Newbie from Western Australia

[540LE]

Hi daredevil
Thank you so much for the official welcome.
Yes - police + speed limits = no fun!
But we have Barbagello Raceway to use - it is the only official race track. Also - near the international airport we have the AHG driving centre. The BMW and Ferrari clubs use the Barbagello track one day a month (not the same day!) for "special customers". Usually this means people who can afford to repair the cars if they crash! )) Such days are just to see and be seen - and occasionally there is a club member with a decent car who will take you for a hot lap. Rarely...
Barbagello track days are put on separately to the club days, by a big dealer here who sell all of the exotic brands. You can usually see the odd M3 and M5, with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin having a good go against Lotus and Maserati cars. No fee unless you want to drive your own car - and then you need to have a CAMS licence as well to participate anyway. I have a restricted category non-championship-points type of licence (which means no competitive stages that result in prize money) that enables me to drive the tracks in my own or other peoples' cars - but just for fun.
The AHG centre is for driving events - targas and that sort of thing. I have only used it once - and that was driiving BMW's cars. It was fun to get out and not have to pay to fix anything! I love the smell of searing brakes...
I look forward to saying hi again soon.
Thank you again! 540LE

 

[540LE]

hey there 540LE ... welcome ... any pictures of your monster ??

iceman - when I figure out the way to post photographs, I am very happy to do so. I will look into it over the next day or so. I am off now to an appointment, but I hope to see you here again soon.
Cheers!
540LE

 

[540LE]

The most you've done was 59kph...hehehehe....

miaw - you know I obey the rules when I have to!
hehehehehe

 

[540LE]

welcome, welcome, welcome.

thank you! thank you! thank you!

 

[BlackCat]

Hi blackcat!
Thanks for the message!
I am not so much into Mil-type watches. My uncle is, though - I think he has about 4 or 5 of them - ORSA Military, ZENO mil, and a few others.
Mine are a bit more the usual ones - a few Rolexes, a couple of Panerai, an Orsa Monstrum, a new Ocean7 LM-7 on order (which is an homage to the Omega Ploprof - check the thread on watchuseek.com under the Ocean7 section) a couple of ORIS Link watches, some Seikos, a Universal Geneve and a Vacheron Constantin. I used to like chrono style watches for the detailing and intricacy - but these days I just like to be able to read the time without needing my glasses! So the 44mm style of non-chrono is more "me" now. Have you seen www.watchuseek.com, or www.pmwf.com, or www.timetechtalk.com ? All of these are US sites, but they are good way to chat with people who have similar taste. www.timezone.com is another one. I am a member of them all - and I happily surf their sites looking to catch the odd bargain - because their forumers offer to members before they get to the ebay site - and every now and then there is an item too good to pass up.
Enjoy the passion!
540LE

That's quite a fair bit that you have there in your collection!!! And the VC... wow!!! Any scans on that.

My bad for the assumption, just that there are quite a following for military watches down under from what I gather.

I am quite familiar with the sites you mentioned and do lurk there often, the other one is thePurist.com

On a personal note, apart from my other pieces, I collect AHCI members' LEs such as Urwerk's Blackbird and RMs, the RM012 being my current grail.


BlackCat

 

[GHS]

Welcome to the club mate! Special ride you have there...

 

[clint]

hi ian, wlecome to the club. how is WA? lots of changes since 8 years ago? i used to live at Como.

 

[540LE]

Hi mini jeff
Thank you!
540LE

 

[540LE]

Heya Clint
Thanks for the welcome!
Yes - many changes. Real estate prices in COmo have doubled, there is a new "entertainment complex" in Perth in front of Mount Street, the mining industry is booming (wish I had bought shares!!) and in general the place is developing arung the new railway (North / South) that now goes from Bunbury to the new northern suburbs (with an almost-completed tunnel under the heart of the city). I guess Perth is growing up a bit? The cost of living is going up all the time, people are still pretty relaxed and casual, and summers are getting warmer...
It is still a terrific place to be - despite the governmental and administrative restrictions that seem to be getting more onerous every day.

