Girl in love with rocks

After a long break from field work due to a broken foot sustained by falling into a hole (oh the irony!) – the hole being dug by a certain Golden Retriever that I swear was laughing while watching me fall down said hole……anyways…….after a FOUR MONTH break from fieldwork, this Girl In Love With Rocks was very excited to be invited along as an Assistant Geologist for a drilling program in Young, NSW.

Don’t we look excited?! Yes the dynamic duo of the Long Suffering Mentor and myself began our trek to Young at the crack of dawn! A long drive of excited chatting, educational inserts and lots of laughter……it made an eight hour drive go by remarkably fast! I must say, we live in a truly beautiful country, and travelling along the Hume Highway delivered magical scenery of rolling hills, the Great Dividing Range, and valleys of such lush green paddocks – it all seemed like something out of a picture book! To think millions of years ago this area was under water and being carved by huge amounts of moving rivers. It’s just extreme!

It always gives me a buzz crossing the mighty Murray River which is the dividing line between NSW and Victoria. It’s just after Albury that the landscape changes and begins to divide and roll……

Holy moly……just look at the topography……it’s nuts!! Something truly exciting happened here a long time ago and now we get to enjoy nature’s masterpiece! Do I sound a bit poetic……well it’s lucky I wasn’t driving! With conversations interrupted frequently by gasps and cries of “Cor! Look at that slump!”……we made our way towards Gundagai. Which apparently is really famous for this…..

The photo makes it look awesome……but I kind of didn’t believe the Long Suffering Mentor when she said I would probably be a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. But in actuality, I was more interested in the bloody great big mountain behind the tiny statue! The slumps and terracing on it were just magnificent…..

But in true patriotic form I took a photo of the dog on the tucker box…..and that’s all I will say about it!

We finally arrived in Young and found our accommodation, a lovely self-contained unit with all the trimmings. Having taken our bearings we then proceeded to check out the storage shed which needs to be inventoried and decluttered….

….and I can honestly say the next few days before the drilling starts will consist of a lot of dirt! Just wait for the photos!

I’m in heaven……

After a long break from field work due to a broken foot sustained by falling into a hole (oh the irony!) – the hole being dug by a certain Golden Retriever that I swear was laughing while watching me fall down said hole……anyways…….after a FOUR MONTH break from fieldwork, this Girl In Love With Rocks was very excited to be invited along as an Assistant Geologist for a drilling program in Young, NSW.

Don’t we look excited?! Yes the dynamic duo of the Long Suffering Mentor and myself began our trek to Young at the crack of dawn! A long drive of excited chatting, educational inserts and lots of laughter……it made an eight hour drive go by remarkably fast! I must say, we live in a truly beautiful country, and travelling along the Hume Highway delivered magical scenery of rolling hills, the Great Dividing Range, and valleys of such lush green paddocks – it all seemed like something out of a picture book! To think millions of years ago this area was under water and being carved by huge amounts of moving rivers. It’s just extreme!

It always gives me a buzz crossing the mighty Murray River which is the dividing line between NSW and Victoria. It’s just after Albury that the landscape changes and begins to divide and roll……

Holy moly……just look at the topography……it’s nuts!! Something truly exciting happened here a long time ago and now we get to enjoy nature’s masterpiece! Do I sound a bit poetic……well it’s lucky I wasn’t driving! With conversations interrupted frequently by gasps and cries of “Cor! Look at that slump!”……we made our way towards Gundagai. Which apparently is really famous for this…..

The photo makes it look awesome……but I kind of didn’t believe the Long Suffering Mentor when she said I would probably be a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. But in actuality, I was more interested in the bloody great big mountain behind the tiny statue! The slumps and terracing on it were just magnificent…..

But in true patriotic form I took a photo of the dog on the tucker box…..and that’s all I will say about it!

We finally arrived in Young and found our accommodation, a lovely self-contained unit with all the trimmings. Having taken our bearings we then proceeded to check out the storage shed which needs to be inventoried and decluttered….

….and I can honestly say the next few days before the drilling starts will consist of a lot of dirt! Just wait for the photos!

I’m in heaven……

Our flight to Melbourne was set at a very civilised time so we were able to get to the airport and wander around rather easily! I was somewhat concerned at the weight of our return luggage, having dispersed rocks between myself and my Long-Suffering Husbands check-in luggage. I think the limit was 20kg and I was sweating as to whether we would be under or over.

