Seeing the world in 11 days.
11 days…Canada and Australia.
This is an 11-day trip. I’m going to cover the first half of the trip as quickly as I can so we can go to Australia!
We are safe from the fires.
I started by flying into Minneapolis from Los Angeles on Friday (Day #1). The SoCal fires have died down, for now. We live about 60 miles south of where the most significant fires were. We were not affected in any way.
However, most people in SoCal are only an ember away from complete devastation when the wind blows 80 mph. We have not had any rain since early May. That’s eight months of no rain.
It can be colder but not by much.
On Saturday (Day #2) I saw ice racing under extremely frigid conditions on a frozen lake in Minnesota. The things a guy will do from California to have fun!
Thanks for coming.
I thank the Central Minnesota Ice Racing Association for organizing a race on the Cedar Lake Ice Course in Hutchinson, Minnesota. They even gave me a nice CMIR souvenir t-shirt for coming.
I’ve received many gifts during my trackchasing travels. Down in Guatemala, they gave me a huge 10-foot banner commemorating my attendance. I’ve received trophies in Bolivia and huge oversized champagne bottles from I can’t remember where.
On Day #3, I flew from Minneapolis to Toronto and saw another ice race on a frozen pond in Gatineau, Quebec, on Sunday.
This pond was located across the road from the Ottawa River. The track was named Masson Ice Speedway. Given the temporary nature of an ice track, it’s unusual for such a formal name to be given. The stock car counts were limited to just six.
Friends on the road.
Somewhat randomly, I met up with a longtime friend, Rick Young, at the ice oval. We watched the races together and had lunch afterward. Rick spent the first half of his life in England and has been in Canada ever since. Always nice to see a friendly face when I’m on the road.
Rick and I joined up with Will White on the occasion of my 700th lifetime track. It’s hard to believe that the track visit in Evans Mills, New York, was back in 2004 and that I’ve seen more than 2,400 tracks for the first time since then.
I love it when a trip changes for the better.
Rick gave me a heads-up on the opportunity to see a National Hockey League game featuring the Ottawa Senators and the Dallas Stars following the ice race. I couldn’t pass that up. Just two hours after our lunch, I was in my seat inside the Canadian Tire Centre. I used SeatGeek to buy a seat just 10 rows from the ice. No doubt about it. I am a flexible traveler.
I am a sports fan of just about anything and just about anywhere.
Monday morning (Day #4), I flew from Toronto to Newark, New Jersey. I caught a college basketball game featuring my UCLA Bruins and the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights inside the Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey. This was part of the original plan.
For this game, I bought a ticket from SeatGeek as well. That seat was just three rows from the floor and about ten feet behind the Rutgers basketball coach. Unfortunately, UCLA lost this game but the experience of watching things from so close was outstanding. This might have been the best seat I have ever had for a major sporting event and I’ve had some good ones.
Head west, young man.
The next morning, Tuesday (Day #5) I flew from Newark to Los Angeles and stayed overnight with my son J.J. and his friend Dustin at their house.
We had a nice dinner out. These two are travelers deluxe. I will go anywhere, anytime…and so will they.
On Wednesday morning, I went with a 4 a.m. wake-up call (Day #6). It didn’t make much sense to drive back to San Clemente on Tuesday only to get up at 4 a.m. on Wednesday to drive right back to LAX. Carol fully understood. She is an understanding gal.
These newsletters are a slice of life.
We just covered five days of touring very quickly. What do you think about that? What fun is that? You missed out on all the personal anecdotes and clever metaphors. My newsletters are not text messages. They are a slice of life meant for you to enjoy, smile a little bit, and reapply some of the ideas shared. I hope what I write about adds a different storyline to your everyday life.
My 7 a.m. flight would take me from Los Angeles to Honolulu and then to Sydney, Australia. For this trip, when I fly to Sydney and leave on day #6, I get to Australia on day #8, even though it’s only day #7 back in the States. Got that? We’ll gain back that lost day later.
Now, let’s spend our short time together talking about the Australian portion of the trip.
Friday – Day #8
I’ve been to Australia a dozen times. When I landed in Sydney, clearing immigration was quick and easy. I had not checked any bags. I would rent a car tomorrow. At the airport, I grabbed the first of many Uber rideshares. Yes, they drive on the opposite side of the road compared to us Americans.
At the Sydney airport, many people use Uber. The process is a bit different. They have a long line of Uber drivers, just like taxis normally line up. You order your Uber and get a six-digit code. You show the code to a driver in the line, and off you go. Pretty slick.
