4th September 2011
We're a week back from a nice holiday in Venice and Lake Garda, with side trips to Verona and Milan. Photos are viewable by clicking on the photo of Rialto bridge to the left.
25th April 2008
Well, we're one day away from leaving Tasmania. We'll be sad leaving as we have had a great
time here, between the relaxed atmosphere, friendly people and beautiful outdoors. It's been 5 months
since we've seen a proper traffic jam but still, we're very happy to be homeward bound.
Since the last entry we have had a 2 week visit from my
brother Brian and sister Mary, who really enjoyed their time here. It was great to have someone from home visiting
us and Jackie and I even got to go on a night out ... I don't think we'd been outside the house past 7pm during the
previous 4 months!
We visited Richmond, Mt Wellington, the Tasman Peninsula, Moorilla wine estate and Bonorong wildlife park with Mary and Brian and
spent the rest of our time together eating and drinking wine ... at least, that's what it felt like.
Brian and I spent a night away to do some hiking. We went to Freycinet to see the beautiful Wineglass Bay again
and then down to the Tasman Peninsula to hike out to the end of some very high sea cliffs at Cape Hauy.
Since their departure we visited the Tahune Airwalk, a suspended walk 60 ft high through rainforest, and
spent a couple of nights in Port Arthur, one of Australia's most important historic sites.
One evening we decided we'd do the tour of the Cadbury's chocolate factory (Hobart is home to Australia's only
Cadbury factory), a top tourist attraction here, only to hear on the news that night that Cadburys had cancelled
factory tours worldwide for hygiene reasons. 50 years of tours and we were one day too late.
Our last week was time for Gary to say goodbye to his excellent playschool (Little Bee in Howrah)
and equally excellent swimming teachers at Seahorse Swimming Centre (Howrah too). He managed to get
through it all without a tear, bless him!
The adventure is coming to a close. Job hunting beckons next month, oh what a delight. Saturday will see us in
Sydney for 3 nights, then we've a hot and humid day in Bangkok and after that it's to Dublin with
a few hours of stopover in Dubai and London. See you all soon!
20th March 2008
It's been a while since the last photos. We've been doing plenty of walking and are settled in well to a routine.
Gary is now taking swimming lessons so that is filling up his week, along with playschool. Ciara is thriving as
per usual.
We did one trip away, a few days in the beautiful Freycinet national park, which was very nice. The weather
has been very good in March, quite dry and too hot some days. We're preparing right now for the arrival of
my sister Mary and brother Brian. They are visiting for 2 weeks. Spare a thought for poor Jackie who will be
surrounded by five Meaneys for the duration!
I've been working away on my new slideshow viewer. Click on the photo to the right to see it in action. It
still needs loads of work but it's presentable. The voice over is cheesy I'm afraid, but I wanted to demonstrate
how sound can be added to the new viewer. Let me know what you think of it.
9th March 2008
Launched imajico.com, a new project I've been working on, a slideshow viewer for
photos and video stored in Picasaweb and Flickr. Click the photo below to see it in action.
8th February 2008
We've been a month in Tasmania now and we are really enjoying the time here. We are truly chilling out,
as much as you can chill out while bringing up two little ones. The house we're living in is really nice
which helps. Photos are here
(or slideshow).
The weather in January was really good, it was the driest January in Hobart's history. So we got plenty
of walking in and luckily the area close to the house is good for that. We're not far from some nice
beaches. We travelled around the area a bit but haven't strayed far, just day trips. These included some
very nice spots like Bruny Island, Richmond, the Tasman Peninsula and Mt. Wellington which towers over Hobart.
This weekend we'll do our first overnighter, two nights at Freycinet Peninsula which is supposed to be
a beautiful area.
We have Gary going to a very friendly playschool three mornings a week, he loves it, gets him away from the
adults for a while. No sign of him developing an Aussie accent yet but you never know. Ciara is thriving too
and has changed quite a bit since our time in San Diego. She's a fully fledged walker now and has most of
her teeth in. She's not speaking English yet but she has her own language and is very fond of conversing
in it ... mainly to give us orders I suspect. Till next time ...
7th February 2008
The website got a fresh paint job, a new colour scheme to replace the blue theme of old. You like?
16th January 2008
By now we have left New Zealand and are in Hobart, Tasmania, via Sydney. Photos from the end of New Zealand
and our three days in Sydney are here (or slideshow).