In the end we were just under 18kg (phew!) and the rocks were safe for now….until we get to Australia and have to explain to customs why we have bags full of rocks. But that’s something to worry about later…..for now I have to manage the flight back to Australia without breaking my on-board vomit record of three vomit bags.

My Long-Suffering mentor, having witnessed and experienced the carnage of my in-flight sickness, had done her research and managed to find a medication which, so the New Zealand Pharmacist assured her, would prevent any form of motion sickness in most humans. Being a scientist, I was more than willing to put this hypothesis to the test. So, an hour before the flight was scheduled to board I began popping pills left, right and centre…….

As a result, I have no recollection of boarding the plane, nor finding my seat, nor apparently yelling at the flight attendant to “for gods sake, get my a sickie bag” as there were none in my seat compartment. Neither do I remember snoring rather loudly or mumbling that my head keeps trying to fall off my shoulders. All the while my Long-Suffering Husband made friends and shared life experiences with the guy sitting next to him.

I do remember waking up later in the flight and deciding to watch The Walking Dead but not really taking anything in, which was a shame because that particular episode concerned Negan and his baseball bat, Lucille. Anyway, I digress…..I made it through the whole flight without even a burp or dry retch! So a huge thanks to my Long-Suffering Mentor for not only finding a drug to stop me chucking until my kidneys dislodged, but also managed to knock me completely out for a few hours, a feat that isn’t common.

Arriving back in Australia was a nostalgic moment, until I remembered our luggage contained nearly 15 kgs of rocks. Approaching the Border Security I put on my best professional Geologist’s face and declared the rocks. Without blinking the rather large and mean looking lady asked if there was any organic matter attached to the rocks, to which I replied that I have scrubbed them with a dish brush. She then sighed rather boredly, and told us to go ahead and enter our great, brown land, with my New Zealand Volcanic rocks safe and sound and not even looked at!

And so ended my first international travels. Rather a let down to return to the reality of motherhood, housework and study, but then again, I am already planning my next destination……the adventure continues…..

Our flight to Melbourne was set at a very civilised time so we were able to get to the airport and wander around rather easily! I was somewhat concerned at the weight of our return luggage, having dispersed rocks between myself and my Long-Suffering Husbands check-in luggage. I think the limit was 20kg and I was sweating as to whether we would be under or over.

In the end we were just under 18kg (phew!) and the rocks were safe for now….until we get to Australia and have to explain to customs why we have bags full of rocks. But that’s something to worry about later…..for now I have to manage the flight back to Australia without breaking my on-board vomit record of three vomit bags.

My Long-Suffering mentor, having witnessed and experienced the carnage of my in-flight sickness, had done her research and managed to find a medication which, so the New Zealand Pharmacist assured her, would prevent any form of motion sickness in most humans. Being a scientist, I was more than willing to put this hypothesis to the test. So, an hour before the flight was scheduled to board I began popping pills left, right and centre…….

As a result, I have no recollection of boarding the plane, nor finding my seat, nor apparently yelling at the flight attendant to “for gods sake, get my a sickie bag” as there were none in my seat compartment. Neither do I remember snoring rather loudly or mumbling that my head keeps trying to fall off my shoulders. All the while my Long-Suffering Husband made friends and shared life experiences with the guy sitting next to him.

I do remember waking up later in the flight and deciding to watch The Walking Dead but not really taking anything in, which was a shame because that particular episode concerned Negan and his baseball bat, Lucille. Anyway, I digress…..I made it through the whole flight without even a burp or dry retch! So a huge thanks to my Long-Suffering Mentor for not only finding a drug to stop me chucking until my kidneys dislodged, but also managed to knock me completely out for a few hours, a feat that isn’t common.

Arriving back in Australia was a nostalgic moment, until I remembered our luggage contained nearly 15 kgs of rocks. Approaching the Border Security I put on my best professional Geologist’s face and declared the rocks. Without blinking the rather large and mean looking lady asked if there was any organic matter attached to the rocks, to which I replied that I have scrubbed them with a dish brush. She then sighed rather boredly, and told us to go ahead and enter our great, brown land, with my New Zealand Volcanic rocks safe and sound and not even looked at!

And so ended my first international travels. Rather a let down to return to the reality of motherhood, housework and study, but then again, I am already planning my next destination……the adventure continues…..

Thank goodness! Her voice returned! Yay for all those highly medicated, very stinky throat lozenges! She might not be able to fully feel her tongue, but my Long Suffering Mentor has got enough of a voice that she can do her presentation. Hallelujah!