It was trackchasing that brought me to Australia. Surprise? However, with rain in the forecast, there was no guarantee that I would see a race this weekend. Dirt racing is very sensitive to the weather. Just a tiny amount of rain can cancel the event. Sometimes, the promoters cancel on the forecast. If it does rain things out, I will have come a long way for not much reward. I don’t want to see a cancellation.
I used to stay at Motel 6 properties. Not anymore.
My Uber driver drove me to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Sydney. This is a very upscale hotel. I was hoping for an upgrade to a suite. I didn’t get that. However, I was upgraded to the Regency Club floor. What a view of Darling Harbor. As a Globalist, I always get complimentary breakfast. I could have that breakfast in the Regency Club or the hotel’s sit-down dining restaurant.
I hope you don’t think my financial discussion with the Hyatt Regency is uncouth. I don’t mind talking about money. Most people don’t mind other folks talking about money even though they might not want to share the exact details about their money. It’s a free country.
You might expect a hotel like the Hyatt Regency in a big city like Sydney to be very expensive. Not for me. Do you find that surprising?
Do I find some good deals?
The total cost of four nights was $1,384 Australian. That’s about $350 a night. I know you wouldn’t expect me to pay that, right?
Right now, one U.S. dollar is equal to 62 Australian cents. The American dollar has been super strong for 4-5 years. That means we Americans get a 38% discount! Yes, that’s what I’m talking about.
But wait. There’s more.
That currency discount reduced my 4-night expense to $854 American or $214 per night. But wait. There’s more…much more.
I would be earning lots of Hyatt points. Each one of those points is worth 3.2 cents to me. The points I earned reduced my overall cash outlay by $453. That made my net cost just $100.33 for each night in this luxurious hotel property. We’re not done yet.
The Hyatt charges $42 Australian for breakfast, with the 38% currency discount that made breakfast $26 American. Then, I had full access to the Regency Club, which served complimentary food and drink and unlimited alcohol all day. The hotel upgraded me to the Regency Club floor. My room had a gorgeous view from the 11th floor of Darling Harbor. Any way you slice it, these perks came close to reducing my four-night hotel expense to not that far north of zero. Had Carol been with me, she would have shared all the food and drink offers at no charge. I am a Hyatt man.
I always search for a non-racing activity.
When I have a little downtime on these trips I want to fill it with whatever enjoyable touring activity I can find. Today, that touring activity, which I call a “Trackchasing Tourist Attraction,” was at the Sydney Aquarium. The aquarium was located across the street from the Hyatt Regency.
I will tell you that I probably like 98-99% of the TTA’s I find. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the Sydney Aquarium.
The place was way too crowded. It didn’t have many interesting things, although I enjoyed their penguin exhibit.
Way too many rug rats.
They also had way too many kids. Don’t get me wrong. I like kids. I just don’t like other people’s kids. You will not find me darkening the door of the Sydney Aquarium again anytime soon.
I didn’t rent a car when I arrived yesterday. I knew I could take an Uber from the airport and then return to the airport for a rental car when needed. The daily charge for a rental car was about $52/day U.S. for a full-sized Subaru Forrester. Not Bad. The parking charge at the Hyatt was another $80 Australian or $48 U.S. Round-trip with Uber from the airport to the hotel and back was about $90 Australian ($54 U.S.). I saved a little using Uber but I didn’t do it for the money. I just knew it would be more convenient to use Uber.
Taking an Uber to get a rental car.
Today, my Uber driver drove me back to the airport so I could get my rental car. He dropped me off where people return their rental cars and not where people pick up their rental cars near the terminal. That wasn’t the preferred method, but it worked just fine.
Dumb or simply uninformed?
When I went to get my car, I sat in the car next to the car that was my car. Why? I didn’t realize my error. It took me about 15 minutes to get things organized. I took a short video of the car’s exterior in case I needed it later to prove its condition. I got everything set up so I could use Apple CarPlay and Google Maps to direct me all over New South Wales.
The rental car agent told me my car had 1,500 km on the odometer. As I was beginning to drive off, I noticed that the car I was driving showed 57,000 km on the odometer. I had the wrong car! Luckily, I recognized my error soon enough to switch over to the correct car, the Subaru Forrester.
Was this car deformed? The steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car!
Because I will be driving on the left side of the road in Australia, my car has a steering wheel on the right side. I had an automatic transmission. The vehicle offered plenty of room. I was all set on the rental car front.
From then until now.
I have been trackchasing internationally for a long time. Back in the olden days, I used paper maps. That was not easy.
Now, I can navigate using Apple CarPlay and Google Maps. My Australian experience is like flying into Minneapolis for the beginning of an ice-racing road trip.
Use this at your next cocktail party.
Of course, you probably know that in Australia, like 42% of the world, they drive on the left side of the road. I have easily driven 10-15,000 miles or even more in conditions like this. Yes! That’s Marty Robbins in the photo above.
