But first, coffee.
Mei making eggs for all.
Om Nom!
JDMyard x Zen Garage RPRSNT. #MYZEN
Packed to the max!
Zi’s FJ away.
Our trips are getting shorter! It’s home time, but you know, we were so close from home. I was back in Maroubra in 50! It’s been a great trip. I already miss the crew and can’t wait for next year!
Good morning Gloria and Alyssa! Ahhhh! The sound of coffee being made and the smell of bacon and eggs.
Breakfast in. Out we go! Danny (who arrived yesterday), and Col.
Boat people. Col and Mei.
Mei with her first catch of the weekend. A little snapper! Soon after this photo she caught another one slightly bigger, but of-course both were released. I’ve yet to catch anything apart from bait fish!
We then ran out of fuel and needed a tow as one oar just wasn’t cutting it!
When we got back we saw that Willy had a new piercing! Seriously, could have been SO much worse if it hooked his eyeball?! He’d caught a stingray, and had a lot of tension on the line, when the hook gave way it went flying into his face. We thought about pulling it out, but the barb was a bit of a concern so half of the party took him to the hospital.
Little Elizabeth!
Alyssa’s playtime.
As soon as I started shooting Alyssa got a bit shy!
She definitely knows the lens though!
Willy at the wheel, right back into it after his trip to the GP to remove the hook from his eyelid! Later in the afternoon I went out on the big boat with Willy, Col and Zi to try to catch something (as I’d not caught anything this trip!).
How’s the serenity? That orange glow is coming from the anchor down light. We found a great looking spot, others came and anchored down next to us, which made us think we had the right spot, but nope, we still didn’t pull anything up.
Nightfall. It’s time to head back, albeit empty handed, for dinner.
Bigger boat, bigger wake!
Couldn’t resist taking a picture in complete darkness.
Col and Mei have outdone themselves with this pastrami cheese burger. Mei made her own buns, the pastrami qas off the hook and the special sauce reminded me of the same sauce found in McDonalds Big Macs, only even better! We all agreed that we’d happily pay $25 for the burger (with fries!).
Woke up feeling right this morning! I crashed out pretty early last night, maybe around 9PM. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time in bed ever. We checked out the bottle and yup, half of it’s gone! Col calculated that I had about 3 bottles of wine (and apparently I had red wine as well!). I can’t say I’ve ever forgotten what went on the night before quite like this, nor have I drunk so much in one sitting.
Our pre-lunch fishing outing saw Danny (who had never caught a fish in his life), Col, Mei and I in the house dingy and Steve, Willy and Zi in the bog boat. We had a few nibbles in the dingy, but not much action apart from Mei catching 2 small snapper.
Bit windy today and it rained on us whilst we were out there too, so we made the call to head back in but we ran out of fuel half way! We had one oar and started rowing home; I’d do 5 strokes on the left, and pass the oar to Danny who would do 5 strokes on the right. Luckily Steve spotted us and saved the day with a tow!
When we got back to the Jetty Willy helped out. Mei noticed his face was red and asked if he had been drinking, THEN we saw that there was a hook in his eyelid!!!!!!!!
Pretty freaky accident that could have been so much worse. There was a huge wait at the hospital so they ended up finding a GP who just yanked it out! A few lessons learned for sure!
Just minutes before spotting this little guy Mei spotted a blue swimmer crab and we came so close to netting him up! It ain’t a fishing trip unless you’ve got a story on the one that got away!
So many shades of green! Our house is the one on the left.
Cols Bream!
I downed half a bottle of Vodka last night, and I’ve got no recollection of the night at all. I’ve had people tell me I’m a dickhead when I get drunk but usually I remember everything I said, this time around I’m blank! I’ve had a shitty hangover all day, and have been sleeping for most of it. It’s 10PM now and I’m off to bed… can’t remember any other time where I’ve slept so much in one day!
Coming up! The number is on the road, and next to the number is a little stop and go switch which calls the lift!
Scary as! Haha! My lift to paradise!
