Bob's Lodge, Rathmoylan

Photo: Niamh and Laurie dressed as pop divas (Avril Lavine and Mylie Cyrus)

After a week of looking for a new home we decided to rent 'Bob's Lodge'. I liked the name because it just sounded so bloody Australian. It also had 4 bedrooms and one nice living room downstairs, sep laundry, eat in kitchen and 3 loos. It is smallish (compared to our Junction St mansion) but cosy and set in the picturesque country side of Rathmoylan (pr.'Ratwaylan' by the old locals...yeah bit confusing I know but that is Irish for you). We have a lovely 5 minute drive to the village of Dunmore East where we have most amenities on offer. Im and Shea catch a bus to school each day to Waterford City from the village and Mac and Niamh both go to school down there. It is a beautiful fishing village (we have been told it is a drinking town with a fishing problem).

The highlight of our new home is our friendly neighbours Jane and Ciaran Bailey who have 3 kids (Laurie 12, Ella 9, and Eoin 4). Laurie is in Niamh's class and has welcomed her into her lovely group of friends. Ella and Eoin are also great value and Imogen has become their babysitter earning great money. We have had a few fun nights with the Bailey's and plenty more to come no doubt.

They also have the cutest dog ever Flossy...see photo of Flossy guarding Bob's Lodge below.

Tramore, Dunmore and More

After just one rather disorganised evening in Dublin we were itching to head for our HOME for the next 12 months...Co Waterford that is. Dom headed off to pick up a hire car first thing, the kids and I checked out and patiently (NOT) waited. Four hours later Dom arrived with a rather small family car that we would all ONLY JUST fit in, there are NO Tarago's over here!!! I had thought Avalon House was fine but the kids didn't. "It smelled mum, and there was a group of crazy guys wearing just undies running around the corridor" was their constant chant. European men and their Y fronts are all par for the course of cheap accom in Europe! We need to toughen these soft kids up.

I had booked a youth hostel in a seaside village just south of Waterford called Tramore. I had heard it was a nice place to stay and only 20 minutes south of Waterford City. Well it was nice and we made good friends with Avery and Niamh the hosts of Beach Haven House/hostel. Avs made us feel very at home and gave us good advice about the local area. He and Niamh (proof of how common the name is here) become our first friends. Little did we know that it would be awhile before we made anymore.

Our like for Tramore and the South East Coast was the impetus for us to rent Bob's Lodge (above) out at Dunmore East also a beautiful little village on the coast and 20 minutes South of Waterford.

Welcome to Dublin

Circling around the airport for an hour or so, hoping the weather would warm up, proved ineffective. This was our first sighting of Ireland, and a year's worth of expectations were about to have their initial test.

While Maggie waited for Jason the courier to come for half our luggage {to be delivered to a youth hostel closer to Waterford}, Dom, Niamh and Malachy set off to find, then catch the Blue Bus to Dublin. Taking advantae of the endemic lack of signage, Dom had the three of them waiting at the wrong bus stop, just long enough for the cold change to hit Dublin Airport.

As the cold change became a blizzard, Dom, Mac and Ni' found themselves stranded in an unexpected snow storm, without suitable weather protective clothing, still unsure which bus was ours, trying to push up an interminable ramp at a speed acceptable to a child with no right ventricle, while carrying seven bags. I couldn't help noticing the snow was parallel to the ground, which I took to mean the God's were keen to penetrate any detectable gaps in our clothing.

The trip to the centre of town was spent wondering "what have we got ourselves into".

London

After being a little stunned by Singapore's extreme military consciousness, our next stop showed us exactly the reason the Singapores of the world needed to be aware of foreign military might. London is impressively replete with the fruits of colonial plunder. The British museum alone was enough to make me wonder whether any artifacts had been left in any other country when Britannia ruled the waves.

Putting aside the ill-gotten nature of Imperial wealth, London was fantastic. It didn't disappoint with its sights or atmosphere, or its capacity to show you what it is to be English. Being cold, crowded, grey and gloomy enhanced our sense of distance from home, and pointed to the embarassing stupidity of retaining their Queen as Australia's head of state.

Speakin' of 'er Majesty, we dropped in on some of her neighbours, the Andrews family, who looked after our entry to the land of hope and glory. They may well act as our role models for adaptation to northern culture and climate.

A great catalogue of catching up lay ahead in London, including Molly and Em, Nic and Elle, Bob Marley, Daniel Radcliffe, Kylie, Jesse Owens, Fidel Castro and Charles Darwin. {The last of these particularly impressive, as I had stood on his grave at Westminster the previous morning} I'll post some pictures hoping they count for a thousand words, rather than lapse into listing everything we did and saw in this exciting city. {But can't resist mentioning we saw all the monopoly streets...}

Singapore

The challenges presented on this leg of the journey were; "Why on earth did we book a stopover with all these suitcases to lug around?", "Why are we all wearing ski gear in 27 degree heat?", and "Didn't they mention 100 smokers had stayed in our room yesterday?".














Singapore was something of an unexpected delight, as we couldn't predict what sort of chemistry our children would share with the Hackett children. Dom took a taxi through a brief tropical storm, to James and Maria's house, arriving before our host, who was driving Maggie. The Hacket children were relaxing at home by themselves. An uncomfortable introduction left Josh and Sophie to make the running while two of the Frawley children {no names no court marshall} stood mute, attended by the maid. At some point the waters had been adequately tested, and the group of six ended up having a rollicking good time, and all agreed the humorous pair with international accents were good value. As evidence we have posted a photo from the British Club - a great place to relax in the absence of an Australian Club. Maria and James were both generous hosts and handy cultural guides, easing our way through a stopover which had threatened to be more trouble than Britneys marriage.

Can anyone verify James's theory that the high humidity is the secret to eternal youth? {Hair and nails seem to grow at similar speed to the lush tropical flora}

Departure Day

Howdy Friends and Family,

On the 24th January 2008 our great friends Leonie, Ange and Aunty Brigitte packed us into 3 cars and took a nervous family to Kingsford Smith airport for our one year adventure abroad.

Having not travelled O/S with the kids (and 18 bags) before, the parents (that's us) were on the guard for some small disaster. Luckily for us the first leg of the journey went to plan. Eight hours after take off we landed at Singapore airport at 10pm.

We had a booking at the 'Traders' hotel for 2 nights and would catch up with our old friends Maria and James Hackett.