Nevertheless, I must pay attention, especially if I haven’t done it for a while. My Uber driver told me that speed cameras are used all over Australia. I will need to watch out for them.
I’m the kind of driver that typically drives about five miles an hour over the speed limit. He told me that that amount of overage could get me a ticket. I know that when I go past a speed camera, and the light flashes at me, I am a goner. How do I know that? Do the math.
Sydney International Speedway.
I meet a lot of people from all over the world.
I know hundreds of people in auto racing all over the world. I help them, and they help me. Today, I was getting some help from Ms. Peta Souwer. Peta and I first met when she interviewed me during my visit to the Lismore Speedway. We stayed in touch. When Peta and her mate, Mattie came to the USA their trip included California. We had them over to our house and took them out to dinner. Peta and Mattie are a wonderful couple.
Peta had some contacts at the Sydney International Speedway. She made some calls. Soon, I was admitted to the track with VIP treatment. This included a complimentary pit pass and access to everything I needed at the track.
There was an issue. The weather. January is summertime in Sydney. For this weekend, the weather forecast provided temperatures 15° below normal and extremely strong winds and rain.
Speaking of strong winds, I know you’ve all heard about the southern California brushfires. Those fires took out well over 10,000 homes in just a few days. 80-mile-an-hour winds fueled the fires. Winds at the track tonight were about 30 mph. It’s hard to even imagine what an 80-mile-an-hour wind in extremely dry conditions and low humidity would do with fire embers in the air. Everywhere I went people asked me about the fires in Southern California.
Checking boxes.
I’ve told you that trackchasing is a “counting” hobby. For most of my foreign trips and most of my domestic trips, the time I spend at a racetrack is probably less than 10% of the time the entire trip takes.
When I make one of these trips, my #1 objective is to count the track. The track is the straw that stirs the drink, meaning the trip. If I don’t see a race that is scheduled, I would be majorly bummed.
Pretty much state of the art.
The Sydney International Speedway is a 1/3-mile dirt oval track. It’s nearly brand new. With local issues and COVID-19, they have only had about a year’s worth of shows since they first built the track 4-5 years ago.
These kind of tracks provide lots of excitement for the fan. However, if there is just a little rain, the track, which is usually made of clay, gets slimy. The cars can’t get traction, so they can’t race. Rain-outs are common in the dirt track racing world.
I knew before I boarded the first Hawaii Airlines flight to Honolulu and then connected to Sydney about the weather forecast. It was dire. However, I had a nonrefundable ticket. I was going no matter what. The plan was to see racing at three different tracks. If I was rained out at one of them or all of them I would figure it out.
They have it going on.
Sydney International Speedway is a state-of-the-art facility. For short tracks, it’s probably in the top 10 of all of the more than 3,000 tracks I’ve seen for their hardscape.
The huge pit area is 100% paved. That’s unusual. The grandstand seating is made from a plastic bucket seat design. The men’s bathroom looked more like a health club than a racetrack bathroom.
Did he really have to share this example?
Ladies, you would not believe the bathrooms I’ve seen. At one track location, a place I have long since forgotten, the track built three 12-foot high concrete block walls. The open “wall” could not be seen by the public. Men walked inside and peed against one of the three walls. Too much information?
The track had great lighting. The sound system was above average, and the announcers were knowledgeable and professional. This was a first-class joint.
Thanks, Natalie,
I signed in with a woman named Natalie. Natalie was the promoter’s wife. She could not have been nicer and told me that I had the run of the place.
Tonight’s racing featured three different classes. There were winged sprint cars, late models, and speed cars. For the racing novice, speed cars are midgets. Not small people. But midget race cars.
Most people don’t know this world.
I told the Hyatt valet parking guy I was attending the races this evening. I mentioned they would be having late-model stock cars (top photo) and sprint cars (bottom photo). He told me he wasn’t familiar with the difference. That reminded me that I have a niche hobby.
I arrived at the track at 4 p.m. All of the racing teams were unpacking their gear. Many race car haulers had full 18-wheel truck and trailer operations. Their stuff would put shame on just about every truck driver I see at Love’s Truckstop up and down the interstates of the United States.
The wind was blowing strongly. From time to time, it misted. They weren’t going to start racing until nearly 7 p.m. I only needed to see “racing competition.” However, I would have to wait three hours to see if rain would disrupt my plan after I had come this far.
What if?
I’ll fast forward to the first race of the night for the winged sprint cars. The cars took the green flag, crossed the starting line, and raced into turns one and two. At that point, there was a major accident. One of the lightweight (1,300 lbs.) cars with a 900 horsepower engine went tumbling end over end. This wreck generated a red flag condition and would delay the program for 10-15 minutes. It would be possible that the rain could come and cancel the rest of the program during the delay.
