A long night followed by an early morning…it was Christmas party central on our floor last night with festivities going until about 3.30am… Sadly I didn’t have the will to join the revellers, I was also a bit nervous as it sounded like they were having wrestling competitions in the room next to ours and they looked way to big for me to take on!

Breakfast at 6.00 with bags out the front by 6.45am, and we all managed it!  There are of. Ourse incentives for being on time, we have watched the boys do push ups in the parking lot which made the supporters very very nervous.  Jason Saddington (a retired AFL player for the Swans and the mighty Blues) is one of the boys coaches and you can see a glint in his eye when he looks at all of us and so I’m not completely convinced that he wouldn’t expect us to drop to the ground and give him 20 if we were insubordinate and/or late!

We had been warned that it might be a bit rough this morning, but as far as I am aware only the kids that are already sick were affected by the high seas. Sadly an awful 24 hour virus is going through the boys group and each morning we have been greeted by more ashen faces (fortunately not the robust Gungahlin crew !) It started with a poor boy who took ill on the flight over, and since then boys have been dropping off one by one.

Some of us did take sea sickness tablets, so maybe they do actually work,  as you couldn’t stand outside and have a Titanic moment without being concerned that you might be picked up and tossed overboard.

 The ferry is massive with cabins you can hire ( hmmm for 3 hours) , two free cinemas today they were playing Jurrasic World and San Andreas, Xbox stations and plenty of food choices. We spent the three hours drinking coffee, playing games of 500 (Vic thinks Isaac and I are soft touches, just between us we are just luring him in and will snap him in two eventually) and chating the trip away.

Whilst we mainly hang together, each of us is branching out a little, and getting to know our fellow travellers better which is nice. The boys are spending time with some nice kids, so it is all full of the blade (going pretty well).

It is now time to say slan (farewell)to the boys who are off to meet their hosts for the next two nights, we will see them tomorrow at Croke Stadium.

Once the supporters group is off the ferry we meet our new coach driver Eoghan, a Dubliner who is with us for our time here in Ireland, he is great and has that relaxed self deprecating manner that the Irish have about them. Some of the things he told us include:

• the name for Dublin in Gaelic is both Dubh Linn and Baile Atha Cliath, which means the Ford of the Reed Hurdles
• The city is 44.5 square miles
• The O’Connell Bridge that is over the River Liffey is the same width as it is long
• The oldest pub in Ireland the Brazen Head is in Dublin (we had a beer there last time we were in this fair land ) it was built in 1198
• There are no Catholic cathedrals in Dublin
• 1970 was the first year that Catholics could go to Trinity College
• Guinness was the first company to recognise the widows pension
• Easter Monday 1916 was the day of the uprising declaring Irish independence, the famous James Connolly along with 95 others were arrested, with Connolly being the last to be executed, because he was badly injured the English had to tie him to his chair so he could stay upright so that they could shoot him dead !!!!

 A stop for a late lunch and a wander around the city then  off to the Hotel Ibis near the airport to check in. A couple of hours at the hotel and then back into the city for dinner, where those of us who were happy to venture out  despite the horizontal rain (about half of us stayed at the hotel) split  up to find some fine Irish tucker, and music, there is nothing quite like hearing a classic with an Irish twist, it is certainly something I could listen to for a long time. Steve and I joined of parents and grandparents from Adelaide and went to The Old Storehouse bar and restaurant, where the cider and seafood chowder were good, and the music even better.  Back to the hotel for an early night as tomorrow is another big day!