Day Three – Queenstown, New Zealand
This mountain changes every day! The different light and sunshine makes it alive!!
Today was a full day of CAVEPS – bird, mesozoic and dinosaurs, macropods, and New Zealand cenozoic. Lots and lots of dinosaurs and crocodiles. The highlight of the day though, was the Plenary speaker – Senior Professor Jingmai O’Connor spoke about the rise of birds. Jingmai is the coolest Palaeontologist I have ever met! She’s dynamite in a small package, covered in tattoos of birds and dinosaurs! She spoke with such passion and intellect, I was so impressed with her presentation. I actually met her afterwards in the gift shop and she showed me more of her tattoos. Such a down to earth young woman but so smart and lovely.
The poster session was held in the evening with beautiful wine provided by The Bone Line (how appropriate!). A pleasant evening was spent looking around at the posters. I marvel and how smart people are – and the different things people are studying, and how their results will lead to more exciting research. Palaeontology is such a broad field and their is so much still to discover. Exciting times…..
I decided to leave My Long-Suffering Mentor to her own devices (ie. there was still wine available so she stayed to help use it up!) I went for a slow walk around the township of Queenstown. I decided to stop and have a drink – no tea as I was still full-as-a-goog from all the wonderful food the conference is providing. People watching is one of my favourite past times so I found a seat and started to relax. I heard a pop and looked to my left, just near where my backpack was lying was a drain which was making gurgling noises. A reflex action made me pick up my bag just as a bubbling mass of sewerage came pouring out in a torrent towards me. I ran! People everyone ran! It was mayhem as the street quickly became flooded with raw sewerage. I got out of there fairly quickly – people were staying behind to take photos! No thanks!
I just hope the shops didn’t get flooded! So excitement follows me everywhere I go! Sanja stumbled back to the apartment having well and truly consumed the conference wine! A quiet evening was enjoyed with an early night! My brain hurts……