Dr Sanja Van Huet is a smart lady. She is a Taphonomist, a fancy word for a person who studies the sediment surrounding bone or teeth or any other interesting trace element from ages past. She’s the dirt lady of the dinosaur world – just kidding! She would hate me saying that! Anyways, her presentation of the overview of Late Quaternary fossil sites from the Nepean Peninsula, Victoria was very successful, despite, at times, sounding like a croaky teenage pre-pubescent boy (tee hee hee!)

Having thoroughly enjoying the morning sessions of Tephras and Volcanism (Oh….My….GAWD!) and an open science session, lunch was a welcome time of catching up for the last time with people I have met, and talking about how much of a hangover they have from the wine the previous night (everyone did look slightly seedy!). Then I quietly slipped away to join my Long Suffering Husband, who I truly love, and is so supportive of my research and my new career path. He has put up with a lot this week, my cranky tantrums from nerves, my displays of tears – all through it he was my rock (excuse the pun!). So, in the interests of keeping my marriage together, we stole away to do all manner of touristy things, and explored the beautiful township of Auckland and spending time around the harbour and marina.

Little did I know that late in the afternoon back at AQUA, awards were being handed out for different achievements. And for some very strange reason, Rebecca Ballard was awarded Highly Commended (2nd place) for best presentation related to a research project (EEK!).  This was quite exceptional as I was competing against PhD and Masters candidates. I kind of felt bad for stealing some PhD students thunder, but at the same time I was so fucking proud! And then I felt bad because I wasn’t there to receive the award, but my Long Suffering Mentor assured me that she explained I was saving my marriage (she actually said that in front of everyone!). So I can safely say that my presentation was a success, and that I seem to be on the right track!

Our last night in Auckland involved a lovely dinner out while the Good Doctor went to the AQUA trivia night, coming home very late sightly inebriated and giggling hysterically about the fights that broke out at the trivia tables regarding some controversy involving Quaternary science! Apparently it was quite feisty and very funny! We packed and reminisced about the great experiences we have had over this exciting week. It was an exceptional experience.

I refuse to disgrace myself in front of a crowd, but I swear! This presentation-thing doesn’t get easier! I’ll be very lucky if one day I make it to my old age without gaining the reputation of the girl who shit her pants in front of an auditorium full of smart people!

My presentation was scheduled for 11.20am. Which mean’t I had the first session of “Coastal Dynamics and Processes”, which I actually found extremely interesting and relevant to my own research, and funnily enough I managed to understand the majority of what was said, to fidget through! This session, being the most relevant to my Long-Suffering Mentor’s speciality meant that a barrage of questions were being scribbled down on post-it notes for me to ask at the end of certain presentations, due to her complete loss of vocal abilities, with only 24 hours to go before the Good Doctor had to present herself (God help me!). Pretending to know what she was asking about, while withstanding her rib-stabbing and gesticulations was somewhat embarrassing, but I put it all down to the experience of being a student to a very passionate, intelligent and highly-regarded scientist, who just happened to see something in me that she liked and gave me a chance to tag along with her at any and every opportunity – I’ll put up with her crazy idiosyncrasies and at the same time continue shoving medicated throat lozenges down her gullet in the hopes she improves by tomorrow…..

By the end of morning tea I was seriously in need of alcohol. When it came to my turn I stuck to my script, and thank god the technology worked! The presentation lasted for 18 minutes on the dot (!!) and a few questions were kind of successfully answered. For those of you who don’t know, my research involves the use of drones to map the Bridgewater Formation, Nepean Peninsula, Victoria – and more specifically, to map a certain paleosol (fossil soil) that exists in the area. To map this paleosol, I’ve formulated a new mapping technique to present my findings, and it’s this mapping technique that I was launching at the AQUA conference. Being a second year Enviro Science student, with only a couple of geology units under my belt, I was presenting something I thought could work in an arena of professionals, some of whom had been doing this kind of stuff for decades! I was way out of my league!

But in the end, everyone accepted and understood my shortfalls and lack of experience, and they seemed quite pleased with the results of my findings and what I had planned for the future. I was able to sit and enjoy the remainder of the session of Open Science, with a clear feeling of satisfaction as well as a dissipating terror!

