Flights to Washington

Highlights:

• Left Melbourne at about 11am. Had a great seat all the way to Washington - plenty of room for my legs and good people to sit near.
• Bought a bottle of Johnny Walker Black at Melbourne and lost it at the security check in Auckland! I did not know that we would go through that check, otherwise I would not have bought it.
• Security people and airport staff in LA were great! Not at all like the stories that you hear from the media and other travellers.
• Met other Australians and colleagues in the AA lounge in LA. A group makes the whole travel thing better.
• My luggage arrived at the same time that I did in Washington.
• Arrived at the hotel by about 11.30pm.
• Slept well.
• This was the first time that I had two Thursdays in the same week!

ASPA / APPA Conference

Good professional learning sessions, good food and wine at night, and good company of friends and acquaintances.

 Conference finished on 3 October. Flew back to Melbourne and stayed at the Holiday Inn at the airport.

Main activity: Opening of the ASPA/APPA Conference

Highlights of the day:

• woken at 4:15am with a wakeup call - wrong room! So some poor person probably missed their plane.
• Was going for a walk to take photographs, but it is drizzling with rain - even looks like snow flakes falling gently past my window at times. So I thought that I'd start this online journal.
• The breakfast chef makes excellent omelettes here - adding smoked salmon makes them even more delicious. He swirls the mixture as it cooks - ends up being a very light and fluffy omelette.
• ... more to come later.
  

Main Activity: ASPA AGM and Delegates' Meeting

Highlights of the day:

• Sat in on the meetings, which finished at about 1.45pm. Was an interesting feeling for me, as I had no responsibility for the first time since 1995, apart from delivering a short report as Online Manager and a longer one about School Aid.
• Watched the AFL Grand Final with a large group on a big screen with a data projector - several were set up throughout the hotel. Geelong won by the largest margin in the league's history - 119 points. After the first quarter, the main interest in the game was to guess the final margin. Geelong outplayed Port Adelaide in every aspect of the game.
• Had dinner at Mure's on the waterfront - in their upstairs restaurant. Excellent food - scallops on the half-shell, with mirin, green spring onions and a touch of ginger, followed by grilled blue eye fillets with stir-fried vegetables. Drank a Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Walked home in the very cold wind and rain.

Travel: Brisbane to Hobart. 

Highlights of the day:

• Packed my gear, and still had space in the suitcase! Amazing!
• While in the taxi on the way to airport, discovered that I had left my glasses at home - had the empty case in my hand. Luckily, I had packed my spare pair in my roll-on bag.
• At the airport, there were two changes of planes before I boarded - "technical problems". Then the cabin air-conditioning system that works off the rear engine was not operating properly, so we sweltered until both main engines were at operating power.
• Everything went well with both flights, and the Sydney Qantas Club, though full of football fans, was comfortable as usual.I discovered that there is free wireless broadband in Qantas Clubs in Australia. However, I did not find that out until I had used dialup to do my emails and chat with James.
• Landed in windy Hobart - about 1C. Taxi to the hotel. My room has a harbour view - very much the same view that I had in 1998, when I was here for the ASPA conference.
• Had dinner with a group at the T42 bar - very noisy, with good food. We had a booking, but the table was given to a group who had no booking, so we had a 15 minute wait - free drink from the bar while we waited. I had oysters natural (very good) and a salmon steak (delicious - char-grilled, with asparagus and bintje potatoes).
• Walked home in the freezing wind and light rain.
  

These are books that I have read in 2007. The date is when I finished the book. The most recent is at the top of the list.

• The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier (2003) 21 September 2007.

A lovely story around the making of a set of tapestries in 15th century Paris and Brussels. Great characters. I really enjoyed it.

• The Dragon Man - Garry Disher (1999) early September 2007.

Easy to read. Good story.

• Sucked In - Shane Maloney (2007) early September 2007.

Another in the Murray Whelan series.Good story. Easy to read. I enjoyed it.

• Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling (2007) late August 2007.

The last in the series. Rather a tame ending, but still a good story.