With being busy at work and Niamh bed bound, it's been a quiet enough week. That said, some of the highlights have been; able to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Neighbours at the Elephant for free, as we had been at the trivia night the previous week and had a photo with Dr. Karl Kennedy. We had dinner there this week, and managed to get our photo taken with a few cast members, especially one with Carla Bonner who plays Steph Scully. The trivia this week, was a tad harder than the previous one and the event was completely sold out, so much so, that extra tables had to be brought in.
It wasn't a late one, as I had to be up at 7.30 the next morning, and for the rest of the week. The work in the boardroom was a lot busier than I expected but the staff were friendly.
Thursday morning, Anita and Helena got confirmation about farm work in NSW and Niamh informed me by txt. As we had made plans to meet in town after work, Niamh went in earlier, and strolled upon World Down Sydrome Day event in Fed square with a performance by E.MOTION 21 Dancers and Vanessa Amorosi Singing their theme tune - Absolutely Everybody. Australia was one of the first to celebrate this day.
After work on Friday, I rushed home, to quickly change and meet everyone in Wonderland for Happy Hour to celebrate Anita and Helena leaving do. Which ended up being Teach Seisiún which ran into the wee hours. The following lunch time, it was sad to say our farewells to the girls as they left in the taxi.
To deal with such a loss, Niamh and me, went for lunch at the Spudbar on Chapel St, followed by crying our eyes out over a Ben & Jerry's Sundae.
To relax during the Labour weekend, we decided to catch the tram into the CBD, after our Skype call home to our mother. Whilst there, we ended up at the State Library, where we printed our tickets for the Grand Prix after which we went exploring along South Wharf and DFO. Somehow we managed again to end up in crown for dinner in the food court area, we both had some Indian.
We had a chilling night in, until I somehow ended up out with people from work, which ended up been such a random night out.
Once hangover cleared, we had to do our weekly shop, can't always be fun. Once we made the trek home from the other end of chapel street, we started getting ready for Neighbours trivia night in the Elephant in St Kilda. We arrived about 7pm, during the course of the night we got our photo taken with actors who played Dr Karl Kennedy, Liddy and Malcolm Kennedy, had quiz where our team came 3rd, met some nice and fun people and got to see Dr Karl perform with his band The Waiting Room. However, the highlight was when we aided in helping Niamh win a trip to Uluru which of course was helped with her awesome dancing skills.
It was not a late night as I was up early to start my week working at a solicitors boardroom in the city. The views from this 42 floor of the city were something and was great that I could enjoy them during my break. Although I like the work, these 12 hour days are such a killer. It seems during the day whilst I was at work, poor Niamh had a nasty accident, by tripping over bags in the hall and ended up opening a door across the hall with her head, fracturing her arm and giving herself a black and yes very black eye.
Most of us were up at dawn on Wednesday, to say our goodbyes to Aggie and Karen who were leaving to go do their farm work. After work that day, I began the move up upstairs to a different room in the house. Hello roomie - Niamh. Seems during the day, I found out my phone wouldn't charge, and therefore dead and phoneless.
My Thursday shift wasn't at least as long as the other two, which was a pleasant change. When I came home, I was welcomed to the sight of Niamh in a sling. When I got informed that she went to the A&E at the Alfred hospital, which in total took 4.5 hrs including 10 X-rays. The poor thing in extremely pain, hopefully she on the mend.
I Woke up after a slight lie in, to get ready for my shift at the Grand Prix, thanks to Niamh's wake up call. I collected my uniform and allocation for the day, which was In the paddock building, the corporate suites. The pit lane suite that I was in, was directly above the pit lane. The atmosphere in and around these places was amazing. The staging of the catering and corporate ends alone of this event, was like a military exercise and was interesting to watch. After the end of the shift, finishing later than expected always good, started on the trek back to gate 1 and Peter Rowland's tent, where I somehow managed to talk myself into another shift, the next day and also in the same suite, happy days.
Saturday morning, left extra early before my shift, to find out that the tram wasn't going from St Kilda, so had to get the replacement bus. When it finally arrived, got to gate 1 just at 10, then had to join the uniform and sign in area, which for some god forsaken reason, this took over an hour, when the previous day it only took 10 mins. so just arrived to the corporate suite, the same one as Friday, - Pit lane Suite in time. Where to begin about my shift here, I've never made so many coffees, then there was splitting my time between been a barista and barman. Finally got out just after 8 pm, then had to wait for the 96 tram which seemed to take forever. When I came home, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise, thanks to Niamh, who managed to get my phone fixed for me, even though she still feeling the same.