Everyone was most excited that tonight was the Conference Dinner to be held at Villa Maria Estate and would consist of canapés, a winery tour, a three-course meal, and of course, unlimited samples of wine! So at around 6pm, several busloads of excited geologists began to disembark and all but run for the wine bar. Having spent four days with said geologists, watching them crustily interact with each other, often resulting in some controversial and heated question and answer times, I was NOT expecting the jovial and downright companionable atmosphere that became apparent 20 minutes later! I lost count of the many slaps on the back and congratulations from scientists of such standing I could barely stare and not slobber at them in response! But, the genuine advice from warm fellow students, mentors and retirees was something that shall stay with me throughout my career. The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, and the wine was divine!

We all stumbled to our beds late into the night, but a great evening was had by all. And my goodness……do Geologists know how to party!

Today began with another watching of the sunrise as I was too excited to sleep! The mid-conference field trip is always a highlight of any conference but the promise of seeing multiple volcanoes in one day was too much for this budding geologist! So, having dragged the Long-Suffering Mentor through our now common early-morning ritual of caffeine, and more caffeine (keep-cups anyone?!) we arrived at the bus stop complete with hiking packs and comfy boots!

Our first stop was Mount Eden (Maungawhau). It’s a volcanic cone with a huge crater that is 50 metres deep. We were able to walk around the edge of the crater and the views over Auckland were stunning! Due to indigenous beliefs we weren’t allowed to walk down into the crater – Mataaho was a deity said to live in the crater and to be the guardian of the secrets hidden in the earth. The volcano is a scoria cone so, of course, lots of scoria was to be found (and some collected!).

Next we went to the magical place of Cascades Kauri Park. This park consists of some remnant native forest and had the most magnificent Kauri Trees. They were absolutely huge – I’ve never seen trees as big as these were. The circumference of the trunks were bigger than my arm span. Stunning ferns and bubbling creeks provided a wonderful scenery for a bush walk. The most vivid thing that stood out to me was how quiet it was. Here in Australia our forest is full of bird song and wildlife calls. There, it was dead silent with only sporadic calls from birdlife. We are so lucky here in Australia to have so much native wildlife to watch and hear!

After a wonderful boxed lunch (the fanciest I’ve ever had the pleasure to consume!), we again boarded the bus and headed to Lake Pupuke, a crater lake on the north shore of Auckland. Again, the crater was huge but the lake wasn’t what got me wetting my pants! It was the stratigraphy of the road cuttings leading down into the area which had myself, and a few others, madly collecting samples and swapping sounds of excitement! The ash beds of the volcanic eruption were clearly visible, and it was here I proudly collected my first sample of volcanic rock, Pahoehoe, a bread-like lava that was really glassy! It was everywhere and I was happily chipping samples to look at! In fact, I became so distracted with my rock sections that the bus had to come and collect me – complete with a large rock sitting at the front door that my Long-Suffering Mentor had managed to convince the bus driver to bring home for me (God, I love her!).

Having arrived home happy, but with heavy back packs, I began to madly prepare for my talk that was happening the following morning. Terrified at the simplicity of my presentation, with no wiggle graph in sight, I hoped that my massively impressive drone footage would distract them so much they wouldn’t be paying attention to anything I said anyway. At least that was the plan…….

Okay…..so it always gets better on the second day doesn’t it?……

Our first sessions for today began with Human-Environment Interactions. Sounds great doesn’t it? Nice and simple? Yeah I thought so too…..and then talks such as “Anthropogenic Influences on the Sedimentary Evolution of Coromandel Harbour” (Alexander Harpur), and “Testing Lessons from the Past : Using Paleoenvironmental data to define pre-human baselines at Lake Pounui, New Zealand” (Andrew Rees)……and I was starting to rock in a corner while thumb-sucking.

Despite my Long-Suffering Mentor assuring me that I was going to be okay and wasn’t, in fact, on another planet having an out-of-body experience that wasn’t altogether enjoyable, I remained dubious until morning tea rolled around and I all but ran for the scones and tea bags! It was while waiting in line for the English Breakfast that I met the lovely Dr Helen Bostock who was one of those presenters from the first day that I had been trying very hard to avoid! She assured me that even she was having trouble understanding some of the science (although I think she was just being kind and having noticed the skittishness in my eyes and the panic in my voice had sensed I was a Governor Grey’s whisker from high-tailing it back to Australia!) and advised me to just sit back and take as much in as I could.

