Maz NZ and Oz: April 2007

Australia Zoo 17 March 2007

In keeping with tradition - I spent St Patrick's Day at the Zoo. Australia Zoo, that is. I was working in our Brisbane office on the Thursday and Friday of that week so on the Saturday, Kim very kindly drove us up the Sunshine Coast to what was Steve Irwin’s Zoo. I was actually a little surprised because I was expecting the Zoo to be the biggest one, like, ever. But in fact, the zoo is fairly moderately sized and is very focused on conservation and education and most of the inhabitants are either native to Australia or were introduced a long time ago.
In the Crocoseum, we saw a show aimed at educating visitors to the Zoo about Crocodiles and Snakes. I learned that when confronted by a snake, you should not panic and try to kill the snake (most snake bites are the result of a person trying to whack the snake with the nearest stick, apparently). The best thing to do is to panic and run away. Sound advice as far as I'm concerned!

Sydney St Patrick's Day Parade 11 March 2007

St Patrick's Day came early in Sydney this year. This was because the 75th anniversary of the Harbour Bridge was on the 18th of March, so the city couldn't really cope with two large celebrations over one weekend. So Sydney went green on the 11th of March.Emma (flatmate), Saloni (workmate) and I had a great day although it wasn't really like a St Patrick's Day Parade at home. The sun was shining for a start, and we were..... DRY! No rain at all.

This is Damien Leith - he's Irish but has been living in Australia for years and years and he recently won Australian Idol.

These wee Irish dancers were sooooooo cute! Wobbling all over the place... just adorable!

QE II and QM II Visit Sydney 20 Feb 07

My cousin Ciara McLoughlin came to visit Sydney during her trip around the world, and as luck would have it - the QE II and QM II were also visiting Sydney at that time. Ciara, Saloni, Emma and I took a trip into town and waited while the QEII made her way in to Circular Quay.

It was a spectacular sight and there were helicopters everywhere. Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Opera House were crowded and there was a wonderful atmosphere as everyone came to see the two most famous passenger ships in the world.

Chinese New Year's Parade Feb 07

Ballarat 26 - 27 January 2007

After the Great Ocean Road, we headed inland towards Ballarat to visit my mother's aunt, Vera. The landscape driving though Victoria was pretty bleak. It's difficult to imagine the effects of a severe drought when you come from the West of Ireland. Fields with scattered tufts of brown grass stretched to the horizon and there was no stock to be seen.

We arrived in Ballarat at about lunchtime and were warmly welcomed by Auntie Vera and some of the other Sisters. We then went to see Sovereign Hill, a recreation of a gold-mining town. This was how Ballarat (and many other towns and cities in Victoria) was founded. It was well worth the visit, although the height of summer may not be the best time. We were well toasted by the sun.

The following day, we had a stroll around Ballarat and a walk through the Botanical Gardens. One of the most striking things about Ballarat was the empty Lake Wendouree. The lake was the site of the rowing events in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and now, due to the severe droughts, it is utterly dry. The locals are, naturally, very concerned but Auntie Vera told us that a man who was old enough to remember the last time the lake dried up completely said that the following year, there was such flooding that the lake expanded out on to the road that surrounds it.

After a delicious lunch, we headed off to Melbourne again as we were both flying out very early the next morning.

Great Ocean Road Jan 07

After watching lots of Tennis in Melbourne we hired a car and hit the Great Ocean Road. We drove through Torquay and made our way to Warrnambool via some lovely towns like Lorne and Apollo Bay where we stopped for a swim. As we left Lorne, we noticed a number of cars pulled in along the side of the road so we stopped too and got out to see what was going on. As it turned out, there were a number of Koala's in the trees at that point so we spent a few minutes there watching them and taking photos. There was one baby Koala who was particularly cute. S/he was cuddled up with Mammy Koala at first, but then climbed down a branch backwards to have a snack on some leaves and pose for some pictures: