Moreton Island

We headed up to Brisbane last weekend. We met Aisling on Friday night and ended up staying with her after the YHA made a bags of the booking. We had trouble getting into the nightclub with our passports but thankfully our VIP (YHA equivalent) came to the rescue. Saturday we met John and Fiona who were coming from the Gold Coast to go to Moreton Island which is an hour and a half boat ride from Brisbane. Real resort island which adds on money to everything. Was very expensive. We did get to feed dolphins here though. I'm not sure I agree with it though. I think they were overfeeding them a bit compared to Monkey Mia on the West Coast. I think they're far from being wild. Moreton also has ship wrecks which you can snorkel off. There's coral growing on some of the ships and the fish there are pretty amazing. Also the one man show Terry was a bit of a laugh - drove the car to collect the people from the boat, sang the karaoke, served drinks. We were dissappointed he didn't drive us back on the boat.

We met John and Fiona again on Tuesday and Wednesday but thankfully the bad people are gone home. Nothing against you just a killer getting up in the morning after being out the night before. A restful weekend ahead hopefully. Also the Irish Film festival is on this weekend so I might get to a couple of films.

In more important news the Pats supporters in foreign lands calendar is coming out at Christmas and you can put me on the front cover by going here Saintsforum

Then go SaintsForum.net Forum Index -> The Saints Photos Forum -> Photo Of The Year

Photos of Moreton Island here:

Moreton Island

Great Ocean Road, Melbourne Cup

The photos of the Melbourne weekend are here and also the obligatory sots of the Cock and Bull:

Melbourne Cup, Great Ocean Road

Flew down to Melbourne on Friday night and stayed in Geelong. Arrived fairly late so it was straight to bed. Driving through Geelong the following day it looked great. Nice spot and the second biggest City in Victoria to Melbourne. The people in Victoria it must be pointed out are a thousand times friendlier than the people in Sydney. In a related story I handed in my notice in work to finish at Christmas and was asked what I thought of the Sydney people and I said they were very rude and all the English people in recruitment company totally agreed. They were laughing at my honesty. Anyway Torquay was our first stop on the Great Ocean Road. Real surf town. Ripcurl and Quiksilver started in this town and Bells Beach just down the road is a stop on the Pro Surfing Championship. Went to the surfing museum here which was good. Loads of info. Alot of rain on this day and our progress was slow and we eventually made our way to Apollo Bay that night. Nice spot but the weather was terrible.

The next morning we headed to a coffee shop in Apollo Bay and met a Cork man who used to work in Carolines place in AIB. The times they worked there didn't overlap but it's a small world. We were dying to get going as the weather reports were bad and we didn't want to get stuck there and not see the 12 Apostles. We started driving west but only got 20k up the road to be met with floods. Alot of people were talking that you couldn't get out of Apollo bay as both east and west were blocked. It was looking so bad that we had actually booked Apollo bay that night which we were later able to cancel. Actually up the road from us the previous night we were told that a guy was killed when a tree fell on his tent. Alot of places were booked out as alot of campsites were closed as they were due to be flooded later that night. The good news is that we eventually did get out with a road that went north. A few small trees down but not too bad. It did involve a 200k detour but we eventually saw the 12 Apostles which are pretty good.

We stayed in Port Campbell that night. I'm happy to say the weather improved the following day which was Monday with the Melbourne Cup the following day so it was looking up. We took our time that morning just popping into little parks and little walks before we headed back for Melbourne in the afternoon.

We met up with Florrie on Monday night out in St Kilda along with friends of Carolines in MacQuarie bank. The following day was Melbourne Cup. Great day. Everyone dressed up like for a big wedding. Nothing but Irish at it from who we met. Only lost 80 between 3 of us so wasn't too bad.

The following day we were flying out and luckily we got a late checkout of 11.30 in the hostel. Very good place called the Oslo hostel. It was much needed as we were slow to start. Saw the Grand prix track in Albert Park, St Kilda marina and wasted our time going to Ramsay street. Very good weekend was had though.

John and Fiona Tobin arrived over to us last Thursday. We haven't done much with them bar visit the cultural drinking establishments with them. They're gone up to the Gold Coast today and we'll meet them in Brisbane on Saturday morning to head for Moreton Island. Aisling O Mahoney is also talking of joining us. That's about all from me. Slán.

