Up at the crack of dawn (6.50 a.m.) to do the City Tour. Great idea, now we know all the right places to visit, if only we could get the time! Video and photos to upload, daily notes to write and we still have to exercise and eat. If the notes are not done as we go along, they are impossible to do at a few days remove. We have two schools a day planned for all of next week. Think that we need to reconsider that. Also have neither Koury (Aboriginal) school nor Independent school on our list. We have to visit the Catholic Education Office as well as ACU (Australian Catholic University). That Gerry fellow has me killed!
Some highlights:
- Shrine of Remembrance to the war dead. Takes up acres. Beautifully maintained. Huge Visitors' Centre inside. Great 360 deg. views of the city from upper balcony if somewhat spoiled by the incessant loud noise of F1 practice day.
- City full of full of churches and museums of all shapes and sizes. All centrally located.
- Captain Cook's house which had been moved brick by brick from its original home in Yorkshire 200 years after its original construction in 1735.
- Old Melbourne gaol where our friend Ned met his maker.
- MCG; Rod Laver Arena; Vodafone Arena, Telstral Dome. All within a stone's throw of each other and easily accessible by all public transport, trams, trains and coaches. Again SPACE very much in evidence.
- The city architecture (photos to follow) is very striking and impressive. Every skyscraper is dramatically different from the next, yet they all combine to give the impression of a modern vibrant cosmopolitan city. Old and new live harmoniously.
We finished up doing a tour of the bay, but it was a bit of a damp squib as there was not much to see. The only bit of excitement we had, was having to bend down going under many of the bridges as the tide was high and our heads were in danger of being chopped off.
All the photos have been uploaded, so as soon as we get them into folders, we will put some on the blog. I know, I can't wait either! (My apologies for the exclamation mark abuse, but I don't have any of those smiling faces. Donations accepted…)
There had been a noticeable lack of Irish in Melbourne. We had only met one group to date. On St. Kilda's beach last Wednesday, we heard this boisterous group of young women using a lot of French. We figured that they had to be Irish and they were. A group of twelve (seems to be the popular number) travelling the world, mainly nurses and mainly from Cork and Kerry. We did not chat for too long, as they had this "thing" about the short days and long holidays teachers get. When they found out we were on a "Study Visit" they started using the "J" word and we had to sheepishly leave. (Junket) Anyway today, Lá Fhéile Padraig, we met the country and its mother. The "Supermacs" and Tipp jerseys attracted them like flies.
We went to the AFL Pre-season Grand Final to see Carlton beat Brisbane in the Telstral Stadium, about five minutes walk from our hotel. I was "barracking" for Carlton and Gerry was "barracking" for Brisbane. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and was most impressive. Colm Begley was playing for Brisbane and Setanta Ó Halpín for Carlton. Setanta's brother Aisake would have been playing if he had not misbehaved, last week. Both the lads played well, although Setanta was marking the best player by far Jonathan Brown and he did a good job. He played more or less as a full back, for most of the match. He is very popular here and they reckon that this will be his year. He got a huge cheer when he went up to get his medal.
Couple of Irish pubs. Late night. Blog. Bed. Formula One tomorrow can't wait.
Nath na Seachtaine:
"Come on Irish, come on Irish, ah well played mate."
(Setanta fan)
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