Merry Christmas

Hi All,

We are sorry for not been in touch!! We've just been having such a great time! Out ever night!! We want to wish everyone we know a Merry Christmas, - the Gannons in Offaly & Manchester! the Doyles, the Behans in Dublin & Meath! The Rooneys in Dublin & Mayo!! All the people we've met along the way, especially Stephanie, Tracy, Faith & Rachel (if ya reading this guys hope ya still having a blast no matter where you are), & of course Eileen & Clare (who have opened our eyes!!!!) And of course all our mates from home (sorry guys ain't missing you lot that much!!)

And of course, Moo would like to say hi too! I'm a bit worried Molly, he's been enjoying himself too much, but i'll try my best to convince him to come home! He's been spending way too much time on the beach!! He's losing his pasty colour!

May you all have a happy new year..............

Missing you all :)

Our First BBQ

We had our very first Aussie BBQ yesturday. The rain has stopped & it finally looks like summer is ecoming. Thats Eamon in the picture above fishing in the bucket for some beers. The BBQ was to go on for 3 hrs. Being Irish every lad brought a crate a beer " As sure isnt better to be looking at it, than looking for it". So as you can imagine it went on way past 3 hrs. And amazinginly enough there wasnt much drink left!! Typical Irish.

Movember

For those of who dont know its the month of Movember! A month when the men in Australia have a excuse not to shave and make fools of themselves. The guys (& some women too I believe!) grow obnoxious beards, the handles, as its so called. Its all done to raise awareness of prostate cancer. However a month is a bit long for my liking. Also Anthony is beginning to think he looks attractive. With the lads all encouraging him, i am just gonna have to stick out the month.

Teppanyaki Restaurants

On Friday night I went a Teppanyaki Restaurant for a friends birthday. It was brilliant. Teppanyaki (teppan'yaki) is a type of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word "teppanyaki" is derived from teppan which means iron plate, and yaki which means grilled. They cook the food right in front of you. We got soup, octopus, prawns, chicken & beef. Even if you reckon that you couldnt handle the food just go for the experiance. Ah the craic we had. The best part about is they get you invloved. They throw food & you have to catch it. They actually throw eggs at you & you have to catch them in a bowl. Not many people are successful. So its quite fun - (tip- never were any fancy clothes). Then they prepare the rice, which when cooked you have to catch. Of course some lads go a bit far & start a food fight. Not sure if that is allowed,but we didnt get kicked out. All fun & games.

Sydney Motor Show

We attended the international motor show, here in Darling Harbour Sydney. They had some amazing classic cars, like the one above. Cars are so much cheaper here. You could get a brand new Opel Astra twin top convertable (just added to my wish list!) for $47K(28Keuro) with the whole shabang!! Check out our bebo for some more photos of the cars.

Skype

We downloaded skype last night. Its excellent. Our lap top has a built in web cam. So anyone who talks to us via skype can see us. Our user name is 'gannonbehan'. I recommend everyone to set it up. You just download it and add your friends. When both people are on skype its free. For those of you who dont know - go to http://www.skype.com/. Just give us a text and we'll go online & have a chat!! Anyone who has a bebo page should know that you can register your username from skype with them, so friends can add you. Good luck skyping... hope to hear from some of you soon... although do bear in mind the time difference (you are 9 hrs behind us)

Hello strangers....

Been a while...Sorry!! Just having too much fun! We're still in sydney. Looks like we're gonna be here a while. I have a 6 month contract which i can pretty much extend longer if i wish. Everyone is right. You do get sucked in by Sydney. Ya couldnt ask for a better way of life here. We're thinking of moving again, maybe out to Bondi. Close to beach and the night life is good there too! Im loving my new job. People are awesome & work is quite busy at the moment. So days fly by. Anto job is going good too...He starts at 7 finishes at 3 (&he calls it work). He wears shorts to work :)

Sorry nothing else to report. We get our laptop monday so hopefully we'll update this somemore.

We are going to climb the Harbour Bridge in Nov, with a few from my job. Might head out to the Blue Mountains too.

We have made two really good friends, we met in San Francisco. But we must part ways. Clare & Eileen are heading to Melbourne shortly. Clare is from Kildare & Eileen is from Dublin. We wish them well on there travels & im sure we'll meet again in Dublin. Awesome Girls...

Sydney

Hi all,
Sorry its been a while! Been a bit busy. We arrived in Sydney on 6th Sept. Sydney is fab. Anto got a job, but then quit (slave labour!!). Then when he quit i got a job!! I got a 6 month contract as a financial accountant. Similiar to my last job. Its a nice company. They even have a pool table in the board room. So its work work work now. I get the trrain to work. Its not that far, just 2 stops. The trains have 2 floors and are very regular. (Hint hint irish rail).

