Is it me or is road rage on the rise? We live a highly stressed society; roads are becoming more congested, people are working longer hours and time is at a premium – we are under pressure, there is no doubt about it. 

Not only are people receiving abuse on the roads; idiots are chasing cars to people’s houses to abuse them further, bicycle riders are being knocked over and even pedestrians are being run down. As a society, do we really need dickheads having punch-ups in the middle of the road? I think not.

It is now getting to the stage where guns are being pulled and shots fired – this is madness. Is it worth jail time for brain fades? Why do we have people on the roads with guns in the first place? The justice system needs to get serious, more assault charges need to be laid with serious consequences for offenders with no more excuses. Only then will we turn around this alarming trend around where people have no respect for other road users. Somebody cut you off, drove slow in the fast lane or failed to indicate – snap out of it.

Sitting up in the stands watching the fantastic tussle between the Fremantle Dockers and Port Adelaide on a calm Perth winter’s evening; the second last round of the home and away season saw defensive dominance outplay a rapidly improving and offensive Port Adelaide team.

The lights shone brilliantly over Paterson’s Stadium; the home of Western Australian football, Fremantle’s forwards shone even brighter this evening kicking 21 goals to 9 in a masterful display. The pressure applied to Port’s young midfield was relentless; however, Port learning from this experience overcome an arrogant Collingwood in the elimination final a couple of weeks later causing another great upset in the Australian Football League finals series. Fremantle caused the first upset of the series taking down an experienced Geelong in the first final to be played at Simonds Stadium in over 100 years; a day later Carlton took down Richmond in front of crowd exceeding 94,000 fans to throw the first week of the finals into overdrive.

With the election result likely to be known Saturday night, initial polling will indicate the state of play and possible losses to be encountered for the Labor party. What will the future hold for Prime Minister Keven Rudd? Will Kev remain as opposition leader until the 2016 federal election – not likely. Rudd is no certainty to win his Brisbane seat of Griffith, but most expect him to be victorious albeit with a slim majority.

Will Treasurer Chris Bowen take the reins post Rudd? Bowen has been a staunch supporter of Rudd, the undermining of the Gillard administration and won’t exactly be post Rudd. Has Bill Shorten displayed leadership qualities? Shorten deposed two sitting Prime Ministers after all and may lack the respect of his colleagues, he however does have strong union ties. Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the other hand is a logical choice, but once Rudd goes, does he have the support of the party?

If the result is as devastating as it is expected to be, will Kev’s colleagues be in a forgiving mood or will the party move swiftly to distance itself from the dysfunctional KRudd era? Will the once touted saviour of the Labor party be relegated to villain? Despised by all within the party for not only the election loss, but the annihilation of the party. Kevin Rudd won the election for Labor after nearly 12 years in the political wilderness, he could win an election from a longstanding Prime Minister but it very quickly became apparent that he was unable to effectively govern.

Pundits are even starting to raise the question, should the party have gone to the election with Julia Gillard instead? Kevin’s rock star appeal waned pretty quickly, he was after all sacked by his peers in 2010 for being incapable to perform his Prime Ministerial duties. However, Rudd is not alone, Bob Hawke was deposed by his party in 1991 by Paul Keating whilst still in office. John Gorton in 1971 and Billy Hughes in 1923 were also deposed whilst holding power. I get the feeling we will be finding out pretty quickly, I don’t think Kevin Rudd will last more than two weeks post election.

As we head into the finals series for the Australian Football League, I reflect back to the pre-season competition where the teams travel around the country playing at smaller local venues. The advantage is that instead of large cheering crowds, grandstands, full stadiums, cheer squads and entertainment at the main break – the match has a more intimate feel with people seated on bench seats around the boundary cheering on. Fremantle captain, Matthew Pavlich (29) in a marking dual in the forward line – the advantage of these pre-season games is you are seated right on the boundary in the thick of the action viewing the game as the players do. You see the game from a player’s perspective, viewing contests and duals instead of looking down on the game from the stands during the main season.

Taking control of the ball after disposing of his opponent, Pavlich well outside the 50 metre arc pumps the ball long towards the goals. A booming kick, Pavlich regularly kicks goals from outside the 50, today he was lucky to play on only one opponent, all throughout his decorated career, he has been double teamed.

Midfielder David Mundy (16) attempting to take possession while feeling the pressure of his close checking Western Bulldogs opponent.

Mundy breaking free in the centre square kicking to a contest in the forward line. While pre-season games don\’t really count for much, Fremantle bought a near full strength side down to Rushton Park in Mandurah as this was the last hit-out prior to the premiership season. This was the final chance to give players a run under match conditions trying new tactics before the first game of the season – the Western derby.

