Gaelic Football 

On Wednesday 30 November I departed the Melbourne airport for a 22 hour flight across the world to London with one stop at Singapore. It was 7 am when we landed at London and we hopped straight on a bus to go visit Windsor Castle and some local sightseeing before returning to the airport for an hour flight to Dublin. 

While travelling around Ireland we were hosted by local families for five nights and we played them in a compromised footy rules match with half a match with a round ball and half with a Aussie rules footy. While touring Ireland we watched a hurling match and the weather was freezing. Watching my first hurling match was a big surprise as they hit really hard and there is a lot of skill required. I was lucky enough to stay with a host who was a four times all Ireland boxing champion. In one of the five matches we played one opponent was the best 17 year old in the county at Gaelic football. After our 12 nights in Ireland is was time to say goodbye. We took a ferry from Dublin to Liverpool and watched a professional soccer match and I couldn’t feel my feet at the end of the game because it was -2 degrees. We then travelled from Liverpool to London where it was snowing. We did some site seeing in the UK before we took the underwater train to France. We visited some Christmas markets and then travelled to Paris to climb the Eiffel  Tower. Visiting the battlefields and war memorials was eye opening to just see and hear how many people served for our country. After all these amazing places visited it was time to head home on Saturday 17 December.

I have been given a fantastic opportunity to be involved in such a trip overseas combining the sport I love to play and some sightseeing. I encourage students to seize the opportunities that come their way.