New Zealand Montage

Hey everyone hope your enjoying the blog still. Sorry things have slowed down but we can promise you that some good installments are coming soon.

In the mean time enjoy this video from New Zealand.

Click the link.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SJQgi_Df8qI

Conor

Day 40- Sydney celebrates 2009

It was the 31st of December in Sydney and that means serious celebration. New Years celebrations come and go with ease back in Ireland but we were warned to expect big in Sydney so we came into the day with some massive expectations. Let’s hope Sydney can deliver!
We got ready to head to Wollstonecraft (Dani and Joe’s area) to decide on where to go for the celebrations. We were warned to leave bright early in order to get the good spots so 1pm was early enough for us. After a few discussions we decided North Sydney would be a good location to view the Harbour Bridge which is the centre piece for the celebrations. We found the perfect spot after some spot searching.
Our spot was a rock about 70 metres up from sea level so the views were quite good. We were also a couple of kilometres back from the bridge which ensured we had unrestricted views of the pinnacle of the celebrations. The time was 3pm: 9 HOURS TO GO!
At this point Dani and Joe decided to head off and let the musketeers do the spot minding or in other words the dirty work. Time was spent doing a little sun bathing. Isn’t it great to be able to complain about sitting outside in 30 degrees of heat?
Dani and Joe arrived back. The whole of Sydney crowd around the bridge on the 31st to view this spectacle and as a little reward a mini fireworks show is provided at 9pm. So it wasn’t long to go till we got a teaser of the main event. The many highs and some lows of 2008 were discussed aswell as a few drinks downed. Spirits were high. It’s hard to believe we were all in Galway celebrating 2008 this time last year.
The 9pm show went off with a bang. The fireworks illuminated the whole sky providing Sydney a temporary return to daylight. The fireworks lifted into the sky and burst like a good water balloon. There were so many different colours it was like something you might see in a musical. The fireworks burst and made shapes like hearts and stars. It was spectacular to think this was only the kid’s show. After what seemed liked an hour the show stopped. The time was 9pm: 3 HOURS TO GO!
A few more drinks were to be had in between the celebrations. The rock we were on was not really a rock but more like a cliff so concern was needed and Dani choose to act as mother for the Group that now increased from 6 to 9 with the arrival of Ro, Charlie and Ger (The lads). If anyone moved near the edge Dani would put them in their place. To keep the 1.5 million or so punters happy a boat show was provided in the harbour. The theme was aquatic with lots of fishy boats. It was entertaining but everyone wanted the main event.
After 9 hours of waiting it was nearly time for the finale. We being a bunch of Irish messers decided we would call in the New Year early. So at about 11:55pm we shouted “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR”. Everyone erupted with celebration but to realise that we were just trying to be funny. Another three attempts and it was really time to shout Happy New Year.
Bang, Whack, Kappam, Whoop, Boom, Smash I know that sounds like Batman but it was the sound of the fireworks airborne from the Harbour Bridge. The fireworks show was even more electrifying then the previous show. The fireworks soared through the sky with only the intention of radiating Sydney’s dark heavens. The harbour bridge temporarily turned blue, red, yellow and back to blue again with every snap and bang.
It was only after about a minute we realised it was New Years so we all did some group hugs to celebrate 2009. Dani continued to emphasis the rules of no crossing the line. Some champagne was cracked open to celebrate what we all hope will be a great year in Australia.
Eventually the sky turned back to it’s naturally darkness now only brightened by the Sydney Sky Scrappers in the distance. A few Irish songs were covered by the lads before we decided to crash a few house parties. One by one we made our way in. After a few games of Guitar Hero we decided to head back to Dani and Joe’s for a nightcap.
It was very late at this stage so we decided to head back to our own Gaff after enjoying the day. We hit the beds at 6am zzzz.
The Irish may know how to celebrate Christmas but New Years is owned by the Australians.
Happy New Year,
Conor

The Year in Review according to the 3 of the 4 Musketeers - 2008

1. Highlight of 2008

Interview by Thomas Burke

Mike Ryan (MR): Arriving in Rio de Janerio as I knew we were about to start an unbelievable journey that we will never ever forget.
Gary Daly (GD): It would have to be the moment we arrived in Ilha Grande because it was such a great place to get away, relax and chill out. Every day spent in Ilha Grande made me want to wait longer.
Conor Daly (CD): Marvellous, majestic scenery of Iguassu Falls in Brazil aswell as many of the adventures of the GAP tour.
GD: Its funny the way no one mentioned the MEN Arena
MR: It wasn’t that good!! Haha
GD: Ah it was savage!!

