Connellan Reunion 2013

                                               

Connellans originally from Lisroe, Kilmaley, Co. Clare are cordially invited for the reunion this August 14th - 15th. Everyone welcome.

So far we are expecting in excess of 60-80 people including :
Hickeys from Canada,
Keanes from Ireland, England and New Zealand,
Connellans from the UK,

Dohertys from the UK

Ruegers from New York

Murphys from Ennis, Co.Clare

Any other Connellans descended from the Connellans from Lisroe are most welcome..

There promises to be Ceol, Ól agus Craic.

Let this be a Reunion to remember. 

CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE TO ALL THE CONNELLAN EXTENDED FAMILIES.

WELCOME HOME ONE AND ALL. 

Van Diemens Land

When we landed into Hobart International airport, we got the redline airporter bus into Hobart and to our hostel the Pickled Frog on Liverpool St. It was a quirky type of hostel, with the first thing you see, is the open fire just inside by reception. We got our keys to our 3 bed room, and luckily for us, it was only the two of us in the room for the 2 nights. We decided to go to the Shamrock for dinner which has ten dollar meals and the plates were quite full and yummy.

It was a 8 am pick up and start for our Port Arthur tour, the following morning. The first port of call was the historic village of Richmond, famed for the Richmond bridge, Australia oldest bridge still in use, constructed in 1823. Afterwards, heading down south to the Tasman Peninsula and visiting the Tasman National Park and a Waterfall Bay coastal walk with views of the rugged coastline. After here, we arrived at the Port Arthur Historic site. Our tour guide David, gave everyone on the tour, a playing card, and each card was different and corresponded to a convict. The goal was to investigate the fate of your convict, if ye made it out or not. Also included in the price was a guided introductory tour and a harbour cruise around the bay. The tour detailed the origins of Port Arthur, and its successive history and the lives of its inhabitants. After this tour, we had some free time before the cruise, to explore the grounds.

We walked from officers avenue up towards the separate prison, which entailed each prisoner been in isolation for their duration before been transferred to the Penitentiary (3-4 months on arrival or as a punishment). From here, we entered the building next door, which was the lunatic asylum, which was the only building not constructed fully using convict labour due to the aged population at the time. After exploring this building, we went on our way towards the ferry terminal for the cruise. The cruise brought us near the isle of the dead and Point Puer boys prison and to other surrounding areas. On returning from the cruise, we finished wondering through the grounds before lunch including the commandant's house, hospital, Smith O'Brien cottage an Irish political prisoner and of course the Penitentiary itself.

Once everyone boarded the bus again, we made the short trip to a local chocolate factory called Federation chocolate which was yummy. After this yummy trip, we went to visit the Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen. The arch from the right view, was quite impressive. From here it was a short journey through a small town called Doo where all the houses had something to do with Doo in the title. The funniest had to be was Doo F@*k all which was more ironic as we passed, there were 3 men sitting on a porch drinking. The whole bus were in stitches as we passed. Before heading back to Hobart, we stopped off at Pirates Bay Lookout at the coastal views and the Blowhole. We returned to Hobart about 6 pm.
                                            

After a slight lie in, we checked out and made our way to Salamanca Markets at about 10 am. The markets seems to just go on forever, we bought some delicious organic woodfired pizza and home made pumpkin soup. As it started to rain, we went in for coffee in a place called Doctor coffee, Liam said it was ironic that he had to come to Hobart for a cup of decent coffee. Once the rain ceased, we continued exploring the markets before hopping on the hopper bus, a free shuttle that runs on a loop around the city on Saturday. 

At 6 pm, we got the redline shuttle back to the airport, it was a tad disappointing that the last 2 jam packed weeks were coming to an end as we boarded the Jetstar plane back to Melbourne. As we were about to land, Liam put it perfectly, that we need a holiday to get over this trip lol.

Encounters of the Fun Kind

After arriving into Gold Coast, we caught the Gold Coast shuttle to our hotel, the Seaworld Resort. Luckily our room was ready, so were able to check in early and get settled in. We were upgraded to the Queen Superior Deluxe room instead of the normal twin superior room. After a while, we made our way into park, and got the paperwork sorted for our animal encounters, the penguins and the seals, which were to run consecutively from 2 pm. Before the first encounter, we went first to meet Dora and Liam had his picture taken with her.

The Penguin encounter experience was out of this world and utterly describable. One of the highlights was being able to play with and pat the Gentoo Penguins. Also included in the price was a photo each.

After the penguin encounter, we quickly made our way towards our 2nd animal encounter, the seal safari, which was to commence at 2.55 pm. During this encounter, we got to meet, Charlie the Australian Sea lion, Wendell the Californian Sealion and Carter the New Zealand fur seal. We got to play, feed and pat each of the seals and got a free photo momento.  