After a late house party, and putting up some St. Patrick's Day decorations sent to us by our parents, we got up early to get ready for the F1 Grand Prix. After the wash out of the qualifying the previous day, the gates were opening earlier, at 10 am. We arrived just as the gates were been opened, in our case, Gate 10. We walked with the increasing crowds, to steak out a spot, to watch Q2 and Q3 qualifying, we were lucky to have a decent one. After qualifying, we started to explore the various zones and get a quick bite to eat. In the lead up to the race, there were a RAAF, fighter jet and Qantas flyovers, which were just an unreal sight. Our spot for the race it self was perfect. The start of the race, was deafening but was exciting and a thrill to watch. The atmosphere during the race was electric. As Kimi Raikkonen crossed the finish line and won the race, the marshals opened the gates to the track. There was near pandemonium, as thousands of people ran, pushed and crawled to get on to the track. When I managed to worm my way thru, and get on to the track, I sprinted and made it just in time, to see Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel emerge to take the podium. I have never felt anything like the atmosphere, when thousands upon thousands, cheered, screamed and shouted as Kimi received the winner trophy, which was amazing. The whole F1 experience was out of this world.
With work this week, I've ended up at some new locations and venues, starting with Tuesday at the Melbourne Convention Centre (MCC). MCC is such an vast building which seems to just go on for ever. This function was for a big client of both my agency and the convention centre - Cisco live! I have never seen a venue so clinically organised and structured. The function went like clockwise and function after 00.30. So a few of us got a taxi in my directions home. I was informed during the service that one of the woman on my table was paying for the convention and functions that Cisco were holding in both the convention and exhibition centers at a cost of 1 million dollars for the week.
My shift on Wednesday was back at the Hilton on the park, not much positive to say bout how this hotel is structured or run. Anyways as Niamh was working a night shift out in Kew, we decided to meet up in CBD for dinner, as I was working a double shift the next day.
So I was up bright and early , to make the trek to my first shift of the day, at Melbourne Boys Grammar School. This function was for a luncheon as a thank you, to benefactors to the school, in particular to people that were leaving money in their wills. This shift actually over ran, so like lightning speed, made my way across town towards the MCC whilest picking up a subway on route. Barely making it there by check-in time of 5 pm. Whilst I was there waiting, I received a call from the agency to inform me, I was actually in the wrong building and should actually been in the Exhibition Centre. After a mad dash from one end of MCC to MEC finally got there just in time for start of the shift. The team brief outlined the run down of the function for Cisco - theme - seven deadly sins. 7 areas each with a different sin. My responsibility for the night was to serve gelato from ice cream cart in the sloth area to approx 1,500 Cisco staff from around the globe. By the end of the shift my voice had gone hoarse as I was competing against bands, aerobatics, Blackjack tables amongst other stuff. I've never seen a staff party to such a scale. Actually some festivals I've been to haven't been as amazing as this.
Friday morning the whole house were woken suddenly in the wee hours approximately 4.15-4.30 am when all the fire alarms were off at once. Lucky enough just false alarm with no explanation gathered. I went in city early to join another agency where I was lucky enough to get a shift immediately for Saturday out in Flemington racecourse.
After some pointless waiting in the staff area, got my allocation to the members diners restaurant where patrons were been services high tea. The membership of the racecourse is ridiculous money. The life of the rich and powerful. My boss for the day is a multi millionaire. After the shift got the train home where after a quick cold shower, still trying to cope with 30 plus degree weather. Niamh and me got ready to head into CBD for Moomba festival and fireworks. The fireworks commenced at 9.30, like all fireworks displays in Australia, it was amazing. After which we strolled along the Yarra river and thru all activities and events. About 10.30pm we decided to stroll along southbank towards Crown Casino for the fire display show at 11pm, which occurs every hour on the hour from 9 pm to 1am. During the display show, the heat was something fierce. Once the show finished we went about the casino exploring until we came upon a water feature when the thirst came upon us. We came upon P J O Briens lol shock a typical Irish bar. It was hopping busy even though it was gone midnight. We got a drink, settled down, listened to live music and observed the antics of the nearby sailored themed hen party. After which we still managed to get the last tram home.
When we got up Sunday morning, we skyped our mum, to wish her a Happy Mother Day (00.15 Irish time).
The Afternoon after White Night, Niamh and me decided to get the 96 tram towards the Crown Casino for some food, in the burger joint part of MerryWell. The funny thing was, that person who took our order, was the assistant manager from my shift the previous night, he was nice enough to actually give me a staff discount on the food and drink, even though there was happy hour, with a burger and a pint of miller for 15 dollar. Words can't describe how tasty the food was. After our meal, we decided to go exploring around the casino, its such an extravagant and enormous place, with its own shopping mall, nightclubs, and so many restaurants. Within the building, they were housing a replica of a F1 racing car in the lead up the 60th Australian Grand Prix.
