Bridie's Liverpool "Jasper's"

We are thrilled to share the experience with Bridie's other family from Liverpool, who she met when she did the GAP year seven years ago! Denise and Dave Ball stand to Bridie's right (she worked in the nursing home with Matt their son) and Andy and his dad George are on the outside! Denise is Bridie's UK mum........a bit like Rose is her Melbourne mum.
I even talked them in to wearing Gliders t-shirts! They are wearing jumpers to cover them as we were outside after the game and it was freezing!!!! UK summer....you have to be kidding!

Quarter time huddle!

Hi,
Another incredible day in London. We are all so glad the first game is over and in the bag. Did you see us on the Telly?
Our Gliders supporters group had to storm down the entrance to get the seats behind the bench!
We have ten of us staying together in Bloomsbury, which includes three of Bridie's mates from the US, who have become honorary Aussies for the duration of the games!
Just commuting to the games is a major achievement!
As you can imagine, wearing our Gliders t-shirts around London draws attention. Last night, Leisa had great fun bragging about her sister who is "CAPTAIN" of the Australian Basketball Team, to anyone who would listen! Surprisingly, there are lots of friendly people who are keen to listen! It has been a great highlight chatting to lots of people from different countries. The sense of community is palpable.
We have now woken fairly refreshed today, ready to take on GB at 1pm. As they will have a huge support group we will need to be very vocal!

All my children under the one roof!

Game One against Brazil...Australia defeats Brazil 52 to 50!
...what a stressful experience!
Out for dinner right at the moment ....more later!
M

Are we here early enough?

The fireworks

...and more!

More photos from last night!

Opening Ceremony

Hi all,
Sorry for the late entry...we are just recovering from last night!
The Opening Ceremony was amazing!
There is so much I could say about it, I am not sure how to highlight the most important points in order to give you a "feel" of how it was.
1) Incredibly emotional: We shed many tears when the Australian Team entered the stadium, also when we stood to sing "God save the Queen, then listening to Stephen Hawkings inspirational words, and again when Bridie and her teammates in the parade. Finally, we were really tipped over the edge when they played the David Bowie track " we can be heroes" after all the 4,000 odd Paralympic athletes had entered the stadium.
2) Amazing special effects: It was incredibly polished and visually fantastic, which included a paralympian flying over the stadium in a plane as part of the show. The visuals, including fireworks, acrobatics, light show, were amazing.
We returned home late at 2 am, so are now organizing our day ahead..
The Gliders play Brazil at 6-30pm London time.....we are soooo excited!
Will pop on a few more photos from last night.....you will see some are taken in daylight, as we arrived at the venue nice and early ( gets dark at 8pm here)
M

ABC TV Broadcast schedule

Click the link below to visit the official blog of ABC TV programming.

The good news is they will broadcast all the games live.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/abc_tv/2012/08/paralympics-schedule-2012.html

Gliders Timetable - These are London times and we can't be sure if and when the ABC might telecast them here. Watch your local TV guide.

	Thursday   30 August	Friday 31 August	Saturday 1 September	Sunday 2 September
7am
8am
9am
10am		Basket Ball 1045 -1700    Nth Greenwich Arena
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
6pm	Basketball  1830 - 2230 Basketball Arena		Basketball  1830 - 2230 Basketball Arena
7pm				BasketBall    1900 - 2300 Nth Greenwich Arena
8pm
9pm
10pm
11pm
12pm
1am

Look who we found!

Hi,
We caught up with Bridie for lunch yesterday close by the Olympic Village.
We can't wait to get to the Opening Ceremony tonight to see more of the venues. If what we saw yesterday is any indication of the set up here, it will be amazing!
Already, Leisa has found us a great coffee shop, where we have been this morning.
There are 10 of us staying in two apartments in a really great part of town, just near a fantastic leafy park, with squirrels and lots of Brits sunning themselves in the summer sunshine (all of 19 degrees!)
Pat has arrived this am, so has hopped on a train with his sister to have a coffee with Bridie at the Olympic complex. The Gliders will be in the Opening ceremony tonight, wearing white shirts, blue blazers and jeans! Look out for them if they televise it (apparently on the ABC1 at 5-20am)
More soon
M

Enjoying the treats of London!

Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in getting our first photo on the blog!
We arrived yesterday after two flights and no sleep, to meet Steve and Abby (far left and second left) who had arrived hours prior from the US.
The photo depicts Steve, Abby, Rose, Jane and Ben enjoying a "custom made" Magnum icecream from the Magnum shop ( see shop sign in the background). This shop is pretty amazing. ( a bit like Subway for Magnums) Abby even had rose petals on hers!
We had just had a lovely catch up with Bridie at the Olympic outdoor entertainment venue, which is connected to the biggest shopping complex I have ever seen! ( it makes Chadstone and Chermside look small)!
Our accomm is great, proximity to venue excellent, and public transport is terrific!
More to follow....
M

Fwd: London!!!

>
> Hey all,
>
> Quick update from the Paralympic village:
>
> We have landed and Cobes and I are settled into our room and apartment very nicely.
>
> Have taken the time to explore, try on all the clothes and find the good coffee.
>
> Here are my UK numbers in international format and Aussie format!
>
> There is a giant Westfield which we can access from our side and u guys can enter. We have more time before the games start so I'm not sure of when y'all arrive but let me know over the next few days to see if we can organize a cheeky coffee at the shops!
>
> Other than that, I am loving the experience and village life and finding the right amount of focus and calm mixed with excitement that it's really here.
>
> I also went for a stroll this morning w Matteo and saw a lot of the venues from a far... It is going to go off so I hope ur all prepared for an amazing couple of weeks in olympic park!
>
> Safe travels to London!!!!!
>
> +44 7746125469
>
> Uk: 07746125469
>
> Sent from my iPhone

It is almost here

The team are now comfortably housed in the Olympic Village. I have had limited contact with Bridie, however, enough to ascertain spirits are soaring. The girls are lapping up the "pre para" excitement, squeezing lots of joy out of the build up!

They are READY!!

For those of us preparing to leave for London, we have e-mails and texts flying back and forth as we pack last minute things. Personally, it is a very emotional time, as I make arrangements to meet my other three children in London over the next few days. I have been planning this trip in my head for four years!

I look forward to meeting up with friends and family who will share the experience. I am also excited to meet more of Bridie's UK friends, as well as her uni friends who are travelling from the US to be part of our support group.
(Look out for us on the telly, we will be the ones in the yellow gliders t-shirts!)

We all know, it is not just about the next twelve days of basketball games, but more a reflection and a celebration of the strength of the human spirit. I remember the amazing community spirit in Beijing in 2008, and the strong sense of admiration we felt for all the inspiring athletes world-wide.

I will endeavor to relay some of the experiences through the blog!

Talk to you all from London!!!
Love
Mezza

Bridie Kean | APC Corporate

Click the link to view Bridie's official APC bio

http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/bridie-kean

Flying to London to take up residence in the Olympic Village! Don't they look happy and relaxed?

Wow! Acknowledgement from school days!

For many of us, this site is familiar! Go Berna! ( Some aunty influence I am sure!) How exciting!

Eight sleeps till we leave!

Hope she can keep up that concentration!

Fwd: All packed

>
> All packed and ready to go! Safe trip Bridie! GO GLIDERS!!
>

The eve of Bridie's departure for the UK

It is now time to leave Perth.
....She is on her way......

Signing autographs

. ....just signing a few autographs for the kids before taking off overseas!