At that point, someone could ask, “Randy, can you count the track after such a small amount of racing?” The answer to that question is yes. According to trackchasing rules, I only needed to see “competitive racing”. That happened when the cars took the green flag. The race had begun, albeit for just five seconds before it was stopped. I had seen enough “racing” to count the track. In life, I don’t make the rules. I try to straddle the grey line of the rules, but I don’t go over the line. I play by the rules.
These are not ideal conditions for the fan.
I soon discovered the wind was blowing directly from turns one and two down toward turns three and four. I watched the first race facing directly into the wind. That experience was nearly identical to being sandblasted. Had I stayed there, I don’t think I would have any skin on my body today.
Yes, I was born at night, but not last night. I quickly moved down towards turns one and two. From there, the wind was at my back, and the dirt/grit from the racing was in front of me. I stayed there until intermission.
No Jack Daniels for you.
I was given a red pit pass wristband when I was admitted to the pit area at the night’s start. That wristband allowed me to go everywhere, including the grandstands. That wristband would prove to be a burden.
I’m not much of a drinker. I might have one drink every week and sometimes not one drink every month.
When I’m at a race track I like to enjoy a can of Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola. If I’m driving, I NEVER have more than one drink. I figured I could handle the Jack Daniels with Coca-Cola in a can tonight.
Busted!
I walked up to the concession stand and gave them my order. They started to serve me, but then the guy noticed my red pit wristband. Even though I was in the grandstand, someone who has “access” to the pits cannot drink alcohol. The server offered to cut off my wristband to give me my drink. However, I couldn’t get back into the pits if he did that. My car was parked in the pits! I settled for a Pepsi Zero with NO Jack Daniels.
I meet the nicest people.
During intermission, I continued my walk around the track, trying to get my steps in. I encountered a gentleman sitting in turns three and four…the sandblasting zone. He couldn’t have been nicer.
We struck up a conversation. In circumstances like this, I have had conversations with thousands of people. The man was wearing huge swimming-type goggles for the dust. He welcomed me to Sydney.
He got up from his lawn chair to talk with me. The wind was so strong he had one hand on his hat and the other trying to hold down two lawn chairs from flying away.
When our conversation finished, I continued my walk around the track. Upon my return, I noticed that this man’s wife had rejoined him. They were both about my age. They were sitting in the full sandblasting area with no one within 75 feet. Those folks are fans.
Although I hadn’t met the wife yet, I leaned in and said, “Is this the man making you do this?” She gave me a good Australian laugh and said yes, this was the man. I told her, “You two kids keep having fun and I’ll see you later.” I suspect they talked about their encounter with a good-natured American on their ride home.
The racing was good. It sprinkled from time to time. I’m not as concerned when it sprinkles in situations like this because I have already counted the track.
I’m not sure the short-track auto racing industry gets it in today’s entertainment world.
One of the downsides of short-track racing is the preliminary races don’t mean much. Yet they last a couple of hours and sometimes more. The fans are there to see the feature events. I don’t know of any other sport that requires the fans to sit through preliminary action for so long before getting to the center of the cinnamon roll.
I want to see passing when they race.
I was anxious to see the winged sprint car feature race tonight, even though I am not a huge sprint car fan. I don’t think there is enough passing with winged sprint cars. For me, racing is much more entertaining when there’s lots of passing. When I see “stick and ball” sports, I want to see one team pass the other in score.
The sprinters race at breakneck speeds, considering they’re doing so on a 1/3-mile oval track. They commonly flip over and create dramatic accidents. There were a few flips tonight delaying the action. It was starting to rain harder now. They were able to finish the race, and that surprised me.
When I headed out after the sprint car feature, it rained harder and harder. I had left with only one race to go. The late models were lined up and ready to go. I was convinced that race would be rained out. Later, I looked at the results, and the late model feature was run. That was surprising.
Tonight was a successful night of trackchasing at the Sydney International Speedway. They’ve got a great facility. I spent some time making new friends that I don’t think I will ever meet again. That is the nature of trackchasing friendship making.
It was an hour’s drive back to the Hyatt Regency. I had about seven hours until I needed to get up again to drive 9-10 hours to the next track on tomorrow’s agenda. That is also the nature of the trackchasing hobby. Yes, it’s a bit strange.
Saturday – Day #9
I drive rental cars more than my own car by a wide margin.
Have you ever rented a car? Don’t laugh. Some people haven’t. I rent one or two cars a week and occasionally more. How long have I been doing that? Well, I worked for 30 years, and I’ve been retired for the past 23 years. I’ve rented, at a bare minimum, nearly 3,000 cars.
