First Night in Kinsale - Ballinacurra House!

May 8, 2010, 2:01 pm

We found Ballinacurra House after much searching today, the beautiful gamed-up boutique style country home destination is secretly tucked away on the outskirts of Kinsale. So it's no surprise that celebrities flock to this place like migratory birds. Even Michael Jackson stayed here with his family for 3 months a couple of years ago! We're staying in the beautiful French suite, it's exquisite with two rooms and two double beds. Old world boudoir beaded curtains separate the two rooms. The colour palette is duck-egg blue and Moulin Rouge-esque light fixtures leave tinsel town markings on the walls and ceilings.

After the long car journey we unpacked and freshened up!! While I drove, Rory was all the time on the phone trying to track down his favourite producer to negotiate rights to the perfect sound tracks for our Final Commercial...he was successful, he always pulls through! Every so often he'd ask me why I'm driving on the hard shoulder that jarring bump-a-dee-bump noise is a dead giveaway that your driver is nodding off.  I didn't admit that I struggled to stay awake until we landed!! Yes, it's been a long journey my friends!

We finally got to meet the other 9 contenders who are battling it out for the Ultimate Job. All of us have got so close and yet we are all still so far away. My Dad gave me this advice before I came, "Dee, You're up against 9 other couples, and they all really want this too. So just have fun and be your best." And he's right, everyone here that I met today really wants the job and everyone is super-cool. We kinda knew they would be because they've been shortlisted out of 30,000 people!

After the virtual relationship we've all being having over the last month, we all got straight in, no kissing! Not into a fight of course but into the kind of catching up that old friends do!! We all checked out Niamh's hair to see if her claim that she never dyed her hair was true! Myself and Rory fessed up to Denise that we have blender envy and that we knew when we saw her €1,000 blender that she was a vegetarian and we weren’t wrong. It seems we have a lot in common because the same book has had a huge transformational impact on both myself and Denise - 80/10/10 by Doug Graham! Mel told me that her guilty secret is that she knows all the words of Chris de Burg's song about his daughter Rosanna who is flying the flag for us in this comp!!

We had a group shoot with photographer extraordinaire Susan Jefferies and the Sunday World's Amanda Brunker stopped by to say ‘Hi’ and she also flew the flag for Rore and Dee!

Before the final task of the evening I was advised by clever Tim and Lauren to put on my running shoes before leaving the house and this was very wise indeed. I know in fashion stakes comfort has no value but last night if I wanted a steak I had to pay the price! We were given 4 clues to the names of 4 restaurants that each had reservations for 2 couples. The two unlucky/tardy couples who were the last to find a restaurant would get fish and chips instead of fine dining.

We heard the clue and knew instantly it was for Fishy Fishy......we were the second couple to arrive at this restaurant but when we got there it was closed! We went to the delicatessen not the restaurant!! Doh!! Out of breath already we raced to the next restaurant to find two couples already there! Then we got wrong directions from a stranger on the street and ended up in a housing estate after racing up a massive hill!  Sure that we'd lost the task we started to make our way to the chipper! Then we spotted two other couples and knew that the game wasn't over yet! So I asked someone what restaurant rhymes with Run Lola Run and they said Jola's and pointed me in the direction. I ran like Forest Gump, Rory said ‘run DD run’ and I ran and I ran. I B-lined past the other couples in the direction of the restaurant, then they started running behind me. I looked back in angst, Rory and 2 couples were hot on my heels. So close but so far away. I asked passers-by on the street where's Jola's they said 200 metres on your left. I ran and I ran, still no sign, slightly panicked that perhaps I'd ran past the restaurant, fear kicked in! Then in the distance I saw the restaurant. I fell in the door, panting and blushing in a beautiful floral cocktail dress, ‘Cindy’ my fur gilet and my Nike's to foot! Denise waved up at me and started clapping. Jola the owner came rushing over to congratulate me on my feat. She quickly got me a glass of water and helped me gather my breath! First night in Kinsale, a night to remember!

 

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