Mark Pakula's blog

One more

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:13:46 +0000

From Rat Day. Even though it’s very far from a Rat. I like it.

Hardware

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:32:30 +0000

A while ago, Carol and I picked up a few skateboard decks on some crazy sales. Last week the hardware needed to turn the decks into boards arrived. I bought truck packs for Carol and CJs boards, and mine was a little more customised. I went for softer and larger wheels, as well as wider trucks for my deck. My favourite part are the Bones Ceramic bearings, they just keep on rollin. Now all I have to do is “wake up and smell the concrete.”

I’ll get some shots of the complete decks after all three are built.

Rats

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:56:26 +0000

The annual rat day was on again on the weekend. I popped down early to grab a few pics.

I much preferred last year’s event, where most of the cool cars were located in the industrial lot near the field, rather than having all the cars and bikes on grass. It just doesn’t look natural.

There were still a fair few nice cars and bikes around.

Quick Update

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Just got back from Auto Salon in Melbourne, it was a huge event. Massive crowds and a great selection of cars.

This was one of my faves.
I’m working everyday at a corporate event until next week, so won’t have anytime for blogging. But I’m sure I will get some great content. Back in a week and a bit.

From the archives: Mad Mike

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:22:27 +0000

Mike is a Kiwi who is known the world over. In 2007 on our trip with the Auto Salon Industrie S15 to D1 in L.A., I shot his car for Auto Salon Magazine.

It’s car that made a lasting impression on me, and I think it looked it’s best in the Digital Camo Mike designed for it.

Mike now competes with an RX-8 in the U.S. based Formula D series, and his RX-7 wears Redbull livery.

The car made a big impression at the World All Star event, with it’s open exhaust and crazy three rotor setup, the engine note was insane.

Most of this is custom made.

FD RX-7’s are always a good looking car, but when its about impact nothing beats a wide body.

Hot.

Penthouse J.O.B.

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:36:46 +0000

I was covering a launch at the IVY penthouse the other night, it’s a pretty swish place. Check out one of the bathrooms:

I’ve been to a few events here previously, but never had an opportunity to do the J.O.B. This time, I managed to sneak one in.

Thanks to DA for the pic.

Congratulations

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:26:23 +0000

to Mark and Alisa.

The panorama above really needs to be seen big, so click here.

Uluru Flora

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:13:09 +0000

I don’t often take photos of flowers. However when I was at Uluru last month, the uniqueness of the local flora needed to be captured. Some of these were at the resort, so were most likely planted there, while others were in their natural environment and right next to the rock.

The Sturt Desert Pea is a flower I never thought I would actually see. It’s quite striking and is the floral emblem for South Australia.

Golf R

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:14:27 +0000

Finally back home after the following trips; Perth, Uluru, Melbourne and Adelaide in the space of 2 weeks. In between those trips I had a few jobs on, one of which was test driving the new Golf R. I was quite impressed with this car, it’s a real competitor to the WRX STi and Evo X, and comes in significantly cheaper than either option.

When the car was first announced I was a little sad to see the V6 disappear, however a turbocharged 4-cylinder can often result in better performance.

I wasn’t too excited about the looks, until I saw it in the flesh. The details are impressive.

The venue for this test drive was Camden Airport, and we used basically the same track layout as Top Gear Australia. I was pretty impressed with the track, it wasn’t all dead flat as I thought it would be, and it was actually quite fun having all that space marked by witches hats.

The brakes were up to par also. Surviving several punishing laps.

One this I did like about the new Golf R was that they kept the twin central exhaust, similar to the Mark V R32.

Under the bonnet isn’t that impressive to look at, but the 188kW is plenty to get the car moving. On the runway straight I did glance at the speedo on one of my laps, to see it nudging 180km/h. It certainly didn’t feel like it.

Joining me on this test drive was NineMSN presenter Annette Melton. She loved the car too.

We both had a chance to take the Golf R out on the track, and for some reason the brakes on my car were a little hotter than Annettes. I drove a manual, while Annette’s Golf was equipped with a dual-clutch DSG.

It was pretty cool to play Stig for a day.

Texture

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:08:50 +0000

I’ve always been interested to find out what Uluru feels like. Today I found out.