 
 During the animal encounters, Liam like the big kid that he is, had to go meet Diego and have his photo taken with him. Once we collected our photos, we got the monorail to the resort, to rest and get ready for our 6 pm pick up for the Australian Outback Spectacular, which is located between  Movieworld and Wet n Wild. There was pre-show entertainment, and the chance to meet some of the animals that perform in the show. We got seated and got our entree at approx half 7. The entree entailed of mango salad swag. There was drinks served throughout the show. The main course was served in sync with the story of the show. The main course was rib eye steak whilst Liam had a ratatouille pastry. Dessert consisted of Pavlova. We both agreed the food was scrumptious and the show itself was superb. The show told the story of how horses were of importance to the outback and of Phar Lap, the most famous Australian racehorse.

The following morning, we got up for the Dolphin Presentation, which is free to resort guests who stay 2 plus nights. The presentation was a training session with 4 different dolphins. It was a fun and informative session. After this, we made our way to the bus stop, to make our way to Movie world. To our pleasant surprise, a bus driver dropped us off to a more direct bus route free of charge. From here, the next stop was theme parks. When we made our way in to Movie World, We went to the Hollywood stunt drivers show at 11am, it was a packed house. It was a fun packed interesting show, seeing cars doing unbelievable stunts. After this show, we got to see What's up Rock, which was performed on Main Street under the big screen. Liam then got his picture taken with Austin Powers and his car.

We then went on the Scooby Doo spooky coaster, which according to Liam is my favourite ride, not!.  We managed to catch the end of the Wild West show, where we realised we didn't miss much. Liam, decided it was time for him to go on the Superman rollercoaster, his favourite by far at Movie World. We then went to see Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 4D in the Roxy Theatre. On the way for ice cream, we noticed Marilyn Monroe in the Movie World golden car about to start singing. The song in question was "Some like it Hot". We decided to stroll through Kids World and happened upon Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird. On our way back to Main street, I managed to get a picture and cuddle with Shaggy and Scooby Doo.

After this, we went to Ben & Jerry's. While having ice cream we spotted Dorothy in her ruby shoes, heading up Main Street, so we headed to follow her and lucky that we did, as she then performed Somewhere over the Rainbow after Batman pulled away in the Bat-mobile. Ironically enough, soon afterwards, we meet Catwoman further down Main Street. On our way to the Justice League ride, we were luckily enough to get a photo with some of the justice league, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Flash. After the ride, on our way up Main Street, we got to shake hands and photos with Batman and Marilyn Monroe.
The day seemed to fly, because before we knew it, it was time for the All Star Main Street Parade which is always full of fun and excitement.

After the parade, we got the bus back towards Southport and then walked the rest of the way to the resort, where we booked dinner and went for a swim and a dip in the spa pool. After dinner which consists of a world style buffet, we went outside to observe the Splash bash, water and light show at 8pm. The way the light show was conducted was hilarious and full of fun.

To our dismay, our seaworld adventure had to come to an end, although it ended on a high with a photo with Dora and Diego in the hotel lobby on our way to the airport shuttle. The majority of our day was spent travelling from Gold Coast to Melbourne then onto Hobart, both flights were with Virgin Australia.  

Blue Mts to Summer Bay

We arrived from Ayers Rock Connellan Airport into Sydney and caught the Air train into Central Station. Once there, we crossed the road to our accommodation, YHA Central. Which has to be noted, has been the best hostel, we have stayed at in Sydney. After we got settled and relaxed for a while, we went exploring up George's street. We ended up having dinner in Wagamama's and got a offer on dessert, 2 for 1.

Sunday Morning, it was 7.30 am start for the Blue Mountains tour, when we were collected outside our accommodation. First stop of the tour, was at the featherdale wildlife park, where we saw native Australian mammals and birds. This park is home to over 2,200 animals. We received a small cute koala souvenir. From here, Steve our tour guide, brought us to a park and showed us how to throw a boomerang.

Before lunch, we entered the National Park, and stopped off at the Wentworth Falls, which was a nice and short stroll with beautiful views. We stopped for lunch in a quaint village called Leura, which is nicknamed the garden village. From here we went the short journey towards Katoomba, which is the chief town of the city of the Blue Mountains. It's in this area, where we stopped at the echo point and saw the famous Three Sisters.

 

We all hopped back on the bus, and made the journey towards Scenic world, where we got to Scenic Skyway, Scenicsender and the Steepest Railway in the world at 52 degrees inclined. Scenic world was quite an experience, especially doing the railway in both directions. After we left Scenic world, we made the journey towards the Homebush Bay ferry terminal, stopping off at the Sydney 2000 Olympic site. We cruised down the Parramata River into Sydney harbour, where the tour finished. It was a tiring day but worth it.

8am the following morning, we got up, packed and checked-out and made the short stroll up to Railway Square, to catch the L90 bus towards Palm Beach, the spiritual and geographical location of Summer Bay. The bus journey itself, takes approx about 90 mins from Railway Square. Once we arrived, the first port of call, of course was Palm Beach, the location of some of the shows most famous storylines. From the beach, we strolled over to the surf club where the was amazing views of the beach. We decided it was time for brunch, and made our way to the Boat house, which is the location of The Pier Diner in the show. The food, drink and service were ace, although on the tad expensive side. It was nice beautiful day, so it was a pleasant to eat outside by the pier. After brunch,  we saw the location of Alf's bait shop and other locations featured in the show.
                        