It was when we returned to the lecture hall for session two, The Evolution of ENSO over Australasia (The WHAT?!), that I noticed my Long-Suffering Mentor was beginning to lose her voice, which at the time I found quite hilarious as she was trying to yell at me that she’d been telling me exactly the same thing that Dr. Helen had just been telling me but that I never listen to her (*continue rant – sigh!*), but after thinking about it began to worry as she was presenting an important paper on Friday and visions of ME having to present the paper for her while she gesticulated madly beside me began to form in my head! With much encouragement on my behalf to PLEASE find a pharmacy and some drugs to get her voice back, we settled in for the second sessions involving ENSO (that’s the El-Nino Southern Oscillation to all you non-climatology types!).

When I was rudely awakened at lunchtime by an elbow to the ribs (thank you Good Doctor!) I again decided to wag the afternoon poster presentation sessions and do some more sight-seeing. After walking 10,000 kilometres (slight over-exaggeration but my feet and back were KILLING me!), Long-Suffering Husband and I made it to my most favourite place in the world – the Natural Museum!

And so began a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon being lost amongst the history of New Zealand and the bones of long-lost megafauna! I was most surprised at the lack of native mammals in New Zealand (the ONLY one being a tiny bat!), but became enthralled by the Moa and the Kiwi and the beautiful native Kauri Trees.

The Moa was fascinating. This bird was 3 metres tall – the tallest bird known to have existed.

And then it got ever more awesome! A volcano exhibition!

This mould was created when lava surrounded a tree trunk.The burned trunk later rotted away leaving behind a perfect record of it’s shape.

Having spent four hours in the museum we limped home and collapsed, finding sustenance in leftovers and some kind of salad the Good Doctor managed to throw together. Had a small hissy fit in the bar downstairs over a Cosmopolitan trying to write my talk for Thursday. It took two more Cosmo’s to calm me down…..

The sunrise from our beautiful apartment was breathtaking! And I can testify first hand to that because I was so nervous that I was awake and watching it! Having managed to get some caffeine into my Long-Suffering Mentor and prompt her to perform some personal hygiene ablutions (she is NOT a morning person!), we ambled across the road to our first sessions of the 2016 AQUA Biennial Conference – Quaternary Perspectives from the City of Volcanoes.

The first sessions were on Millennial Scale Climate Variability. Huh? After a wonderful and inspiring morning tea which consisted of me scarfing scones in a corner trying to convince myself it was all going to be okay and I wasn’t the only idiot in the room, we began the second sessions on Australian Peat Deposits and the Paleoecological Potential. I was shitting kittens…..

I was bombarded with wiggle graphs. Paleoecologists LOVE wiggle graphs! It’s like cocaine to them – they can’t get enough and the more the wiggle the better the high! It was like being the only sober person in a room full of happy drunks! The only words I understood were the ones I was busy googling while trying to keep track of who the speaker was and how many ways I could manage to avoid them over the course of the week so that I didn’t have to open my mouth and prove how simple I was!

With my Long-Suffering Mentor every now and then leaning over and talking me down from hanging myself from a curtain rail, I was very relieved to have the lunch break announced. It was all I could do to stop myself from collecting my stuff and throwing them into my bag to try and scurry out as quickly as possible! But as usual, my Long-Suffering Mentor, the good Doctor (she hates it when I call her that so I try and get it in as much as possible!) began introducing me to people who I really should have known were important but as usual, I didn’t, and so began my world of regret of telling inappropriate stories over cups of tea about my vet nursing days and the thousand and one ways I have managed to not kill my children – later finding out the person I was speaking to was the HIGHLY regarded so and so, or the Head of Research of faculties that I’ll probably later be applying for jobs to, only to be remembered as the girl who told the story about the pug and the nine pairs of G-strings I removed from it’s gut.

The afternoon sessions comprised of poster presentations, so I decided to wag and go see some of New Zealand. After all, this was my first ever international trip and I wanted to make the most of it! With my Long-Suffering Husband in tow, we caught a ferry from the most-excellent Auckland Harbour, and set off to sail across to the delightful town of Devonport. We were met at the ferry terminal by our very eager tour guide, and soon discovered we were the only people to actually be on this tour (Yay!) so I got to sit in the front seat…….(Double Yay!)

That was my view…..

So, we spent a wonderful afternoon driving around the streets of picturesque Devonport, listening to the history about the area, and seeing some volcanoes. When the tour guide found out I was a studying Geologist he went out of his way to take us to places that were particularly interesting to us rock-people, and helping me collect my first samples of New Zealand Volcanic rock! The views were spectacular and a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by the three of us!

