Back in the Emerald Isle

We are back! We have been incredibly slack at writing a blog, but at last... 2 weeks late here it is.

Photo(left to right): Tillers (Kiwi living in Scotland), Natalie (flatmate), Anna (Polish friend of girls), Sarah (flatmate and Natalies step sister), and two cool dudes.

We found our way to Sarah and Natalie's house (NZ'rs) and have been staying there now for two weeks. We are also living with three Irish people Jonto, Jolene, and Richie. It's a nice house and thanks to the flatmates letting us have the spare room (much appreciated), we hav'nt been paying one cent in accomodation costs. We have spent our time finishing CV's, looking for jobs, buying a guitar (YES!), practicing beach volleyball on grass, and yes - watching a lot of soccer world cup. We have also travelled to Dublin and Wexford for two beach volleyball tournaments each weekend. The level is somewhat lower than NZ standards, so we actually have a chance! On Saturday, we beat the eventual winners in pool play 21-9. Pity our skills failed us afterwards and we came in the 5th-8th bracket. Great craic though! Apparently Irish beach volleyball is more about drinking and socialising, as the night before we all stayed in three houses hired out for the volleyballers, and drunk till the wee hours of the morning. Grabbed a few hours sleep, then headed to the beach to play volleyball all day in the bright sun. Only to repeat the drinking that night!


Photo(left to right): Rachel (Irish non volleyballer friend of others), Doireann (organiser, hypo chick), Jen and boyfriend Oran (no idea how to spell),

The Irish are a funny lot. As soon as the sun shines, guess whats on the menu... yes, a tasty Fried Irish wrapped in crispy red skin, and cooked in sunscreen-free oil. Unbeleivable... I now think New Zealanders are considerably sun-smart compared to these crazy Irish. I saw horrific peeling for days. We also went to see the play "Alone it stands" just two days before the first All Black test against Ireland. It is a memorable moment in 1978 when Munster beat the All Blacks 12-0. Very funny play where 6 actors make up about 65 roles. Good laugh, though we thought we'd hexed the AB's after we saw the first half of the test! We actually were in a small beach town north of Dublin and were wondering at 8:30am trying to find a place that had the Rugby on - eventually we found a hotel that let us watch and gave us free coffee... brilliant!

Here are some photos: