smoke on..

The Red Bull Air Race is COOL. The speed, the acceleration, the precision, the g-force, the hilarious commentry, the scorching sun, the blue skies, the iconic Perth sky-line as a backdrop, the bored little kids playing in the Swan River, the tasty and highly nutritious food from the caravans, the vroooooooooooooooom sound as the planes wizz by, the ice-cold red bulls, the pretty paint jobs on the planes, the plethora of large-lensed cameras clicking away in attempts to capture the perfect shot, the oo-ing and ahh-ing of the crowd, and the schwaarzaneggar-sounding control tower guy who gives the pilots the green light to start and to turn their 'smoke on'.

This year I had to go again because I actually thought it was the last time it was going to be in Perth (but it turns out that it's back next year too! Woohoo!). We caught a ferry from the city-side to south-perth and settled in a spot just next to all the silly people sitting in the grandstands who actually paid for a seat at this free event - suckers! To the right were the commentators and the control tower, to the left was the grandstand, and in front, the chicanes for the first stretch of the track. Though it got pretty warm sitting in the sun for a few hours (as a result, we were both a few shades browner after it al - despite several applications of sunscreen), it was totally worth the while.

Bring on Red Bull Air Race 2009!

the South Perth foreshore

the pretty green plane

'Perth' in case you forgot

the view from our possie

display





where the Schwarzaneggar-Control-Tower-Guy says 'smoke on' from

they had a better view than us

pretty green plane again

ice-cold red bulls mmm...