) – we went around in a circle and introduced ourselves and grabbed one of the jump suits. Soon enough, we’re downstairs fitting a belt style climbing harness, attaching our accessories and going through how the safety equipment works.
The bridge climb itself was an experience. You start off climbing up a spiral staircase to get up to the underside of the bridge, then walk directly under the bridge until you popup on the eastern side at road height. Soon enough you are faced with the first serious section, where you’re ascending to the viewing platform on the main pier. I didn’t check the time exactly, however I suspect it would have been about 6:15pm by this stage. There was still plenty of light and we had an excellent view around Brisbane – we could even see the sand dunes on Stradbroke Island! We stayed up there for 5-10 minutes, enjoyed the view and had a chat with the rest of the group. You then descend from the main pier to the middle of the Story Bridge where you traverse over to the south side. At this stage, you’ve now completed half of the over all distance and you’ll soon be ascending back to the top of the main pier. Before we reached the top again, the sun had already set and the lights of Brisbane city were on – it was a spectacular view! The photo is shot looking south; the city is on my left with airport on my right. From here, you descend the main pier on your way back to the bridge climb headquarters where you de-kit and cool down.
The climb was fantastic and I’d recommend it to anyone. It wasn’t particularly strenuous; we had a couple in the 50-60 year bracket complete it without a hiccup. During the climb, you’re walking on metal grating which you can see through. Steve informed us that it actually causes more problems for height sensitive people than the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, even though their climb is higher; however the walking surface is solid. If you are height sensitive and you think you can overcome it, the experience and views truly are worth your effort.
Interesting Facts:
- The Story Bridge opened on July 6th 1940, after being under construction for approximately 5 years.
- Construction cost was £1,492,000. Seven years later, the State Government sold the Story Bridge to the Brisbane City Council for £750,000.
- There are 1072 metres between the southern and northern anchor piers which spans 282 metres of water.
- At its highest point, the Story Bridge is 74 metres tall or approximately 22 stories and 24 metres wide.
- There were 12000 tonnes of structural steel, 1650 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 1.5 million rivets used.
- You’ll step up 1100 stairs during the climb.