I brought my Olympus E-410 DSLR camera fitted with a 70 mm – 300 mm zoom lens to capture contests throughout the game. I wasn’t disappointed because despite the score; the game felt much closer than the scoreboard indicated and was played predominantly man-on-man with little zoning or flooding tactics applied. I watched the game with my 12 year old nephew, he hasn’t had the opportunity to go to many premiership games and this was a great opportunity to see star players close up. It reminded my of the local WAFL competition where I would watch the stars of East Fremantle and South Fremantle play in similar circumstances prior to the formation of the national competition.

Further studies saw him complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Melbourne, some would argue the best business school in Australia strengthening his business acumen. Its pretty unusual for a high ranking union official to hold an MBA when it is more customary to hold a golden gloves title, cricket bat or 4 x 2 lump of jarrah.

As the National Secretary for the Australian Workers Union from 2001 – 2007, Shorten held a very high profile position, none more so than during the Beaconsfield mine disaster when he became the public face of the rescue. The more cynical would associate disaster management with the current state of the Australian Labor Party, in such a case, he is well credentialed.

Acting as a director for the Victorian Funds Management Corporation from 2005 – 2007 and Australian Super from 1998 – 2007, Shorten has established himself as the leader the right faction of the Australian Labor Party. However, I get the feeling he didn’t fare too well in the MBA leadership unit; I’m pretty sure they don’t teach knifing leaders at Melbourne Business School. Being a very prominent figure in the Keven Rudd axing in 2010.

Shorten then withdrew his support for Julia Gillard less than 30 minutes before the leadership ballot returning Kevin Rudd to power in June – Shorten has effectively assassinated two sitting Prime Ministers. Most expect Labor to be at least a two term opposition so he would be in no rush to become opposition leader any time soon, however, his high profile assassinations might well prevent him from becoming a leader with any moral credibility.

Politicians retire before elections, this has happened in many election cycles and will continue to happen. However, the forthcoming federal election is rather interesting due to the experience of the candidates who announced retirements after the Julia Gillard Kevin Rudd leadership spill earlier this year.

This was surprisingly after the election had been announced, although in all fairness, it was the longest election cycle in Australia\’s history. What is interesting is the skills and experience retiring in such a short space of time, guys like Martin Fergurson and Simon Crean are well respected on both sides of parliament; both strong performers, their knowledge and experience will be missed.

Stephen Smith performed well in foreign affairs before Kevin Rudd got his position in compensation for the Prime Minister’s position he lost in the knifing. Some would also argue Kev liked the jet-set lifestyle and as Foreign Minister would spend more time out of the country (causing less problems) leaving Gillard and Swan free to do as they wish. However, despite his ongoing assurances, Wayne Swan was never able to balance the accounts and post a surplus in his time as Treasurer, instead presiding over huge debts and inefficiencies. Likewise, Peter Garrett lurched from one disaster to another.

Greg Combet on the other hand was the biggest surprise for me, I had expected him to lead the party in the future, if polling is to be believed, between 20 – 25 seats could be lost in this election and I thought he would be the one to lead the party out of opposition. Lets see who has departed:

Julia Gillard – former Prime Minister, ousted in a leadership ballot after gaining the Prime Minister in leadership spill and then formed a minority government in 2010.

Wayne Swan – former Treasurer.

Stephen Smith – former Foreign Minister and Defense Minister.

Craig Emerson – former Minister for Trade and Competitiveness and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research.

Peter Garrett – former rock star, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth.

Greg Combet – former Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation.

Stephen Conroy – former Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Martin Fergurson – former Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism.

Chris Evans – former Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs, Science and Research.

Simon Crean – former Leader of the Opposition, Minister for Science and Technology, Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Minister for Trade, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts.

Nicola Roxon – former Minister for Health and Ageing and Attorney General of Australia.

Robert McClelland – former Attorney General of Australia.

The question remains, did all this experience depart in such a short time frame because they felt they are unable to work together with Kevin Rudd or do they feel the government\’s time is up and they don’t wish to spend a couple of terms in opposition?

Navigating the Philippine Airlines booking site looking for flights from Perth; noticing Perth was no longer represented on the drop-down menu, I went looking for answers only to find the service was no longer running. After only three months of operation, Philippine Airlines has already cancelled its Perth to Manila service – what has happened here?

Flying to Manila via Darwin was a hassle, spending an hour on the ground was a case of get off the plane, buggerise around and get back on. Whilst stopped at Darwin airport, the transit lounge was pretty ordinary, but with budget flying, you didn’t mind too much. It appears this service didn’t really get off the ground, was the choice of aircraft incorrect? Was the lack of advertising the reason why seats were left unfilled? Surely, in the planning stage, multiple scenarios would be analysed – this appears to be a monumental failure of planning.

