Since I've last updated this we had New Years in Sydney, we've all done the Great Ocean Road, Ger came to visit so we went to Tasmania, Kelly and her gang are all living in Melbourne, and Alice and Sarah are back in town. So here's how it went...
After a lovely Christmas Day on the beach, we all headed over to Sydney. The girls went seperate to me as I was off to meet Ger. 4 months since we had seen each other, the longest ever! Myself and Ger stayed out in Coogee (just below Bondi Beach) while the girls stayed with Marie's friend just outside the city. Alice and Sarah had just finished the east coast, as did Kelly, Declan, Dee and Finbarr. So we all met up down by the Rocks at Sydney Harbour for New Years Eve. It was a loooong day of drinking, but the fireworks then were just amazing!
While in Sydney myself and Ger did the harbour cruise, went to Manly, went up the Sydney Tower, did Bondi and Coogee, and of course we visited Palm Beach - aka Summer Bay aka HOME AND AWAY!!! Unfortunately they didn't start back filming until mid January so we didn't actually get to see any of the 'stars' but sure we (and when I say we I mean me!) were in our element there. Ger was very upset of course that he didn't get to meet the legendary Alf Stewart haha! Meanwhile the others did the Sydney bridge climb and Emma and Gillian did a skydive.
Then it was back to Melbourne. The first thing myself and Ger did when we got was go get some flying lessons! It was so cool. We got to take off and land as well! Two days later we packed up the car and got the ferry over to Tasmania. We only had a few days here, but oh my god, what a beautiful island!!! It's good we only had a few days here, because now it means we've an excuse to go back there! :) It's so gorgeous. We arrived in Devonport and drove over to the east coast to the fabulous beaches of Bicheno, and then down to Cole's Bay and Wineglass Bay. What amazing scenery!!! Next day it was down to the Tasman Penninsula. Down here we went to the Tasmanian Devil park (Yeh I know, they actual do exist!!!!) and onto Port Arthur. For anyone who didn't know (cuz we didn't before we started researching it) Port Arthur is the place where all the British and and Irish convicts were sent many many years ago. It's a definite must see if you're ever in Tassie. There were even recounts on the walls of some of the convicts, and you'd see they'd be from the likes of Kerry and Cork (naturally there were no Waterford convicts!! ;-) ) After Port Arthur, it was onto the capital of Tassie - Hobart. Here we decided to brave it out and do a skydive! Three words - Oh My God!! What a feeling when you're literally free-falling straight through the clouds. You can't breathe! You think you're gonna die! And then as soon as you begin to see the city the parachute comes out. Fantastic! For anyone who hasn't done a skydive, I'd definitely recommend it. What an adrenaline rush!
After Tasmania, it was time to check out the famous Penguin Parade down at Phillip Island. This is where the little penguins (the worlds smallest type - fairy penguins) come out of the water each evening at dusk and waddle across the beach to the little homes on the shore. Soooo cute! But if you ever do this definitely do the 'Penguin Plus' We were lucky and decided to do the penguin plus not really knowing why we paid extra, but it meant we had a prime view of it.
Before Ger went home we drove the Great Ocean Road. This starts about an hour and a half west of Melbourne city. It's basically a coast road for miles and miles with the most amazing views. We did a two day trip, stopping in Torquay, Lorne, Bells Beach (from the film Point Break), Cape Otway, Apollo Bay, Port Campbell, Warnambool and Tower Hill. Most of these stops were beach resorts, Lorne being one of our favourite. Such a beautiful beach! Around Port Campbell we saw the famous rock formations known as the Twelve Apostles, as well as London Bridge. And Tower Hill is the home of a very very old (can't remember how old) volcano.
And then it was time for Ger to return to Ireland... :(
Since Ger left, the girls have also gone and done the Ocean Road. And they were as impressed with it as us. They did it as part of a tour, and did a two-day trip as well. Gillians highlight anyway was seeing the lighthouse from the old TV show 'Around the Twist' !!
The end of January had us celebrating Australia Day. Myself and Gillian went to the Ting Tings concert (was excellent!!) Oh I forgot to mention, before Ger left we also all went to the Australian Open tennis. What a setup. For all of us except Gillian (as she had gone to Wimbledon before) it was our first time at a big tennis tournament. So we were well impressed anyway with it.
February was a quiet month with regards to going places and concerts etc. Gillian went home for 2 weeks and has since come back. We had a few house parties and nights out to keep us going. It turns out the house that Alice and Sarah moved into are kind of a bit mad! It's full of Irish people as well as their neighbours next door. So it's a good place to start for a night out. Oh it's all coming back to me now. I think the highlight of our February was, wait for it..... Neighbours Night! After Black Saturday (the Victorian bushfires) there was a special Neighbours benefit night. They have a night every Monday, but this week was a special one, and there were soooo many stars there! I tell ya, we were going around following them like star-struck fools! :p haha Ah it was a great night. There was myself, Emma, Gillian, Marie, Kelly and Dee. I'll make sure to attach some photos below.
February also brough the hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne - 46.5 degrees celcius!!! It was HORRIBLE! The winds were unreal (hence why the bushfires were so out of control) and then people were cranking up their air conditionning so alot of homes lost power. Thank god for air conditioning in work thats all I'll say! Myself and Alice also joined gaelic football teams. Alice is playing with St Kevins and I'm playing with Garryowen (as it's close to work so very handy for training) The season has just kicked off. Theres matches every Sunday down at Gaelic Park, so another good way of meeting many more Irish people.
So now it's March.. Sarah has just gone home. She's gone back to work for a few months, and then planning on coming out to meet us in New Zealand in June. Myself, Gillian and Marie went to the Coldplay concert. They were fantastic!! Unbelievable live!
So whats to come I hear you ask... This is what the next few weeks bring us....
- Concerts: Kings of Leon, The Fray, Snow Patrol
- Trips away: Perth, Alice Springs
- Comedy festival: Jason Byrne, Neil Delamare
- Other: Melbourne Grand Prix, Paddys Day!!
So, until next time..... enjoy the photos
Cathy xxx
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