Have you ever?
Have you ever rented a car in a foreign country? Have you ever rented a right-side steer car in a foreign country where they speak English? There’s only one thing that beats that. That’s renting a car with a right-side steer drive in a country that doesn’t speak English and has very few roadsides in English. What’s an example of that? Japan. I’ve done that. For only one day but I’ve done it. I’m planning on renting a car in Japan in a few weeks.
For those who have rented a car in a foreign country that is right-side steer drive, raise your hand if you have NEVER walked up to the left side of the car expecting to be able to drive the vehicle away. Then you realize the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car?
Of course, on a right-side steer car, your turn signal stalk is on the right side of the steering column, not the left. I can’t imagine that anyone reading this has ever entirely avoided the confusion that can come for the left-side steer driver. The same thing happens with the windshield wiper control.
No engine. No stalks.
My 2024 Tesla Model X has no “stalks” for windshield wipers or turn signals. None. I press a button on the steering wheel to activate those controls. At one point, Tesla replaced the car horn with a button on the steering column. They quickly recognized that it wasn’t a very good design. My Tesla horn is in the center of the steering wheel, just like yours.
Lefts are easy; Rights are scary.
It does require some attention when driving a right side steer car if you’re not used to it. Carol and I developed a saying to remind us. “Lefts are easy; rights are scary.” It’s true. Rights are scary. On an occasion or two, I have made a right-hand turn into the wrong lane, and that means into oncoming traffic. Let’s not talk about that.
I enjoy driving.
Today I expect to do somewhere around nine hours of driving in New South Wales, Australia. You probably know that Australia has six states and a territory, right? Can you name those six states? Let me help.
Australian geography.
Australia’s six states are New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. They also have the Northern Territory. Oh, yeah. There is the “ACT” as well. No, not the college admission test. The ACT is something similar to our Washington, D.C.
This is my 11th trip to Australia for trackchasing. Most have been over Christmas and New Year’s. That’s summer in Australia. Carol and I have been through here on cruises as well. I’ve also been down to New Zealand twice. Carol and I will be returning to NZ in less than two weeks.
Two in one.
I was going to attempt to see racing at two different tracks today. The One Raceway, formerly Wakefield Park, was racing today, Saturday, and tomorrow, Sunday. When I finished there, I would go to a track called Cullen Bullen Speedway. One Raceway would begin racing at 9 a.m. Cullen Bullen wouldn’t start until 4 p.m. Those two tracks were nearly three hours apart.
The original plan had called for me to visit One Raceway tomorrow, Sunday. However, if I moved that track to today, I would have more options. Tomorrow, I could drive 11 hours round-trip to Raleigh, New South Wales, to see an event at the Raleigh Motorsports Park. However, they expected nearly 3 inches of rain between now and tomorrow’s race. If I decide not to make that drive, I would just hang out in Sydney and see what I can see.
Money well spent.
For this trip and all of my foreign trips, I use my iPhone and my cellular carrier AT&T. For $12 a day, which maxes out at $120 monthly, my phone will act as if I never left our modest seaside cottage in San Clemente, California.
Some people might try to beat the $ 12-a-day idea. If they make that attempt, I don’t think they will get all the services I get. I would never attempt to pinch pennies in this area of the trip.
My AT&T international plan includes unlimited data. I can call back to the United States or anywhere in the country I’m visiting, in this case, Australia, for no charge with the clarity that I would have back home.
My iPhone hooks up to Apple CarPlay, which almost all new cars have today, except Tesla. With Apple CarPlay, I can listen to all my podcasts and SiriusXM radio as if I were back home. My AT&T international calling plan acts as my “Wi-Fi” anywhere I have a signal, which is nearly everywhere. With Apple CarPlay the Google Maps map shows up on my car’s video screen. That’s invaluable.
Google Maps is super important. I can use Google Maps to direct me virtually anywhere I want. I can’t even remember how I did these trips before GPS. Don’t think you need something like Google Maps. Think you already know how to get to wherever you’re going? I would submit that it’s vital for everyone to travel somewhere you don’t know how to get to!
I can text people, I can check my email, I can use every one of the apps on my phone, which totals more than 100, and on and on and on. I can do that for $12 a day. No limitations. Everything works exactly as it did back in the States. Honestly, this $12 I spend each and every day is the best value of the trip.
A tank a day is what it takes.
I came to Australia to support my trackchasing hobby. The plan for today was to drive three hours to track number one, then three hours to track number two, and three more hours back to the hotel. Let’s do the math. That’s nine hours of driving. I do that routinely with my trackchasing hobby. I trackchase about 75-100 days a year. I average a full tank of fuel for each day of trackchasing.