Melbourne Cup awaits

Very little to report again. I'll have to start getting out of Sydney for the weekends. Not much happens bar the surf which is great provided I don't kill anyone. Was in Bronte last weekend where the waves were unbelievable but impossible to control yourself on them. I narrowly avoided 2 swimmers and 2 surfers. With those near misses I decided it would be safer to head back for Bondi. Patrick if you're reading this you're dead right that I need to surf the white at the front instead of going out back. Was much more productive. Other than that the usual visits to the Tea Gardens and the Cock and Bull with a trip to the Coogee Bay thrown in for a bit of variety. Also went to Sydney FC on Sunday. They were playing top of the table Central Coast who they beat 3-2. Juninho was hopeless but Michael Bridges looked handy. Sydney just recently got a new manager so they were trying to impress the new guy. They're no Pats. Ah but seriously it's a decent enough level of football. Aloisi was playing for Central Coast. A few photos from the game and the usual from the Cock and Bull.

Hopefully I'll have more cultural photos after this weekend when we do the Great Ocean Road. Currently at good, has to prove it's worth at being great. The Melbourne Cup is on Tuesday as well. All tips are welcome.

Here are the photos:

Sydney FC

Centennial Park

Haven't much to report. I bought a surf board the weekend before last and I had to get a wetsuit before I got stung by a blue bottle. They're in when the wind is blowing on shore. At the weekend went to the womens pro surfing in South Curl Curl near Manly. They were very good. Sunday went to Centennial Park for horse riding. We headed to the Sydney Tower in the evening for our anniversary. I'm sure this makes very interesting reading so maybe the photos will do more justice:

CurlCurlCentennialMercantile

Killer Magpies

Australian Magpies

Port Stephens

Port Stephens was amazing at the weekend. Maps here:
Map of Port Stephens

The beaches here are fantastic and the weather was amazing. Port Stephens is more an area than an actual place. We had rented an apartment for the long weekend in an area called Nelson Bay which seems to be the main area. We rented it with Catherine from Kilcrohane and John from Kealkil, places otherwise known as Cork. We only arrived at about 11 on Friday night so had a quiet one.

Saturday we strolled down to the marina post breakfast of course and we decided to do a Whale Watching cruise. We saw a couple of dolphins early on but by god was the sea rough and not a sign of a Whale. Everyone felt a but queazy and were delighted to be back in after the 3 hours. We were told that a sighting was made through the binoculars but that it dived and swam off.

Sunday we did a tour of the beaches. One Mile beach was the best by far. It was great to get a bit of surfing in here as well. Swell was poor but did get to stand up on the board which was brilliant.

Sunday did the climb up to a lookout which had great views of the whole area. Also had a surf followed by walking over sand dunes. The photos do more justice than my descriptions ever will.

This area is fantastic for scenery. Although the nightlife is poor the scenery more than makes up for it.

You'll be excited to learn that I met Blake from Home and Away over here. I don't remember him but the girls recognised him. He's not impressed being asked about his fame. When I asked was it him he replied "That was a long time ago". I got out of there before it got ugly. Also I got attacked by a magpie cycling in on Friday and I was told today that a smaller bird was thinking about it today but thought better of it. By the way the magpies over here are much bigger. With this going on I think I might be safer not wearing a helmet.

By the way who is looking at this blog from Gawler, SA. Sure post a comment.

Here's the photos:

Port Stephens

Maroubra, Botany Bay

I've started cycling now in to work. It's 22 km in to where I work in North Ryde so it's a bit of a trek but at least I don't need to go to the gym anymore. I have to tell you I don't know how James Cook ever became a captain. This place is full of hills. You'd think Arthur Philip would have known better when he came 18 years later. They built a city on the side of the Alps. For more reading see:
Sydney Origins

We went out to Botany bay last weekend where the landing was made. Nothing much there but the weather was amazing. I also saw a film "bra boys" about a surf gang in Maroubra which was partly our reason for being down there. Great surfing footage in it. We went through Maroubra on the way to Botany bay. Great surf here although never got a chance to try it. While I'm at it I'll mention another film Freedom writers. The blog will start to look like it's written by Barry Norman. The last couple of Sundays they've started to put Irish music in the Cock and Bull which is mighty. I diversified my nights out by moving away from Bondi junction on Saturday. We headed for the Chinese Laundries near Darling harbour. $25 in to listen to techno music. Brutal. Never again will I wander from the warm confines of Bondi junction.

The weekend before we walked from Bronte, the nearest beach to us, to Coogee. Went into the Coogee Bay hotel here. Good crowd here but alot more polished than Bondi.

Heading for Port Stephens this weekend.

The current plan is that I'll be home for Paddys day. Carolines parents coming over at Christmas and we'll head to New Zealand with them for the month of January and then come back to Australia and do the travelling of the East coast, Adelaide, Uluru and Tasmania.

More photos here:

Maroubra, Botany Bay