We are living in a nice big 3 story house with 3 English, 3 Italian, 1 Brazilian & 1 German. Like i said its a big house. we have the attic room, which is huge. We have cable & DVD in our room. We are within walking distance of the city centre and Kings cross & right beside Oxford street. For those who dont know, Oxford street has good night life (mostly a gay scene). We went out to the beach in Bondi last week. Its really nice, but not exactly warm enough yet for a bikini. Although i did spot a few surfers in bikinis (Well anto did). There are so many shopping centres here. Also some really big markets. We have also visited the Opera House & the harbour bridge. The bridge is a monster.

We have the internet in the house but its a really old computer, so no usb key. I promise to get some photos up by the weekend.

By the way for those of you who dont know, ny favourite Nephew Karl got 9 honours & 1 pass in his Junior Cert. Well done Karl. xxx We all know who ya take after so.....ME...

chat soon

Skiing

We went skiing for 3 days in Queenstown, at the Remarkables. It was brilliant. Anyone that hasnt done skiing before should give it a go. I was terrified at first. But it didnt take me long to get into it. We had lessons as part of our package. I was even better than anto!! But I didnt get to do my 3 days as i got very sick, so unfortunately anto jumped ahead of me in the rankings!! When i went back on the 3rd day anto was up on the big slopes. Its not really difficult. We'll definitly booking a skiing package when we get home.

Bungy No. 2

The Ledge Bungy 47m

This has been by far the funiest moment. With this bungy the rope is attached to your waist (rather than your feet). So what most people do is run off the ledge. This is what anto intended to do. He ran, but got to the ledge & decided he would stop, but as he'd been running his momentum brought him off the bridge, side ways. It was hilarious.

shotover Jet

Well i also did the shotover jet. It reaches up to 80kmh and does 360 degree spins. As ya can see from the photo it is quite close to the rocks which is scary. This isn not a ride for pussys!! :)

Nut case

But of course going up in a helicopter wasnt enough for anto. He wanted to jump out of a plane!!

Chicken Shit

So ya probably all asking the question- what have I (Babs) been doing. Nothing too dramatic as Anthony!! Well for starters i got to go up in a helicopter to the Franz Jospeh Glacier. Scared silly going up!! The views were breathtaking! Once up there we got to hike on the ice for about 2 hours. We heard rumbling in the distance that sounded like an avalanche, but it was just some ice falling down (about the size of a 7 story building!!). Were instructed to follow the guides foot steps as there are some dangerous cracks in the ice. One poor unfortunate girl fell into a hole full of water up to her waist!!

Bungy No. 1

Kawarau Bridge 43m

This is the 1st of three bungys anthony intends on doing. He started off small with 43m. Kawarau Bridge is the first commercial bungy. We have a dvd which isnt complete yet as he has 2 more to do. Once its done we'll send it home to you to have a good laugh at him scaring himself stupid.

Welcome Jake-Anthony

Welcome Jake-Anthony

We would like to welcome the newest addition to the Gannon clan- Jake-Anthony. That other lovely little girl is 18 month old Katelyn. I think everyone will agree with me that Jake is one big baby, weighing in at over 8lb. He makes Katelyn look small & she ain't!! Well done Christina (& of course Niall, we know he played some part in this!!) Keep putting the photos up on Bebo Catriona! Bebo is very addictive in the beginning!

The photo below shows (from left to right) Rachel (10),Sarah(5), Katelyn(1.5) & Jake (approx 55hrs old!!). Aren't they so cute!!

White Water Rafting

anthony went white water rafting this morning. This picture was taking just as they were about to drop off a 7m waterfall. Not my cup of tea!!

Kia Ora

Thats a picture of the sunrise in Whitianga, which we could view from our bedroom window. Its quite amazing to watch it rise up from the sea. We went scuba diving in Ha Hei in the reserve. There were seals beside us! We had to drop into the water backwards from the boat. I couldnt do it, so they let me step in to the water. There were so many fish. We got to feed them. We also seen an ocotopus. It changed colour right in front of out eyes, so that it blended in with the sand. Anto was having a hard time trying to control his movement!! His belt was falling off! To get to the diving office, we had to walk. We walked about 6km, which took about an hour! We stopped when we got to Purangi winery. From there we got a taxi. We returned to the winery later, where we got to sample alot of wines. They had plum, fajora, honey... Such a friendly bunch of people. We got a lift back to the ferry from them, and along the way back they brought us up to Shakespere point, where the view is stunning!

