So there was this big green area in Eastern Melbourne shown on Google Maps and I thought it would be a good idea to go there on my bike and take my camera. To be fair the giant green areas were golf courses but the bike tracks go around them and there is usually some nice scenery. I always love how golf courses take away giant green areas from the general public and then redevelop the land in a way the council never would. Not.

As it turns out I didn't reach where I intended to. There was a fork junction and since I wasn't wearing my glass (doh!) I had to guess which way to go. I went the wrong way. It wasn't long before I realised I had taken the wrong path (the distinct lack of giant green areas gave it away) and being the stubborn arse that I am I didn't turn back. I just kept on rollin'.

Maybe next time? On the plus side I did get a nice ~22km cycle and probably a more difficult one that originally planned.

Combining riding with photography also works quite well. I'm not as healthy and as strong a cyclist as I used to be so the off stop to take some photos were perfect opportunities to get my breath back :)

One interesting thing about going back to cycling after a while (6 months!!!) is that my legs still have most of the strength they had before but the lungs and heart have obviously been hurt most by the full fat Coke and ~2 muffins a day*.

* It's been almost 3 weeks since I had cola or muffins! Not having the caffeine in the morning made me a grump bastard and I've been struggling to concentrate at work without it

So I finally got to use the new camera over the weekend (I was way for work Sunday-Friday and the camera arrived on Monday. Do you know how annoyed I was?!). I'm fairly impressed with the first shots even though I was using the standard lens from the kit.

It's nice and heavy (and ever since watching Jurrasic Park when I was 10 I've been convinced that anything heavy is good. Thanks Donald) and it's easy to hold. Claire asked about how it holds and if it's size is a good/bad thing and honestly I think it's good. Maybe if folk went from a larger camera to this one they would have issues?

I've got a lot of reading up to do and a lot of money to spend on accessories. There's so much more I can do with this cam. Even with the standard lens I'm sure there's lots more to get. Maybe I should use take the photos in RAW format?

I'm sure that even with all the technology in the world photos might not be that great. I'm not sure if I've got an eye for the shots. Even if I don't it's still fun!

It's a whole new learning curve.

Jeez all this was random and disjointed.