2. Lowlight of 2008

GD: That’s a hard question
CD: To be honest Tom I don’t have any, they were all great moments. I actually can’t think of any to be honest, you could think of something retarded like being sick but that would be stupid.
GD: I’m going to try and think of something but nothing stands out.
MR: Probably the ball being kicked under the bus…… maybe saying goodbye to Kieran ….. by Kieran I mean the football!! Haha
GD: Losing that tournament in Holland but then again we wouldn’t have had as much fun as if we won it!!
MR: Obviously we would have!!
GD: Ah Mike…. saying goodbye to Kiloughter aswell.

3. Best thing about travelling?

MR: It’s not a great question!
GD: Meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. Also getting away from everything normal in our life. Meeting fellow genuine travellers with the same goals and stuff as us was pretty cool.
MR: I couldn’t put it better myself.
GD: Everyone says that but it’s the true. Probably better than we taught….. well mike
MR: Yeah… and every country is hotter than Ireland!

4. Worst thing about travelling?

MR: Travel towels, dirty hostels, shit hostels and all the cliché stuff bout family but I don’t want to say that.
GD: Being stuck with a load of people in a dorm as you don’t have your own space and privacy. Getting up at ridiculous hours to do stuff. Watching United at 4 in the morning aswell. Last thing I will say is meeting really cool people and than having to say goodbye to them…. You can’t get attached to them.
CD: Not having all your stuff…..
GD: Playstation?
CD: NOOOO
GD: What stuff so?
CD: Just stuff
GD: What kind of stuff though
CD: Just the bits you have at home … like stuff back home!
MR: Yeah me aswell Tom, I miss my bits at home….. I MISS MY BED TOM!

5. Hopes for 2009?

MR: Aaaaa….
GD: I suppose to get a job in Sydney
MR: Settle down by the beach at Sydney
GD: Live the real Sydney life… Do another GAP tour of Thailand or South America…….More reunions with people we know
MR: Like with Kieran Costello
GD: Yeah
CD: Have a good year, have a good time and be happy.
GD: Get your haircut?
CD: NO
GD: You hope is to grow your hair long for 2009?
CD: NO
MR: See my nephew/niece Tom.
GD: Work as football agent by end of 2009

Interview finished, Hope all our readers have a good new years and new year :).

Day 34-38 Opera, harbour and a reunion

It was St. Steven’s day and it was time to visit one of the modern wonders of the world and I’m not talking about the “Spire”, I mean the Opera House. Having been in Sydney now for 6 week we still haven’t seen it close up.

We got up bright and early, well 10am is bright and early for us. We headed off in the train buying only the discounted student tickets as per usual. The trains were packed so Gary and I decided that we would get off and wait for the next train in the hope of a less packed carriage. At this point we were split up into 2 groups. Tom and Mike were 20 minutes ahead of us. It was like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in that we knew we probably wouldn’t be reunited till later.

Gary and I ventured towards the Opera House to see one of the sites we had talked about since leaving Kiloughter many months ago. It lived up to those dreams. It’s a masterful creation completed by a Danish Architect. I would describe it using a word that we often overuse “Perfect”. The building is beautiful and it looks straight out onto the Harbour Bridge and water. It’s most definitely the most spectacular Opera House in the world. Unfortunately we didn’t get the opportunity to adventure inside as we were gobsmacked enough with its exquisite exterior.
Gary and I decided to visit Darling Harbour once again. Unfortunately no boat race was on like we had hoped. The harbour is one of the finest I have been aswell as it offers spectacular views of Sydney’s skyline. The harbour is always full of street performers. They like to pick random people off the street to hassle and this time it was our time to be hassled. He got us involved in his comedy show. His act was a lot of jokes and some cool skills with a car that went up to 110 kilometres per hour. His finale act involved lighting the car on flames and attempting the death jump over a Peruvian man (Abel). The act concluded in success.