New Zealand

We arrived in new Zealand last wed (which was Tues to you guys). The time difference was so confusing at first. Finally figured it out. We are 11 hours ahead of you (usually 12,but with daylight saving and all, you only get 11). So its 8.15am here, which means its 9.15pm in Ireland. We arrived in Auckland, which is a cool city. Alot bigger than ya would think. They have 41 volcanoes. We went up Mount Eden (the highest one). Spectacular view. From there we could see the Tasman see & the Pacific Ocean & yet neither ocean touches one another! Then we began our trip on the magic bus on sat, towards Whitianga (fiti-anga 'wh' is pronounced like 'f'). We drove along the seabird coast. Did ya all know that NZ has no native mammals (except a bat-which to me is like a bird??). Dinosaurs never made it here!! Alot of birds though. We stopped off to do a hike (was so not prepared for that). Views were awesome & of course the camera died just at the vital moments!! Then we finally arrived in Whitianga. A beautiful beach resort!! Today, if the weather permits, we hope to do some scuba diving in the marine reserve. Its a place where fishing is banned, so basically there are fish galore!! So fingers crossed, as the weather here is so unpredictable. Its pretty similar to Ireland. We are in the last month of winter.They even have Cadburys chocolate :) So what reason would i have for leaving??

Celebrities

We met Mike Tyson in Universal Studios. Anto got to shake his hand. I think he was scared!! Also got to see Michelle Pfeiffer getting her star on Hollywood Blvd. Jeff Bridges presented it to her, along with another actor, not sure of his name, but he's Phoebe boyfriend in friends. WE also got to see Janice Dickinson doing a shoot for her 'reality' TV show. Didnt take any photos of her. She kinda scared me!! She is quite plastic.

Tattoo

This is Antos tattoo. What y'all think? All yee Utd Fans, if ya aint got something nice to say,dont say anything at all.

OUT OF TOUCH

Hi all,
Sorry its been a while! We've done alot since I last posted. Here's just some of the things we have been up too
-Cycled the Golden Gate Bridge (over & back, most people get the ferry back, but not us!! Did about 15 miles altogether!!)

-Toured Alcatraz, which included going into the solitary confinement cells. Awesome!



-Drove from San Francisco to Las Vegas. We took the coast road. Unbelievable. Breathtaking. We drove for about 12 hours. Then we stopped off in a town called Bakersfield. Dad reckons that's the town Bonnie & Clyde were killed in. We took highway 58. For 86 miles there were no services. Not a shop, or house or even wildlife. Land is so vast. Then we came to a fork in the road. We could go left or right. No signs to indicate which way. We had to guess in the middle of the desert. Luckily enough we we're right.(although you should go left, just in case you are ever on highway 58)
-Then we got to Vegas Baby!! I have never been in a city like it. Its a crazy city. We stayed in a hostel for our first few nights, then upgraded to a hotel room. While in the hostel we got to go out in a hummer limo(absolutely huge) which took us to Coyote Ugly (yeah just like the film, the woman dance on the bars!!), where we got VIP access. Twas a good night!
-Gambled in Vegas- We had to!! i kinda got hooked on the computer poker. Anto tried his hands at some Texas Hold'em. He lost all his money, but that's because he was playing with 'pros'. Well so he said. We hit a few other clubs. They're all so pretentious. The bouncers go along the Q & pick out the good looking girls (more so the barely clothed ones). They look u up & down to suss your clothes out before letting u in. Then when u do go in, there's no seats, as they are all cordoned off for VIP (which u can be if u buy a $40 bottle of champagne or a $ 125 bottle of Vodka).
-Attended the wedding of Elizabeth Behan & Declan McCarthy-Beautiful. Anto almost cried.
-Drove from Vegas to LA-Again a fabulous drive!!
-Went to Universal Studios & I got on a Rollarcoaster (my biggest achievement yet)

so i think I have y'all up to date!! We're still in LA. Off to Venice beach tomorrow, where all the muscle hangs out! Then we fly to New Zealand on Monday. Its hard to believe its been 5 weeks already!! Hopefully we'll get some photos up soon. We have soooo many!!

chat soon
Babs & Anto

San Francisco

Hi all. Finally found an internet cafe. We have free internet access in the hostel, but the one computer with the USB port is down. The flight was delayed by 5 hours yesturday and the flight took 6 hrs, with no food (except yucky snacks ) & the inflight movie was a cartoon. We were up at 5.30 yestuday & didnt get to bed til after 2am. The hostel is located right in the center of things. Right beside little Italy, which means good food, not burgers & s**t!! Heading on a pub crawl this evening. Seen Alcatraz from a distance-as in photo, but we'll be going on the island next Tues. That was the next available trip. We are 8 hours behind you guys now. You can text my phone, but I might not get back to you straight away.