Looking back up at the road from the bottom.
Lovely.
Comfortable! It’s a super interesting house layout wise due to how steep the land is.
One of 2 decks, so naice!
The crew at the jetty.
Safety comes first! Little Alyssa.
The mummies and the babies!
Off fishing. Bye Col!
The house from the water.
Stevey.
Mei.
We spotted a massive group of bait fish on the surface. That’s usually a sign that a bigger group of fish are preying on them and too right, Stevey threw his line into the middle and pulled out…
Watsons Leaping Bonito!
Bonito at the ready!
Alyssa running away from the mud crabs (which we bought, not caught!).
I got crabs!
OMFG Chilli Crab!
Asahi to wash it all down.
The annual fishing trip never disappoints! Even after Koh Samui I found myself looking forward to this yearly trip with a great crew of human beings. This year the guys got an amazing waterfront house in Cottage Point, just an hour out of the city (yes the temptation to move out here is STRONG!).
We flew Cathay, on a pretty small plane with much turbulence.
Cool Chinese peeps having a smoko out on the observation deck.
5 years?!
Sydney > Hong Kong > Koh Samui. Our asses, they hurt very much.
Gearing up at Geedup Co. Star and I are in Koh Samui right now. Photoshoots imminent!
My bag came back!
Earlier this year I was flown over to Sweden to consult on the new Need for Speed game. On the last day in Sweden we hit the pub before flying out. I got pretty tipsy before getting to the airport, and somehow I’d left my bag at the hotel! With no time to get back to the hotel to get the bag I had to ditch it in order to make my flight home!
EA Games/Ghost have been trying to send my bag back to me ever since but it’s been stopped so many times and sent back and forth due to incomplete paperwork (mainly on what’s inside the luggage which I’d sincerely forgotten!).
Turns out the luggage is full of warm clothes, thermals even! Perfect for this cold Sydney weather ;)
Embargo has been lifted! I’m now allowed to reveal that earlier this year I was flown over to Sweden to play and consult on the new NEED FOR SPEED.
I’ve played the game (in development) and it’s going to be AMAZING. I just kept say “about time!”, especially in regards to car customisation. These in-game grabs should get you pretty excited, and give you an indication of what’s to come.
More about NEED FOR SPEED on Zen Blog!
Visit: http://www.zengarage.com.au/2015/05/all-new-need-for-speed/
You call da WONG 1!
Our first stop was the Loftus Tram shed. Breaking in was easy as the fence is completely down.
Was pretty damn dark in there, here’s a shot of Cacia using her iPhone to light up her face.
Style, she’s got it. One of a few busses inside (there’s even a double decker in there!).
More photos from this set here: http://www.justinfoxphoto.com/stories#/tram-shed/
Big smiles in the big tow truck outside.
On the way back out and back on the road to the National Park.
We had lunch at Bundeena, and instead of driving through to Wollongong we thought we’d do the hike to check out Wedding Cake Rock. Great to see the locals putting up clearer signage for all!
Massive.
Cacia Zoo, Animal of Indulgence.
When we got to the rock there was a huge group of crazy loud Asian kids. They soon left though, leaving us with peace and Zen.
So powerful when you just sit on the edge like this!
Sat there for a good hour talking shit with Cacia, nervousness subsided after a while, was amazing!
We started our walk at 3pm, which is pretty late. The sun was already setting by the time we got to the rock.
Then it started to get dark, fast!
We made it back to the car just as it got pitch black. Perfect timing!
Zi, first up and so committed. One last cast! Seriously though, that monster flathead he pulled up a few days ago just takes the cake.
Today we’re packing up, cleaning up and heading home. It’s been an awesome Easter Break. Colin and Mei have gone next level with their food, and have fed us amazing dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day. The weather was up and down, but it didn’t stop So How Crew from catching fish and squid to eat, and whilst the house wasn’t as amazing as baller house (which has ruined us, really), it still provided great fishing, and a place for us to catch up, talk shit, eat, drink and have lots of laughs. Till next year!