TRAVEL: LIVE NIKE, SYDNEY.
October 30, 2011

"She started surfing when she was... 3."

As a kid and a comic book nerd/recluse/hermit/dork, I'd always wonder what the Justice League house would look like.. you know, if they were all roomies. What would their walls look like? Does Tony Stark have a modded PlayStation? Does Wonderwoman listen to Katy Perry or Pantera? What & who would Superman be inspired by? Does Batman GTL? The mind boggles. Thankfully, someone at Nike Australia must've had the same awkward upbringing as me, because they decided to do just that - setting up a super athlete house in Sydney, Australia.

Nestled in between Sydney's infamous "Glamourama" and Cougar Coogee beaches in Bronte (Bron-tee, not Bron-tay), the swoosh outfitted an entire beachfront property with some of Australia & New Zealand's most accomplished athletes - from a 19y/o professional female surfer that seems to receive standing ovations wherever she goes, a few Socceroos, an NBA player, a national BMX champion, and a couple of Olympians thrown into the mix. Each athlete was given a room to model as if it were their own, as well as their pick of the AW12 (that's Q2/Q3, for you Northern Hemisphere folk) Nike Sportswear footwear & apparel collections; one of the more innovative ways I've seen when it comes to showcasing a collection.

Enroute to the opening reception. Nice taxi - except replace "nice" with "Porsche", and "taxi" with "Panamera".

Team New Zealand's contribution to the Nike photobooth at the opening reception:

It's not that Tim from Remix isn't used to being led around by women...

... he just lets them stand all over him, that's all.

And for the record, the winning picture of the night involved someone getting naked... Aussies eh.

Here's Ritchie, all round Sydneysider and 'the dude'. The last time I saw Ritchie was in 2008 and as you can see, he was absolutely ecstatic to see me again.

The next day, we had a proper look throughout the rooms inside the Live Nike house.

Portland Trailblazers PG & NBA player Patty Mills' space. He's back in the Melbourne Tigers for the NBL while the 'gentlemen's disagreement' continues in the NBA.

Julian Wilson, championship winning pro surfer from the Sunshine Coast, now on Nike 6.0.

Speaking of surfers, I wish I'd taken some photos of Laura Enever, but I was too busy giving her a standing ovation. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why... Laura's almost 20 years old, and she's been surfing for 17 years. You work out the maths.

Moving along: NZ BMX World Champion & 2008/12 Olympian Sarah Walker. I remember at one point Sarah telling us about racing with a broken thumb; just saying "f-it", and riding through the pain on her path to victory. Typical kiwi girl - she'll floor you in a dress, and then beat you in a bike race. Yessir.

Nike cleats?

Naturally, with Nike being the world's biggest running company, here's Jeff Riseley, one of Australia's fastest rising middle-distance track runners, and the second fastest Australian over 5000m. Jeff's also known to stun the odd Olympic champion out on the track... when he's not at school.

Evidently he has good taste, because he also really, really likes the Nike Free Run 2's. Respect Jeff. I could live in these shoes, I swear.

Brett Emerton, formerly of the Blackburn Rovers, current Socceroo and A-League champions Sydney FC midfielder.

Just out on the deck - an art installation to celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of the mighty Air Force 1. Funny, I never noticed the socks until I lifted this image off my camera. Must've been some night...

A very warm ocker thank you to Nike Australia & New Zealand for getting me over, and for slotting me in as the only male in a travelling band of girl-power writers - Jade-o, Jozza, Gezza, Shazza, Nezza, Timbo and Indi-o.

Choice as bro.

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Week 5 / Day 2 - Road to Honolulu with Team GIRA.

Today's Menu: 40min LSD
40min / 6'04" pkm / 6.5km / 450cal.
Coogee Beach -> Gordon's Bay -> Clovelly -> ?? -> Coogee Beach
Asked the hotel concierge what the best direction was to run, and headed in the vague direction of where her finger was pointed because I had a difficult time understanding just what she was going on about. Followed the coastline up to the cliffs in Coogee and down into Gordon's Bay... and kept running until I couldn't pronounce the suburb I was in. Australian... one day I'll learn the language. Nice run, some intense cross winds and a bit of light drizzle. Dull pain in my right calf muscle continues to niggle at me after a few km's, need to get it looked at.