Mal our cameraman says everything in Ireland happens in trees. One, two, tree" Andy the sound recordist prefers to reserve his comments for the Irish personality rather than the inhabitants' accents. As he puts it, "The personalities of the cabbies hit you three feet from the cab." This much, at least, was true as we landed in Dublin.
Our cabbie from the airport delivered a potted history of Dublin in the most colourful terms. My best memories relate to his descriptions of the river Liffy that cuts the city in half. "Dat Liffy, it's really polluted you see. You know what they say about fishing in the Liffy don't you? If you pull a fish out of the Liffy you're probably saving its life. They say the salmon run up stream there, ya know. I tell ya, they're running all right " they're running up the bank" " And so it went on.
I've got to say, there are few people more like Australians on this planet than the Irish. For sense of humour and love of a chat, there are few cultures compare. This is undoubtedly what their convict forbears contributed to our own nation. It didn't seem to matter whether we were dealing with the most august professors or their administrative underlings, we found few pretensions and a great deal of assistance.
The unusual patches of blue sky continued to follow us across this new country. The day before we arrived in Dublin the winds were so strong that landed planes were being blown across the runway. The day we arrived the skies were clear enough for us to create the impression we were filming in Spring, not winter. When we arrived at the Chester Beatty Museum, we found a relaxed staff who seemed quite pleased to have the opportunity to take their ancient documents out of storage for us " unlike some legendary institutions who left you wondering whether education was really their goal.
Trinity College was an absolute blessing " not just the unfettered access to some of their best locations, like the Long Room " but also their general friendliness. Professor Sean Freyne, a legend in archaeology, insisted on taking his new Australian acquaintances to the staff dining room, followed by tea in a Georgian common room complete with marble fireplace. I honestly think if he could have arranged it he would have had us around for dinner. As it is, he is hoping to catch up with the crew again when we arrive in Israel next year.
But probably the biggest trial of the trip was soon to follow"
We flew from Dublin to Manchester on our way to the university town of Durham. A delayed flight resulted in a long, late night car ride from the airport to our accommodation on the outskirts of the city. At midnight we arrived to discover that a right mess had been made of our hotel bookings. "Weren't you coming yesterday?" was the last phrase we expected to hear. Thankfully, the B&B we were staying in managed to rustle up some rooms but by the time the situation was solved we were looking at five hours sleep before a 7.00 am interview with the Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, the next morning.
From my perspective, the entire day resolved into pushing from one interview or location to the next as near-freezing temperatures sapped what little reserves I had left. Trying to pay for a parking ticket at an automated machine in the pouring rain didn't help. Come four o'clock that afternoon we were finally heading to Newcastle airport and our final leg home. That's when British Airways announced that our flight was cancelled. This was an absolute disaster as we were rushing to try and make a connection to a different airline back to Australia. In the end BA put us on a train bound for London. What followed was the most manic telephone negotiation I have ever been involved in. At one stage three of the crew were on three different calls to airlines or hotels trying to arrange various solutions to our crisis. Three hours later, as batteries began to wear down, it became increasingly clear that the cancellation of a number of flights and a train problem meant there weren't any rooms to be had, and no flights either. I can confess here that each call to a company was now being alternated with a call to our Heavenly Father. Thankfully He is in charge of all schedules"
John Dickson's PA (abruptly awoken in Australia) and our travel agent managed to combine their talents to ensure that everyone had a place to stay and a flight that would wing them home. Better, they turned our previous problems to their advantage. You may remember that our airline lost some key camera equipment for several days early on in the trip? This became the nub of a successful argument for getting the majority of the crew upgraded to business class, ensuring that we arrived home in a much better state than we could have ever anticipated.
So, now I'm back in the country enjoying the comforts of home and marvelling at the strength of my two year old who is insisting on seizing hold of my leg at any given opportunity. I'm currently working on the schedule for the next phase of the shoot that will take us to Germany, Italy and Israel in March next year. It looks complicated and full of potential for problems. But then I remind myself that the God who saw us through the first phase is not only behind us, but before us and on either side.
See you in the airport lounge"