You’re on your own. Plan accordingly.
I did notice that Australia doesn’t have that many highway rest areas. They have some very rustic ones, which is where I stopped today. Rustic is a charitable description. They also have rest areas that offer a gas station and convenience store. The Welcome Centers in the UK are the best I’ve ever seen in my travels for “rest areas.”
One Raceway formerly Wakefield Park.
My first racing stop would be at the One Raceway in Tirrannaville, Australia. This track was formally named Wakefield Park. Wakefield Park was shut down because of noise issues, even though the track appears to be out in the middle of nowhere. There were no housing developments anywhere close that I could see.
One Raceway was having a six-hour endurance race. Tomorrow, on Sunday, they would continue with another six-hour endurance race but would be racing in the opposite direction. I didn’t need to be there for all 12 hours of racing. And no, racing in two different directions does not count as two tracks.
When I arrived, the winds blew at 30 miles an hour, making the “feels like” temperature about 50°. I was wearing shorts. Why? Because I always wear shorts.
The good thing about the One Raceway is that despite it being a road course, I could see the racing action all over the track from just one spectating spot. Usually, I don’t enjoy watching races on a road course because I can only see a small portion of the track from any location.
The good thing about road course racing is that the spectator can walk everywhere. I’m talking about standing right next to the racing surface, obviously behind a safety barrier, when the cars blast by at a distance of maybe 6 feet. I also get to look in all of the race car garages to see what’s going on there.
Here’s an idea.
You might be thinking about visiting any of the famous road courses that host Formula One races. If you go, I recommend you visit that facility during an amateur racing weekend. This allows you to see everything you wouldn’t have access to at the facility if it were a Formula One weekend. I did that in Austin, Texas, and got into all the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Today, there were probably 40 cars racing on the track at one time. I didn’t know any of the drivers. I’m not really a “car guy,” despite my racing hobby. I don’t know much about the mechanics of cars. Today, I didn’t even know what car makes were racing, nor was I concerned about that. I just wanted to discover the event’s ambiance, which took me about two hours to complete. Then, I was off to the next track.
This was a good local tip.
I have so many people worldwide who message me and call me with tips to support my trackchasing. I got a message from an Australian named Gary Pickens about a famous pastry shop near the One Raceway. I likes me pastries.
Soon, I connected my GPS to the Trappers Bakery. This was a unique and crowded place. The highlight for me was the whipped cream-filled apple fritter!
I also went with the chicken nuggets and French fries. They asked me if I wanted chicken salt or regular salt. I can’t recall being asked that question. What makes chicken salt, chicken salt? I chose the chicken salt. It was all good. I would be less than honest if I didn’t tell you I also ordered a colossal Blackberry Danish. Please don’t judge me.
Cullen Bullen Speedway.
From there, I was headed to my lifetime track #3,050 and my 64th track on the Australian continent. I’m talking about the Cullen Bullen Speedway. This was one of the more rural speedways I’ve seen.
The track configuration was nearly a complete circle. The track was flat and dusty. They were racing five classes, but with only enough cars, most of the time, to generate one heat race per class.
The track looked so rural that I couldn’t imagine they would accept credit cards or tap-to-pay options with my phone. I paid their $25 Australian admission fee in cash. That was the only cash I used during my five-day trip to Australia. Later, I discovered I could’ve paid by credit card. COVID really advanced tap-to-pay credit card options.
I always have a chance to sit down and talk to the person next to me. I did that in the track’s grandstand today. I make a lot of friends that way. We usually leave our encounter with them getting my business card and/or maybe a link to my website. I like to ask them questions about their lifestyle.
Red or blue?
In foreign countries, people seem to want to ask me about our American politics. I’m not much for politics. I don’t think politics affects my life at all. I would never want to share my political views in a public setting because that would mean I would have to listen to someone else’s political views. No, thank you.
The racing at this track wasn’t that great. As is sometimes the case, meeting local people and talking to them for 15-20 minutes is the best part of the day. The most unusual class racing at the track was the midget division. These cars didn’t look like any other midget class I’ve seen anywhere.
It’s summer in New South Wales, Australia. However, the temperatures have been in the 60s for the most part, with a strong wind. Those temps are about 15-20° below normal. Otherwise, the temperature would’ve been in the mid-80s or maybe even warmer. I guess I’ll take the cool weather.
Australia has expensive fuel.
It was now time to head back to the hotel. I did this entire driving trip covering only 706 km. I was able to do that on one tank of fuel. I stopped at a petrol station and filled the car with E10 ethanol fuel for about $1.79 Australian per liter. That’s about four dollars a gallon U.S.