Most of the Christmas period involved relaxing and enjoying the weather. The next big event was a reunion of a Project Manager. Myself Gary and Tom studied last year with Daire O’Rourke who was in Australia on holidays. We arranged to meet up for a night out. We had a few drinks back in the house before heading into town. We met Daire inside in Town and went on a bit of a pub crawl. It was great to meet up with one of our Dublin mates and hear how jolly Ireland is treating him. Two other lads were with him Pat and Brian who are over in Aussie on the working visa aswell. It wasn’t long till we were all in good spirits reliving the glory days which included a call to fellow Project Managers Mick O’Leary way back in Co. Cork. Daire plans on coming back to Aussie in March so a few more of theses nights might be had.

A few bars later it was time to go home but we decided against that. We headed to Pat and Brian’s beach Gaff. Gary Pat, Brian and Daire decided they needed a swim so down to the water we went. After a few hours of watching people coming in for a dip at all hours of the morning we decided to head home. We said our goodbyes to Daire and the lads and headed for town.
Instead of going home we decided to go to 24hour bar and watched the United match (Got to add we aren’t alcoholics- we weren’t drinking). After the match and half asleep we stumbled back to the accommodation and had a snooze.

Zzzzzzz Stay Posted,
Conor

Day 36- Christmas day dip

As I’m sure you are all aware the economy is going through a little thing that has a number of names like “recession”, “credit crunch”, “feckin death of the Celtic tiger”. For this reason it was to be a bleak Christmas in terms of presents for little tiny Tom, Mike, Gary and Conor. We decided that we would each simply buy each other a DVD for 10 AUS Dollars. So once we returned from the midnight mass service we tore open the wrapping paper made of newspaper to reveal our presents. I made that sound a little bleaker than it was. The best Christmas present we could ask for is good weather so we appreciate that gift we have been granted.

In the morning a few calls were made to the loved ones to discuss the arrangements they had in place for the Christmas. At this point it was inevitable a little bit of jealousy existed when turkey, stuffing, ham, mince pies etc. were mentioned. Australia doesn’t celebrate Christmas as good as back home but looking at them on the beach it could be a good thing as they are all very fit and active.

We had no real plans in place for Christmas Day so we decided to do what ever Irish person does on Christmas Day make our way down to the Beaches. The fist stop was Tamarana Beach which is a Beach close to Bondi Beach. Tamarana Beach is the beach described by all the guide books as the beach of the beautiful which was the perfect place for us to visit. There was a nice crowd at the beach enjoying the festive day that is Aussie Christmas. The beach was full of surfers and swimmers all wearing Santa hats. We had a little lie out on the beach and took some photos with the Santa hats.

A dip into the water was chilling, mind freezing and seriously not easy oh wait that’s swimming in Black Rock Christmas 2007. Christmas 2008’s dip was refreshing, relaxing and seriously easy for us. The warm water was perfect and the waves increased the enjoyment. Going to the beach can be an amazing experience just watching the surfers. Surfing is an adventure that we need to attempt soon but watching is perfect for now. They move through the waters in an effortless manner. The Aussies are the Kings of the water.
After our dip we all decided to visit Irish Central A.K.A. Bondi Beach for a little lookiné. The whole beach was swamped with GAA Jerseys and anything that told people they were Irish. It was good to see how the Irish live on the other side of the world. It wasn’t as drunken as we had expected. Everyone was there for a good time.

That night we had a few Christmas drinks to toast the day that was had aswell as watching one of our presents.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Conor

Day 25–35 - Xmas in the Sun

So we are in Sydney now nearly 5 weeks and we haven’t done all that much due to budget constraints and haven’t found ourselves a NICE job yet. So things aren’t going according to plan but sure you got to take the bad days so appreciate the good ones all the more when they come along. Since our last blog and for about 3 weeks solid now we have been looking for jobs to no avail. They just aren’t much out there at the moment and there is no hiding from the credit crunch, its everywhere like a bad virus that has infected the job market. Luckily with our business background well drilled into us we always set up a contingency plan so Gary has been talking to a nice Scot man in Cairns who has promised us nice jobs and accommodation if we make the 3 hr plane trip North. It’s a serious option at the moment and the plan might just have to be put into action if we don’t find something here soon.