I think these are the correct links that follow - some photos for everyone to click through to.

I am not sure if these are links or actual images yet - but I hope you and the other forumers enjoy them.

Have a great day!
540LE

 

[clint]

ian, yeah i hear property in perth is booming like crazy. i will surely come back to perth in the future. just love the environment, people and lifestyle. hate the summer and flys though. you have a great day too.

 

[540LE]

Hi BlackCat
No problem at all with the assumption! Perfectly normal! My bad too, if I upset anyone with any comment - so sorry.
I like the PuritsS.com website - it has some good discussion topics and a good collector's market. Thanks for the information - I did not know about them before!
Richard Mille watches are uber-cool. The brand has a lot of skeletonised watches in the tonneau shape and they are very appealing! They are rare, sophisticated and real incredibly classy. Ah well... one day ))
Have a great day forumers - 540LE

 

[540LE]

Clint
You said it!
miaw and a work colleague were just recently in Perth. I collected them from the airport. Her colleague's introduction to WA was the flies - poor guy!
Don't be fooloed by the property boom, though - 70% increase in one year is unprecedented (in my lifetime), and I know many real estate agents who are not selling anything at the moment. Funny, isn't it - if prices drop 10% we will call it a property recession. But if that happened, prices would still be 60% or so higher than before... d'oh!
I think the boom has levelled out, and it will be a long time before we see such rapid real estate price rises again. Good - because one of the outcomes of higher property prices is inflation, which generally pushes interest rates up, which makes it harder to pay mortgages, which cools the inflation again - and the cycle continues.
Property is better value in Malaysia... ))
Have a great day - and I would be happy to meet you in WA if you get here again - whether for a holiday or permanently.
540LE

 

[meanguy]

Hi blackcat!
Thanks for the message!
I am not so much into Mil-type watches. My uncle is, though - I think he has about 4 or 5 of them - ORSA Military, ZENO mil, and a few others.
Mine are a bit more the usual ones - a few Rolexes, a couple of Panerai, an Orsa Monstrum, a new Ocean7 LM-7 on order (which is an homage to the Omega Ploprof - check the thread on watchuseek.com under the Ocean7 section) a couple of ORIS Link watches, some Seikos, a Universal Geneve and a Vacheron Constantin. I used to like chrono style watches for the detailing and intricacy - but these days I just like to be able to read the time without needing my glasses! So the 44mm style of non-chrono is more "me" now. Have you seen www.watchuseek.com, or www.pmwf.com, or www.timetechtalk.com ? All of these are US sites, but they are good way to chat with people who have similar taste. www.timezone.com is another one. I am a member of them all - and I happily surf their sites looking to catch the odd bargain - because their forumers offer to members before they get to the ebay site - and every now and then there is an item too good to pass up.
Enjoy the passion!
540LE

Hi 540LE,

Wow! Quite a collection you have there! I am into watches too but more of vintages like rolex, couple of omegas, longines and seikos. My favourite will be the Omega Constellation 1950s. Was offered some tempting figures for the watch but i thot i would rather keep for another 50 years? Hehehe! May be we could exchange notes some days. Cheers!

Looks like you are very warmly welcome here. Enjoy mate!

 

[Zoggee]

wanna burn some tyre and eat sambal belacan??

hehe...welcome mate.

 

[chairoger]

welcum welcum!!

 

[Alan Teh]

welcome to the club

 

[bmw7833]

Welcome 540..

 

[540LE]

Hi again to meanguy, and a new hello to zoggee, chairoger, alan teh and bmw7833 and anyone that I may have accidentally missed
I am sorry for the slow reply - but I promise to check in every few days and see whats going on there!
Thank you all for your kind replies and welcomes - you have been terrific!
You guys and girls have some very sweet rides there, nice wheel options, interesting upgrades and a lot more. I will check in with the club when I am in Malaysia again soon and I hope you all drive happy and safe...
Have a great week!
540LE

 

[python_dev]

From 1 northern Aussie to a southern Aussie, welcome to the club