Currently, fuel in the United States averages around $2.75 a gallon. Everywhere I travel worldwide, gasoline is more expensive than in the United States. Nevertheless, Americans seem to think their gas prices are super high compared to everyone else worldwide in major countries. Not true. Our gas prices are low.
By seeing two tracks in one day today on Saturday, this plan left Sunday wide open for touring. What would I do with an open day in Sydney? Keep reading, and you’ll find out.
Sunday – Day #10
Australian touring.
Some touring days are better than other touring days. Today was an excellent touring day.
Sports.
I am a sports fan. I enjoy watching live sports at venues I have never visited. This year has been a busy year for doing that. I’ve seen college football at LSU, Michigan, the Rose Bowl, and more. I went to Pittsburgh to see the Steelers play Monday night football. I saw the World Champion Dodgers play a couple of times in Dodger Stadium. I’ve seen UCLA play games away from home in Madison Square Garden, the Intuit Dome in LA, and more road games at Nebraska and, earlier in this trip, at Rutgers. I caught a National Hockey League game in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, during this trip. I think I qualify as an avid sports fan. It does take some money to handle all of this. Soon, I’ll tell you about my credit card arbitrage side hustle, making this expense no big deal.
I did some searching to find sporting events that were happening today. I came up with an Australian National Basketball League game that was being played at the Kudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
I saw my first Australian National Basketball League game in Melbourne a couple of years ago. They played in the John Cain arena, part of the complex of arenas where the Australian Tennis Open is played.
The Australian National Basketball League has 10 teams. Nine are located in Australia and one is in New Zealand. After today’s visit, I have a bee in my bonnet to try to see a basketball game in all of these Australian basketball arenas.
Carol will be here soon.
I plan to take Carol to see the New Zealand Breakers at their home court in Auckland, New Zealand, in about two weeks. She doesn’t know she’s invited yet, but I’m sure she will be receptive.
If you are married or have a significant other, do you ever travel alone? If you don’t, do you wish you could? Carol travels; she just doesn’t travel as much as I do. She is willing, in my words, to travel overnight for about 60 nights each year. By most people’s standards that’s a lot. Just because she tops out at 60 nights, should I do that as well? I don’t think so. Carol agrees! She approves of me going as much as I want.
If we knock off that NZ pro basketball game, I will have “just” seven more Australian NBL Arenas to see to complete the sweep. I might be able to do that in one trip when their new season starts later in 2025. I’ve already seen a baseball game in all 30 major league ballparks and all 12 Japanese major league ballparks. It would be fun to knock off another circuit in its entirety.
I used an app similar to Ticketmaster but unique to Australia to buy my tickets. That app is called “Ticketec AU”. I’ve used it a couple of times to purchase tickets to entertainment at the Sydney Opera House.
Today, the Sydney Kings hosted the Tasmania Jack Jumpers at 2:15 p.m. The Sydney Flames of the Women’s NBL were playing the Adelaide Lightning to support Breast Cancer Awareness. I was able to see two games for the price of one.
The games were being played in the Kudos Bank Arena. This arena seats about 18,000 fans. Today, they had a crowd of 16,000. I bought a ticket just 10 rows from the court for $60 U.S. I thought that was a great value. However, I also paid $60 U.S. in Uber fees getting there and back. Sometimes, you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you.
The game was good. In this league, they play four 10-minute quarters, identical to how women’s basketball is played on a professional and college level in the states.
What’s a Jack Jumper?
As noted, I was seeing the Sydney Kings play the visiting Tasmania Jack Jumpers. I know. What’s a Jack Jumper, right? I’m told by the locals it’s an ant. I never would have guessed that.
The game was close. Neither team had a lead bigger than five or six points for the first 37 minutes of the game. Then, the hometown Sydney Kings pulled ahead for an 88 to 77 win.
Uber drivers are fun to talk to.
I really enjoyed talking to my Uber drivers today. I always like that. Every Uber driver has his own story just like every person does.
One fellow was a chef and told me all about the challenges of doing that work and hiring people who would work as hard and as well as he did. Another older guy driving a Tesla Model 3 was an IT worker, and when that was slow, he drove for Uber. Finally, a guy from Malaysia was concerned about the homeless population in the states. Like I say, everybody has their own story.
I did this activity for our daughter.
Our daughter Kristy is a graduate of UCLA and the University of Michigan Law School. She spent a semester in Sydney when she got her degree at UCLA. In Australia, she worked part-time at an Australian pub. By the way, all three of our children (J.J., Kristy, and Jim) graduated from UCLA. That’s why I follow UCLA sports.