Since the last blog we have been sticking to our usual routine every day which normally consists of:

9.30 …. Arise from our slumber and take showers
10am … Have a bowl of ceral with a glass of juice.
11am … Go on the internet for roughly an hour but often turns into 2 as Mike loves it!!
1pm …. We come back to the room chill out for a while and discuss our internet news and the plan for the day
2pm … We head to the beach or the park if its a nice day, on not so good days (surprisingly they has been a fair few but the weather is defo getting hotter) we often just bum around the room, make a few phonecalls about jobs and do grocery shopping
6pm … We start thinking of putting dinner on, some of us might go for a jog or practice their skills in Mikes case
8pm … Normally have dinner over with by this time and we either watch an episode of ‘The Wire’ or a movie
12pm … Lights out time and we talk shite among ourselves till we fall asleep

So that’s a typical day in our lives at the moment nothing too spectacular but enjoyable all the same.

The biggest killer about being in Dulwich is we are beside nothing and away from everything! Not a good combo! We are over half hour from city and bout 1 hour and half from the closest beach. Pain in the hole! We often rotate around the beaches we go to, but all on the South side of Sydney, between Bondi, Tamarama, Coogee and Bronte. All lovely beaches, Bondi is the big tourist puller and the star attraction but we prefer Tamarama or Coogee as they are less crowded and we find a better atmosphere around. The waves are good generally in all the beaches but Bondi is probably the cream of the crop and a popular spot for the surfers. Some great stunts and crashes aswell, entertaining either way!

One particular lad Gary and I met a few days ago of note was the chairman of the New South Wales Manchester United Supporters Club. Gary had made contact with him and we tried to meet him a couple of times over the past 3 weeks but either he couldn’t make it or we had to cancel. So we met him in the infamous Scruffy Murphy’s, a kip of an Irish pub in the heart of Sydney but inevitably mighty craic!! It’s the type of place where the days turn into nights and everything blends into the one and a pint becomes your best and only friend (the bar man is a close second)! Mark was a true Mancunian and came to Sydney 22years ago and has settled here now with a family and a business. The NSW Supporters Club is also a part-time job for him as he has a dedicated fan base and is very proactive in the promoting and marketing of the club. We had a good auld chat about everything from Sydney life to his Irish relations. He gave us a few contacts but unfortunately he is actually going home for 6 weeks so the discounts and free stuff he promised us will have to wait till he returns!

The build up to Christmas gets into full swing here in the 2 weeks leading up with Christmas carol services at Darling Harbour and other xmas related events scattered throughout the city. Its still nothing like the buzz and craic at home though for xmas and we would be lying if we said we didn’t miss home round xmas. It just doesn’t feel like xmas. You would miss the decorations, the tree, the sweets, the food, the drink, the craic and of course the pressies!!! Oh yeah and the family! ;-) Luckily for us we had Dani & Joe in Sydney so we went to their apartment for xmas eve and had a gorgeous lasagne cooked up by Joe ‘The Ramsay’ Corcoran. Their gaf had decorations and we got Santa hats and it finally felt like xmas. Xmas wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t go to xmas mass so the four of us, Joe, Dani and Charlie went to midnight carol service and mass in St. Marys Cathedral in centre of Sydney. The cathedral is gorgeous and a really nice décor inside. Carol service began at 11pm and took an hour. We all bursted our lungs and sang along to hymns such as Away in a Manager, Oh Holy Night and Silent Night (however there was no Oiche Cuin verse in Sydney!!) among many others. The cathedral was packed to the rafters and we were sitting on the floor. During the carols the clergy and all involved in the mass paraded up and down the aisles like they do at home. We were lucky enough to get seats half way through mass. Who were sitting behind us though but 5 Irish girls and they were completely pissed to say the least. The sad thing bout it is they were still drinking with glasses of vodka orange on the ground beside them! One of them had the hiccups really loud for ages and they kept talking during mass. Scandalous stuff, you wouldn’t get away with tha kinda ting at home, making a holy show of the Irish in front of our Lord, the cheek of them!! The mass was very long but a spiritual and enjoyable experience.


Merry Christmas.

Tom