Greeted by familiar voices at end of memory lane
When I first visited Australia all of 26 years ago, to me Brisbane was the place that had everything. Back then, as now, Ireland was in the midst of a recession.
Sydney offers a reflection of what Cork could be like with a decent climate and a bit of creative imagination to maximise the advantages of such a natural harbour. The city is vibrant with the vast collection of towering cranes that once dominated the skylines of Dubai and Dublin now in evidence all over the place.
While the country is still booming, due primarily to the rich pickings emanating from a robust mining industry, the property bubble that has crippled so many European cities seems to have gone unnoticed in this part of the world.
Arriving at Kingford Smith Airport, the excellent city train link has you passing Circular Quay in just 15 minutes. The first glimpse of the Harbour Bridge and the famous Opera House offered confirmation that my 27-hour trek since leaving Cork had come to an end. Images of those early New Year’s Eve celebrations when the ‘Coat Hanger’, as the bridge is affectionately known, is lit up by a cacophony of fireworks immediately flash through the mind.
The bridge took on a different perspective for me 10 years ago during the World Cup when I completed the now famous walk across the top of the bridge’s metal structure. That attraction was in its infancy at that stage but has now become one of the must-do things in Australia.
Forewarned about the massive and continually expanding Irish emigrant population and having witnessed the by-product of it at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, I was still taken aback by the sheer volume of Irish out here at present. Even before I arrived, connections were made. Taking my seat for the 12-hour flight from London to Hong Kong, the lady sitting next to me immediately enquired if I was travelling on to Australia for the rugby.
She was heading for China, a journey she makes for a 10-day period every month, working for an Irish IT company. On the second leg from Hong Kong to Sydney the couple sitting in front of me were also taking in part of the Lions tour while visiting their son and his family. He went to Australia for a year back in 1986 but never came home.
I just wonder how many of the current generation will do likewise.
After another short hop by train on the day of my arrival to the headquarters of the Australian rugby union to collect my tour accreditation, I got lost on the way back when exiting Wynyard Station and stopped three different people for directions. From that random trio, one was from Mayo, the other Wexford. Thankfully their job prospects were better than their sense of direction.
Given that this is my eighth trip to Australia there are certain steps that have to be retraced on this journey over the course of the next few weeks. Attempting to stay up as late as possible on the night of my arrival to fight off the dreaded jet lag, I headed to the Rocks area near Circular Quay.
After grub and a quick visit to the famous Mercantile pub where so much of the team bonding with the 1989 Lions squad took place, I was reminded of Jim Telfer’s rant about Irish players on tour and their first priority when arriving at any new venue — locate the nearest Irish pub.
Saturday’s return visit to the Sydney Football Stadium, or the Allianz Stadium to give it its new commercial title — it appears that every venue on this trip has a different name since my last visit — offered a stark reminder of the volume of support the Lions will enjoy in the Test series, with much of the attention focused on new arrival Simon Zebo.
His video rap with Paddy Jackson playing the roles of Jay-Z and Kanye West — not that I knew who they were before resorting to Google — was the talk of the place. The Irish fans love him with that infectious smile of his.
As for Canberra, suffice to say this was my fourth trip to the purpose-built seat of parliament and capital city and apart from the two Lions encounters against the locals in 1989 and 2001, I had no recollection of the place — with good reason as it turned out.
If you’re planning on visiting Australia anytime soon feel comfortable in opting to give that place the miss out pass. You won’t be sorry.
I am sure the Lions party feel the same way, but perhaps for different reasons.