That was about 25 years ago for Kristy. I remember the rest of our family and I visiting her in Australia then. She suggested I try to stop by her old place of employment for this trip and see what things looked like today.
Nags Head Hotel & Pub
I did precisely that. The Nags Head Hotel & Pub is a good-sized Australian pub that serves excellent food. My dessert was outstanding! After eating at the Nags Head, I walked a few blocks and took photos of Kristy’s former living quarters. I think she will get a kick out of my photos.
After dinner at the pub, my next Uber driver drove me to the Sydney Opera House area. There’s always a lively scene there. It’s the middle of January, but that’s the middle of summer in Sydney. Tonight, it was warm and comfortable. I just watched the people.
I like boat rides.
Then, I decided to hop on one of the ferries. This one was going to Manly Beach. I would get a great view of the Sydney Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, and the nighttime downtown skyline of Sydney from the ferryboat.
I boarded the boat with just thirty seconds to go before they departed for Manly Beach. The ride was only a dollar one-way. Then, the guy let me stay on the twenty-minute boat ride for free as we turned around and headed towards Sydney again.
What’s a “California Day?”
To keep all of my walking distances on a consistent 24-hour “California day,” I needed to measure how far I’ve walked from 7 p.m. until 7 p.m. in Australia. I like that schedule. I can get some steps in after 7 p.m., which reduces the steps I have to take the next day to reach my four-mile goal.
Is walking four miles every day worth it from a physical activity aspect? I’m not sure. I do know it’s better to walk those miles at speed rather than just “walking”. I suspect there is probably some physical benefit. I might get a more significant advantage because walking allows me to think about the day’s events.
Yes, today was a good day. The weather was excellent. Not too hot, not too cold. I always enjoy seeing a new sporting venue wherever I am in the world. The views of the Sydney Opera House and from the Sydney Harbor are iconic.
No time zone issues with a 19-hour time change.
The Sydney time zone is 19 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That’s close enough to being 24 hours different. When it’s 7 p.m. in Sydney, it’s midnight in Los Angeles, although on different days! I haven’t had any trouble with the time zone whatsoever. I’ve been able to sleep in each day at the Hyatt Regency.
Heading home.
Tomorrow, I hop on a 2 p.m. non-stop flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. I arrive in Los Angeles at 9:30 in the morning on Monday after leaving at 2 p.m. on Monday from Australia. Do the math on that one!
People ask me if I ever get tired of traveling. I have a one-word answer to that question. No.
I’ve stayed four nights at the Hyatt Regency. My view of the Darling Harbor and the tall buildings and lights was spectacular. When I figured out the value of the points I earned with this stay, the Hyatt Regency has been of great value.
Essentially, I paid $100/night for a luxury big-city hotel. They gave me a high-quality complimentary breakfast, a room with a great view, and access to their Regency Club. With the 38% currency advantage, this is a great time to visit Australia or most other foreign countries.
As Larry the Cable Guy would say, “I don’t care what you say. That’s a good deal,” or something like that.
Monday – Day #11
Last week, I was in Canada for three days, and this week, I was in Australia for five days. With all of that travel, I only spent AU$25 in local currency. That was at a racetrack where I could’ve bought my ticket with a credit card, but I didn’t realize that.
At the same time, I earned 10% in credit card rewards for everything I spent on travel and restaurants and Uber and 5% back on all other non-travel and non-restaurant expenses. The world has changed. Come along or risk spending a lot more money than you need to.
Get on the plane before it takes off and get off when it lands. Real simple.
Today’s long flight was scheduled for 14 hours and 15 minutes of flight time. It was a pleasant surprise when the captain told us the actual flying time would only be 12 hours 35 minutes.
My philosophy for these longer flights is simple. I board the flight. During the flight, I entertain myself, study my spreadsheets, and sleep. When the plane lands, I get off. Australia is a long way from the States. However, it is a fun place to visit, and the long flight is just part of the fun.
I landed back in Los Angeles on a Monday. Carol and I are scheduled to fly to Auckland, New Zealand for a couple of weeks next Monday. What happens between those two Mondays? We have a UCLA basketball game at legendary Pauley Pavilion, where UCLA plays their home games and has 11 NCAA Championship basketball banners hanging from the ceiling.
Oh yeah. Between those two Mondays, I will likely go trackchasing indoors in Missouri and outdoors on a frozen lake in Minnesota. I’ll fly eight hours round-trip doing that. Luckily, I never get tired. The flight to Auckland will be more than 13 hours.
Cheers!
Randy Lewis, your California mate.
P.S. Important P.S.!!
My next newsletter post will cover my activity as a credit card arbiter for the past year and more. This has been a fun and profitable ride. I’m very glad I did it. My eyes have been opened to the opportunity.