Mam, heard you got home ok. Get well soon & dont go running around after that Lar fella, he's a big boy now. He'll need to get used to looking after himself, if he wants to come over here!! They take no prisoners!!

NYC

Back in NY. But sorry, no photos. The usb ports are down on the computer here. Internet is pretty expensive too, as everyone has wireless. We went to a comedy club last night on Broadway, which was brilliant. Today we visted the wax museum. Going to see the statue of Liberty tomorrow. Then Wed we head for San Fransisco. I must say New York is growing on me. People are not as mean as everyone makes out. There is so many cities in the city-Little Italy,China Town, Soho, Greenwich. Each so different from the next. A bit cooler today, or it could be that we're finally getting used to it. Getting a tan, although i'v had to pay the price of pain. Hopefully we'll get some photos up soon. Off to do our laundry, well anto is :) Im thinking of taking a nap, all this sight seeing has me tired.

Washington DC

Arrived yesturday. A nice couple gave us their metro cards which last till Saturday. So that saves us some money. Washington is a beautiful city. Its so clean. There are many fine old buildings. Yesturday we seen the White House, Washington memorial, Vietnam memorial, Linken memorial, Korean memorial, World War II memorial. They have so many! Every one of them is stunning. Last night we went to China Town. It has this beautiful arch way. Didnt have chineese food, didnt wanna risk it!!


Having some trouble with the USB key. ill try get some photos up later. xx

NYC

Arrived in NYC yesturday, after a 4 1/2 hr eventful bus journey from Boston. I say eventful,as the bus had a collision with a car-Dont worry people,no one hurt. Just a bit nerve wrecking as it was on a bridge about 100ft up. We cant explain the heat. You would have to be here to understand. Stretching your arm makes you sweat. Dripping sweat. A little better today, not as humid. Went to the natural history museum today. Awesome place. Huge. You would a couple of days to take in everything. Got to see the dinosours!! Anto was like a big kid. We then went to Times Square & Broadway. Its a crazy place. New York is crazy! So many people. Jsut wish i could shop. Anthony decided to go for jog in central park this evening & got himself lost. end up going 10 blocks in the wrong direction. He was so pink when he got back!! Off to Washington DC tomorrow for two nights. till then see ya wouldnt want to be ya!!!

GET WELL SOON

Hi Sarah-I heard you have the chicken pox. :-( Dont scratch too much. We hope ya get well soon xxx

4th July

The fireworks were excellent. Went on for about 15 mins. Traffic came to a standtill to watch the fireworks. We walked for hours(thanks to anto!Wont use the maps) looking for a good spot to watch them. Later on we discovered they could be seen from anywhere in the city. It rained, the only time the whole week, but it didnt dampen the mood. Took it easy yesturday. Just went to the cinema. Seen Transformers-Excellent, by the way. Today were off to meet Janice, an old neighbour of anthonys. Then maybe to the pub, who knows....:)

boston

Boston is a beautiful city. There is plenty to do & see. All the pubs claim to be irish pubs! Went to Quincy market yesturday. It has street performers & food stalls from all over the world. We walked for hours. Went to a store called Felines Basement. Its huge. All designer labels marked down. Everything gets reduced each week. Betty & Bridgie would have a field day here!! I'v put some photos up on bebo.

Boston

Hi all,
Arrived in boston about 3pm yesturday (8pm your time), after 16 hrs of travelling!! Flight was grand. We were able to pick whatever movie we wanted to watch, & pause it. Food was ok. Took a nap when we got here, but not before signing up for the pub crawl! Headed out on the town at about 10pm. Great craic. Met people from everywhere-Montreal,Quebec,England, Scotland,Germany,Ireland... Everyone very friendly,up for a laugh. Pub crawl wasnt going fast enough for Anthony. He kept sobering up after each pub, as it wasnt an easy job trying gather 40 people together. So many nightclubs. We were in the Red Sox bar, which was packed after the game. Niteclubs are huge. 4 Floors high, with bowling alleys n two floors,about 30 pool tables.... We're off to visit some sites today. Will keep ya all posted. Dont be worrying!

Going Away Bash

First, I would like to say a big thank you to every one who came to the party. It was a great night, despite the weather. The rain stopped no one. They danced and sang in the rain. We had a a giant slide for the 'kids'. But the adults had their go on it to. Some took it a bit far (see below!), diving off it in the Sumo suits. The Sumo suits were the best craic ever. (Anyone who is interested in them, go to www.sumohire.ie). It was all tears in the end(alcohol assisted Im sure!). Almost made me wanna stay, almost....

PARTY

This is just some of the fun we'll be having at the party!! Any queries just give me a text. BYOB.