By John Kenny in Hobart
And so to Hobart as we move from sleepy Canberra for Ireland’s fourth game in this year’s world cup to see Phil Simmons side take on Zimbabwe, a now crucial game in their attempts to make the quarter finals.
Ireland were put to the sword by a powerful South African side at the Manuka Oval, but it wasn’t unexpected such is the class of their top order batsmen and in the likes of Hasim Amla and AB De Villiers, they have some of the world’s most destructive players.
The games are coming thick and fast now.
Two matches in 15 days followed by four in 12, and we are moving around now.
Canberra to Hobart via Melbourne, followed by a trip back to New Zealand as we head to Hamilton (for the game against India) via Sydney.
Then it's back to Australia for the final Pool B game against Pakistan in Adelaide.
The flights are racking up. Since I left Dublin on Wednesday 11 February, I have taken 10 journeys in the air. There are at least seven more to come and a couple extra if Ireland manage to reach the quarter-finals.
A couple of those flights however involved a couple days rest and relaxation as I headed north to Cairns and sampled the delights of scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
What an experience. The Silverswift charter took us to the edge of the continental shelf where I had three dives in the day and it was wondrous to behold even for this cynical old hack.
Reef sharks, sting rays, moray eels, massive fish and magnificent coral all at a depth of 20-plus metres. I have to say I was blown away and the icing on the cake was getting up close and personal with a humphead maori wrasse which has been following the Silverswift for some four years now.
Mex, our dive master, explained that they are intelligent creatures and they feed him daily with shrimp as long as he plays ball with the tourists.
On the second day, the dive was disappointing as the water was way too murky as this time we landed on a purpose built pontoon which Mex pointed out was aimed at the Asian market and about 95% of those on board were indeed tourists from Asia.
Cairns, like the rest of the world, suffered from the economic crash which has been saved by Asian Tourists.
American and European numbers have fallen in recent years and according to Mex, visitors from Asia have “saved Cairns tourism”
After Cairns, Canberra was a complete contrast.
The Australian capitol, the centre of government is a soulless city full of office blocks - street after street of them. The people aren't in tourist mode, they are there to work and they aren't exactly the happiest bunch I've come across in my travels here.
The Manuka Oval is a great setting however and the Blarney Army made themselves heard despite the heavy defeat.
We retired to Murphys Bar afterwards with Graeme Swann, the ex-England international who is on commentary duty with me on the BBC’s Test Match Special and the BBC producer Henry Moeran.
We met with some of the Irish supporters who, despite having words with a cranky bar manager, were in top form and were following the team’s exploits
Many on those we met are now in Hobart for the next game in Ireland’s world cup odyssey.
I'm between flights as I write. Hopefully Hobart will be all that I've been led to believe and who knows, an Irish win against Zimbabwe would certainly lift the spirits after the heavy loss to South Africa.
It’s still in Ireland's hands to make the last eight and we will hopefully be a witness what would be an extraordinary feat by this remarkable Irish team.