They include:
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a walk we did by turquoise Lake Tekapo, up near the Southern Alps in NZ, |
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another hike up a valley to see Mount Cook, NZ's tallest mountain and |
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in Sydney visits to the aquarium, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge,
north shore and Bondi beach. |
We were very lucky with the weather we had up by Lake Tekapo and did two great hikes and saw some fantastic
scenery, a good way to top off our month in New Zealand. After saying our goodbyes to Lorcan and Cala and their
kids we flew on to Sydney and had a busy few days seeing the sights.
We landed here in Hobart on January 8th and have been busy settling in. We'll be here until the end of April.
The house we are staying in is very nice and has a lovely view across the river to the other side of Hobart.
More on Hobart next time.
29th December 2007
This next set of photos here (or slideshow) includes the following:
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a trip to the Antarctic Adventure in Christchurch where we saw penguins. Gary and Mike went
on an exciting offroad Antarctic vehicle, which Gary loved, |
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time at the beach in Sumner (the Bray of Christchurch, but nicer) where Lorcan
introduced Gary to 'wave jumping', |
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a visit to a Christmas Experience where Gary met Santa, |
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a few days spent in Kaikoura north of Christchurch, famous for whale watching.
We went on a couple of nice walks where Jackie tried out backpacking Ciara for the first time (and did very well).
We saw a sperm whale and loads of dolphins from a light aeroplane here too, |
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we joined Lorcan and Cala on an overnight camping/caravaning jaunt to Akaroa, where
we had beautiful weather and views ... and Jackie and I got out on our own for the first time while L & C
babysat G & C, |
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Christmas day was a relaxed affair, we had a very nice dinner over at L & C's
where we dined very well on lamb and chicken (for a welcome change to turkey!) and the kids were happy with
their modest haul of presents, downsized this year I'm afraid due to luggage restrictions! |
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and a great time was had at Orana Wildlife Park where Gary fed the giraffes
and we watched lions being fed from inside a cage full of tourists. |
Although New Zealand has an enormous range of amazing scenery we are only able to get a small taste of it, as we are
not venturing far from Christchurch, just a few hours away. Over the New Year we ventured up the mountains, the
Southern Alps and had great weather and some spectacular views. More of that in the next installment ....
14th December 2007
We left Ireland again on Dec 1st, on our way to New Zealand. We broke up the journey for a couple of days in Dubai.
We were fairly jetlagged there so didn't see so much. City is pretty sprawling and hectic, not exactly the world's most attractive
spot. An 18 hour flight via Sydney got us to where we are now, Christchurch. It's very nice, relaxed, and we've
good friends here, Lorcan and Cala, that have made it easy to settle in. Weather has been quite changeable, from hot
days to cold wet days. The kids are happy although still getting over a cough/cold and Jackie eventually succumbed to one too.
The photos so far are here (or for quick slideshow). Includes Dubai, Christchurch, Lyttelton.
4th September 2007
Weeks 6 to 10 San Diego photos are here (or for quick slideshow). Includes SeaWorld, zoo, Hotel Del Coronado, Balboa Park, Point Loma and Las Vegas.
29th July 2007
4th and 5th week San Diego photos are here (or for quick slideshow). Includes the Wild Animal Park, La Jolla, US Sandcastle competition and Ciara's first crawl.
13th July 2007
Photos and movies from our 2nd and 3rd week in San Diego are here or for a quick browse just click on slideshow.
3rd July 2007
Photos and movies from our first week in San Diego are now available here or for a quick browse just click on slideshow.
18th February 2007
Ciara was christened today (middle name Bríd in honour of her grandmother) and there's some photos
of the occasion taken by Mark here.
2nd October 2006
Momentous day, our second child and first daughter Ciara Meaney was born today to a delighted Jackie and Mike.
Photos of the beautiful girl are here.
10th October 2005
I just scanned some old photos of the Meaney Family,
of my parents, sister and brothers when they were growing up etc. Good to keep memories from the past.
12th June 2005
Photos of our holiday in Peru are now available.
It was a varied holiday, with snowy mountains, a bit of jungle and a good dose of ancient
ruins, have a look ...
8th July 2004
Big news, Gary James Meaney was born on this day to a delighted Jackie and Mike.
Mother and baby are doing fine, as is father. He came into the world by Caesarean section
in order not to damage his handsome features!
Photos of the little man can be seen here.
26th September 2003
Finally, photos from the wedding and the honeymoon are available.
Try Wedding I,
Wedding II,
Honeymoon I and
Honeymoon II.
25th November 2002
At last I've scanned in a selection of photos from the trip to Brazil
and Peru that Jackie and I made back in July. Highlights were Rio de Janeiro,
a trek in the Cordillera Blanca mountains and Machu Picchu in Peru.
The
11th April 2002
Added new Slide Show player.
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, 2002