Once we finally got back into Sydney, we caught the train to Mascot, and walked the short journey to our hotel, Formule 1 hotel.  The hotel was located about ten mins walk to Domestic Terminal 2. We ended up ordering pizza delivery, as it was cash only, we made the trip to the airport for ATM, however the ironic thing is, that the delivery man had arrived to our room before we had. We relaxed watching Doctor Who whilst having the takeaway.

The following morning, we got up and made the short trip to the airport and boarded our Jetstar flight to the Gold Coast, which departed at 8.55 am.

 

Rock the Centre

Tuesday May 7th, it was quite an early start, finalizing our packing and stuff before getting the airport shuttle at the end of the street. We arrived at the airport just after 7am and then we made our way thru security in domestic terminal, towards the gate. We boarded the Qantas 737-800 series plane and departed at approx 8.45 am. The flight was smooth, with on board food and entertainment. When we arrived, we got the free shuttle to our accommodation, Alice Lodge backpackers however, we got upgraded to their sister accommodation, the Alice Motor Inn. Once we got checked-in and settled, we went off exploring around Alice Springs before getting the local bus out towards Araleun Cultural Precinct. Once in the precinct, we made our way to the Aviation Museum, which is housed in the old Connellan Airways hanger. The museum is a memorial to the pioneers in aviation in Northern Territory, started by EJ Connellan. The museum was quite interesting and full of information. Right next to the museum, is the Memorial Cemetery which EJ, and members of his family are buried.

                         

 
After here, we went exploring the rest of Alice Springs, seeing sights such as the Royal Australian Flying Doctors, Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Adelaide House - first hospital in Central Australia, and Lasseters casino where parts of Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed. As recommended by reception at our accommodation, the best views of the city were at sunset from ANZAC hill.
As it was a 6 am pick up for our Adventure tour of the red centre, it was an early enough night. After a few formalities at the tour office, we got on our way towards to Kings Canyon. Our first port of call was Stuart's Well, an outback camel farm, 90km south of Alice Springs. Continuing along Stuart's Highway until the interaction with Lasseter's Highway, we stopped for breakfast break at Erldunda, which is 200 km south of Alice.  After this pitstop, we continued along Lasster's Highway until we stopped for a toilet break at King's Creek Station, where there were baby camels, calves, kangaroo and horses. We finally made the remaining 50 km to Kings Canyon resort for lunch. During lunch we decided to do a helicopter flight over Kings Canyon. Before the flight, we did the creek walk around Kings Canyon.

The duration of the flight was approx 30 mins around Kings Canyon, garden of Eden, domes of the Lost City, Kings creek, Carmichael Crag, George Gill Range to Kathleen Springs over to Peterman Pound. Also during the flight, the pilot showed us where scenes from Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed. This flight helped me get over my fear of flying in small air crafts. After this, we meet up with rest of the tour and got some provisions for camp that night. We all bonded over Dinner and games. We slept in a swag under the stars. 

The following morning, it was a 6 am start, we all had breakfast, packed up the camp and got on our way. The first picture stop of the day was at Mount Conner, a non sacred site to the aboriginals. After this we made a quick pitstop at Curtin Springs, last port of call before we got to Ayers Rock resort. We made camp, had lunch before entering Uluru - Kata Tjuna National park. We did the base walk around Uluru, which entailed over a 8.5 km walk, encountering several sacred sites to aboriginals. After visiting the culture centre, we made our way to the sunset viewing dunes, where we can the sun set at about 6.30pm. I was informed later by a mate who works in the longitude resort, that it was the best sunset for days. For dinner we had Aussie BBQ, beef, kangaroo steak and camel sausages whereas Liam had variety of stuffed peppers and salads. After dinner, we all relaxed by a campfire, roasting marshmallows, talking. Like the previous night, we slept under the stars.
              

                   

It was a 5am start, the next morning, as we were getting ready for the sunrise, we made the short bus journey and got ready. The sunrise over Uluru was truly spectacular. From here, we made the 20 min journey to Kata Tjuna (Olgas). Where we all did the 6 km walk around Kata Tjuna which took approximately 2.5 hrs. After the walk, we went back to camp for lunch, before getting on our way. Kate our tour guide, who had been amazing and such a great laugh, dropped me and Liam off at our accommodation in Uluru, the Outback Pioneer Lodge. We spent the day resting and exploring the town centre. That night, I had an Aussie burger, which consisted of a big slab of beef, bacon and cheese, while Liam had a veggie wrap.

After a short sleep-in, we packed up and waited for the shuttle to take us to Connellan Airport, where we boarded our qantas flight to Sydney.