After some cancellations and last minute shifts for both Niamh and me during the week, we decided to make the most of our Friday off. So we got up early and got the tram towards the Domain interchange, where we got off and made the short ten mins walk towards the Royal Botanic Gardens information centre. From here, we went on a scenic guided tour led by our tour guide Jane, who gave us both botanical and historical information about the park and its plants. The tour took approx 75 mins and one of the highlights was the ornamental lake which was tranquil, and peaceful yet had beautiful views of the park and the city. Once the tour was finished back at the info center, we walked along the park taking in the views of landscape and the buildings/statues such as the observatory, governor house and of course the Sidney Myer Music bowl.
From the music bowl, we casually strolled along St Kilda road towards the National Gallery of Victoria. We Spent longer here than we had planned, isnt that always the way. There was some interesting pieces by artists such as Picasso, Monet, and Andy Warhol. Once we got our culture fix, we walked along South Bank, to get a bite to eat in Wagamama. After which I got sorted for my shift the next in the office, then we got the tram home. During the short time, we were at home, we had changed our minds bout going to Luna Park, as it seems a bit of a let down after the theme parks in the Gold Coast. Therefore we decided to go instead to Happy Hour and see what all the fuss is about. We happened to make it just before happy hour was over. We managed to have a good laugh in Wonderland for a good while before heading to Lord of the Fries for dinner. As Niamh lost a bet, we had Ben & Jerry's Sundaes on route home. Scrumptious!
It was an early night for me, as I had to be up bright and early, to make my way towards the Pinnacle office, where I was been collected, as we were been driven out to Geelong for our shift. The shift was in the corporate box of the local Aussie rules football club - 'The Cats. The function was for a charity - Cottage by the Sea, where the tickets were 150 dollars each. The head chef who was flown in by Coles from LA, was local boy and celebrity chef, Curtis Stone. Coles also donated all the food and drink for the event. Curtis Stone was a nice guy but like any chef, wouldn't want to cross him in the kitchen. After the lunch, there was an auction with one item, a landscape panting selling in the excess of 7,600 dollars. After the banquet, there was a match between Geelong and Adelaide in the stadium.
As both Niamh and me were up extremely early Sunday morning, we both went to bed nice and early, but with excitement was hard to sleep. We both got up before 6am to get ready and the make our way to Base hostel in St Kilda for our pick up for the tour. We got dropped off at tour head office, were we boarded our coach for the day. After travelling for 2-2.5 hours, our first stop of the day, was at Bells Beach in Torquay, which is one of Australia's famous surfing beaches and home of Rip Curl Surfing Pro, this year will be the 52nd time a competition been held here. We stopped for a short photo opportunity, at the official Great Ocean Road Sign. The Great Ocean Road is an 243 km (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast between Torquay and Warrnambool. This stretch of road was build between 1919 and 1932 by returning world war I soldiers and is considered the world's largest war memorial.
Our next port of call was for a picnic coffee break at a coastal town of Lorne, which was so beautiful and relaxing.
After leaving Lorne, we made the journey onwards towards Apollo Bay, which many consider to be the most picturesque section of the Great Ocean Road, as the highway is carved literally into the sheer cliffs that drop away into the ocean, therefore offering commanding views of the waves from Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. Along this strait of road, we stopped off at various spots including some of the most beautiful beaches we've seen in Australia, and look out points and Split Point Lighthouse where Round the Twist TV Series was filmed.
Before our lunch stop near Cape Otway lighthouse, we stopped for a stroll in Otway national park which is home to an ancient rainforest which has some of the tallest eucalyptus trees in Australia. Although we ended up been tad late, we got our lunch at the cafe near the lighthouse, which was included. We had time to explore the museum and the lighthouse and of course, the views from the top. Exiting the grounds after lunch, we managed to see some wild koalas who had begun to wake up and became active. The road that hugs the coastline between Torquay and Cape Otway is commonly known as Surf Coast.
Further west along the Great Ocean Road from Cape Otway and Shipwreck Coast, we entered Port Campbell National park which is the home to the famous limestone and sandstone formations. First port of call, was along Shipwreck Coast which is the home to Loch Ard Gorge, named after the sinking of Loch Ard Ship in 1878. The Island Arch now officially named Tom and Eva after the arch collapsed in 2009, who were the only two survivors of Loch Ard. From here, we traveled the 10 mins to the 12 Apostles which is the highlight of any Great Ocean Road tour which are a collection of limestone stacks of the shore.
Once we all boarded the bus again, we set on our way back towards Melbourne. We Finally managed to get dropped off in St. Kilda roughly 21.30, approx 15 hours after we began. Although it was quite a long day we both felt, was well worth it.
After work on Friday, I rushed home, to quickly change and meet everyone in Wonderland for Happy Hour to celebrate Anita and Helena leaving do. Which ended up being Teach Seisiún which ran into the wee hours. The following lunch time, it was sad to say our farewells to the girls as they left in the taxi. 
To deal with such a loss, Niamh and me, went for lunch at the Spudbar on Chapel St, followed by crying our eyes out over a Ben & Jerry's Sundae.