This is Mt. Victoria (Takarunga). It’s the highest volcano on Auckland’s North Shore and is a scoria cone.

This was a view of Rangitoto from North Head (Maungauika). Rangitoto is a shield volcano and is the most recent and the largest volcano in Auckland. It only blew 600 years ago and Rangitoto is Māori for ‘Bloody Sky’, which indicates it was a big explosion!

The views from North Head were just breathtaking!

It was becoming very late in the day when we caught the ferry back to Auckland and made our way back to the apartment via lots of kitchy tourist shops! In Australia I avoid these shops whenever I go to Melbourne, but here in New Zealand I dragged Andrew into every single one I saw! Loaded down with parcels containing stuffed kiwis and inappropriate fridge magnets we finally found a supermarket and managed to get some essential supplies for the apartment.

So my Big Lesson #1 for international travelling – don’t worry about what you are wearing, BE COMFORTABLE! Stupidly, I didn’t bring a pair of sneakers, and with the amount of walking I did on the first day, I quickly realised I wasn’t going to be as comfortable as I should be with all the sightseeing and walking around. Tomorrow I will wear my Doc Marten’s, no matter how ridiculous and unprofessional I look!

It’s not like I’ve lived under a rock (excuse the pun!) but, I have never been outside of Australia in my whole life! While others were travelling Contiki tours, AB and I were married at 21 and having babies at 23! While others were building careers, I was looking after 4 children and juggling a job as a vet nurse. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change a thing! But to say that at the age of 43 I still didn’t have a passport was somewhat strange……

So, when my Long-Suffering Mentor suggested we go to the AQUA conference (Australasian Quaternary Association) that was being held in Auckland, New Zealand, I said…..”yeah, okay!”……actually……I jumped up and down squealing like a little girl whilst holding my hands between my legs to contain my pee….but that would be setting a rather undignified scenario for you…..so we shall just say I agreed, and applied for my passport!

Here is a picture on the day it arrived…..and no I didn’t wear the shirt on purpose!

And so began our planning for my first EVER trip outside of Australia! The conference was for five days, starting with an ice-breaker on the Sunday night (which my Long-Suffering Mentor ALWAYS insists we go to!) and consisted of a jam packed itinerary including a mid-week field trip! Auckland is known as the city of volcanoes……SQUEEE!

But, what started as a “Let’s go to this conference Bec, it’s, like, really COOL AS!”….slowly became a “You can do a small presentation about your research”…..to then become a “Hey Bec, we’ve booked you in for a 20 minute speaker slot on Thursday morning!” So not only was I travelling outside of Australia for the first time, but I was speaking at an international conference whilst travelling outside of Australia for the first time……man, I was in BIG trouble!

So….our story begins…..

Planes are not a problem for me. I’ve been on them before. No biggie! I’m excited and raring to go! Make it through check in and security. And we wait to board the plane……this is the before shot…..

….it’s all happy and smiles until the turbulence begins……and three sickie bags later and I’m begging for the nice, pretty flight attendant to please take my dirty baggies and then kill me…..you don’t want to see that photo…..

But, we arrived in Auckland safe and sound, made it through the arrivals and customs, only to realise, I didn’t get a stamp in my brand, spanking new passport! So, I did what any 43 year old international travelling virgin would do…..I had a tanty! It didn’t last long though as I was distracted by the fact that New Zealand number plates have no state names on them…..because…..well….New Zealand has no states…..wow……!

We arrived at our accommodation, a great two bedroom apartment that was immediately across the road from the University of Auckland where the conference was being held, in Old Government House to be precise! Old Government House is just beautiful, built in 1856 and restored to it’s natural beauty. We attended the drinks and nibbles ice-breaker event and picked up our fun-bag for the conference (it had the best keyring thingy in it that has a USB key and a bottle opener built into it!), grabbed a glass of wine and made ourselves comfy in the chairs…..when this happened……

I swear I was just sitting there when this cat sauntered into the room and came and sat on my lap……so not wanting to bother the cat (who by the way is called Governor Grey and has his own Facebook page!) I sat and drank wine and watched everyone like some stalker sizing up her prey…….

So, having rubbed my face all over the cat for several hours, my Long-Suffering Mentor finally managed to drag me back to our apartment, being somewhat under the weather having consumed several glasses of wine on top of copious motion sickness medication (which DIDN’T WORK!)…….and I don’t quite remember what happened much after that but I’m sure my first night in New Zealand was somewhat subdued…….