The aircraft flying between Perth and Darwin were largely unfilled, the flight filled between Darwin gaining more passengers but still looking unprofitable, maybe cargo can add some revenue to the flight? Either way, the chance of flights being restored seem very unlikely as is the chance of wide body aircraft flying directly to Manila. What started with optimism only a few months back has turned to tears in just three short months; visions of Manila becoming a regional transport hub vanishing into obscurity.

Boracay is not only recognised as the top beach in South East Asia, but also one of the top beaches of the world. White Beach is pretty good; I have no doubt this is the best beach in South East Asia but I do have some reservations as the top beach worldwide.

Despite its many attractions; what Boracay is not well known for is as a dive location. The Philippines is a top notch dive location spread across its thousands of islands; however most of Boracay’s divesites are pretty ordinary and not recommended with the notable exception of the Yapek wall.

The most outstanding dive in Boracay is Yapek II, a vertical wall beginning at 30 metres and heading downwards, a dive here will earn you some hang time in blue water if you wish to spend some time at 40 metres. On my last dive there; we were swimming in the current surrounded by schools of fish rounded up by a series of sharks against the wall – this is by far my most favourite dive on Boracay.

For me, dives to avoid in the area are any of the dive sites directly in front of White Beach, a number of times we got dropped in flat featureless terrain and swam for 20 – 25 minutes to get to a small wall or rock.

A down side of Boracay diving is price fixing; the majority of the dive centres are located on the beach, whilst wandering around the beach comparing prices, I firstly noticed that all dive centres display the exact same price for dive courses, introductory dives and dive trips. I enquired with numerous shops on the beach and none were willing to negotiate on price; I was told that the Boracay Association of Sport and Scuba Diving fixes prices and should they sell dive trips under the mandatory minimum price, they will be reported to the association by other dive association members and fined. A number of dive centre staff openly admitted to institutionalised price fixing and felt there was nothing wrong with this.

I was even given the contact details of Niek, known as The Sherriff for his robust policing of their price fixing cartel; I went to visit him a number of times to seek clarification but was unable to get hold of him as he was always out – presumably in the water as he is a local dive instructor.

Boracay is sun and fun, with the exception of a couple of sites, this is an expensive place to have some pretty ordinary dives – better to head to Anilao, Bohol, Moalboal, Malapascua or Sabang.

Being a mechanic by trade, I have been told I should hold more interest in motorsport; that unfortunately is not the case with my interests usually maintained through watersports and marine activities.

However, when the the top fuel dragsters are in town, I don’t mind heading down to Kwinana Motorplex once in a while to experience the ground vibrate and shake when these extreme nitromethane/methonol machines launch off the line for a sub five second pass down the quarter mile racetrack. This is a experience that can only be felt at the track – it doesn’t work on tv.

The flames exiting the exhaust add to the show, as darkness descends, the start line is lit up as the lights on the Christmas tree countdown to green. The sound emitted by these ultra horsepower dragsters is deafening; but close pay attention, the race is over in a blurry flash as the tyres gain traction and the machine is launched down the track before the parachutes open to slow the missile as the engine is immediately shut down as the dragster crosses the line. The engine is rebuilt between passes – amazing.

Taking my Zuiko 75mm – 300mm lens with me to catch the action allows me to position myself away from the crowds, catching these machines mid run is proving to be difficult with eyeball hemorrhaging acceleration resulting in speeds exceeding 500 kph. A top fuel dragster can accelerate from standing to 100 mph (160 kph) in as little as 0.8 of a second.

Fuchs receiving work prior to its run, whilst costing extra, a pit pass is well worth the investment, watching the team at work is half the fun of the night. The engines are rebuilt between passes, a team of mechanics descend on the engine and clutch assembly stripping down, measuring and rebuilding the engine in thirty or so minutes – amazing. I don’t get there often but when I do, I always enjoy as this is a different Saturday night out from what I am accustomed.

The jeepney, a horrible relic of the old Philippines clogging the roads of a city trying to modernise but unfortunately adding to the chaos that is Manila. These awful automobiles should be banned in the city with a more commonsense approach taken to public transport and mass transit.

Of course, when I am over in the Philippines, I use jeepneys to get around. Outside of the cities and in the provinces, these are wonderful modes of transport with everybody cramped together on the bench seats in the rear breathing in toxic exhaust fumes through the open doorway. These vehicles have more that just a little of a military feel, built from former WWII jeeps and spare parts left by the Americans at the end of the war.

In the post war years, modified jeeps made an excellent low cost mode of public transport painted in vibrant colours and featuring chrome plating and excessive levels of noise and pollution. Hopefully, this mode of transport will soon be extinct and the Philippines can move forward modernising its transport system.