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Living the Dream – Tropical Trick Shots

In 1999 Liam Connor made a major decision to quit his Environmental Science degree, and study something he was passionate about – Film Making.

Since then he has shot a number of overseas films, and was a recent finalist in the prestigious Tropfest 2013 Film Festival with his short film “Time” – shot in and around the Gold Coast Hinterland.

His latest work, filmed in tropical North Queensland, is a fun two minute video of people performing amazing trick shots with footballs.

Liam and his film maker friends, Lucas Thyer and Brad Francis, got together a bunch of excited backpackers who were staying in Cairns at the time, as well as a dance crew that Lucas knew.

They used an array of GoPro Hero3 cameras, including a semi-submerged vertical array to get some spectacular footage – the result is stunning.

Liam tells me while some of the shots worked on the first go, many of them took hours.

You might look at what this son of a humble avocado farmer from the Tweed Valley is doing and think “What a lucky bloke – he’s living the dream”, but I don’t think it has anything to do with luck.

I think it comes down to Passion, Persistence and Perfection – the magic ingredients for any successful venture.

How can you create anything worthwhile unless you’re passionate about what you’re doing?

But passion isn’t enough. It takes ages to get some things just right – which requires persistence. And you’re not going to persist unless you really want excellence.

Good on you, Liam, for having the guts to decide to follow your passion – and for sticking with it. And best wishes to you, Brad and Lucas with this entry in the “1 day in Paradise” competition :)

The Devils Staircase

My friends and I had some “Unfinished Business” in Conondale National Park.

Last time we rode here, we took a wrong turn and ended up a long way from where we intended. Today we wanted to correct that mistake.

My personal goal …

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Monsildale

Today’s epic ride started at the small town of Jimna and followed some national park trails down the mountain before looping back again through some rugged country around Monsildale to the west.

There’s some disagreement about how the town got its name.

One theory is that when a Polish gold prospector named it “Zimme”, …

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Bicentennial National Trail

Today’s ride was a point-to-point epic starting at Mount Sylvia south of Gatton, following the Bicentennial National Trail (BNT) towards Cunningham’s Gap.

The BNT is an amazing recreational trekking route stretching 5,300 km along Australia’s Great Dividing Range from Cooktown in North Queensland to Healseville …

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Deongwar

It’s supposed to be all down-hill if you start a ride from its highest point. But contrary to what I told everyone before today’s epic, this ended up being one of the more difficult treks we’ve done.

Deongwar

Boonah

Have you ever made a mistake, only to discover later that it’s lucky you did because it actually saved you a lot of heart-ache?

That happened on our ride to Boonah today.

Our aim was to start at Peak Crossing, head south towards Boonah along some …

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Flinders Peak

We didn’t intend to climb a mountain – it just “happened”.

The plan today was for a scenic downhill ride from the Great Dividing Range near Toowoomba down to Esk in the Brisbane Valley. That all changed because of heavy overnight rain. At 5.00 am …

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Summer Creek

Rugged beauty – that’s what appeals to me about Conondale National Park. It contains lush rainforests, spectacular waterfalls, babbling creeks, and massive mountains; but it’s hard work to explore, especially on a mountain bike.

My friends and I have explored this area on several occasions …

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Nanango to Jimna

If you traced the Brisbane River as far upstream as you could, you’d end up near Mount Stanley, to the east of Nanango in the South Burnett. Today’s epic adventure was a point-to-point ride starting at Nanango, rolling down the slopes of Mount Stanley and following …

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Woodford

What could be more challenging, or more fun than leading a several dozen riders with a wide range of skill levels on a 65km cross-country trek through some tough but beautiful country? After last years amazing ride from Beerburrum to Woodford and back, some …

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