Day Zero and Miniconfs, Day One
You know, I don’t think I’ve been to a miniconf since Canberra. Oh, wait, I managed half an hour in Dunedin before the food poisoning kicked in and I had to go throw up again.
So I said earlier this evening. As usual, I didn’t break my duck (or Tuz) today; instead setting aside the Monday for sightseeing. It worked pretty well — I managed to book and pick up a hire car this morning at a surprisingly reasonable rate, so long as I get it back by 9 tomorrow morning — and I was soon on the road for Mount Wellington and parts beyond.
Mount Wellington was lovely, so long as I stayed in the car. The cloud was ominously low, though, and as soon as I hopped out, I was basically pinned to the car by a gust of wind. I looked it up this evening, and the strongest gust of wind of the day (109 km/h) there happened at pretty much the exact moment I was walking along the observation boardwalk and trying not to be blown over the railing.
Unsurprisingly, the wind ruined pretty much all my photos.
Anyway, I pressed on down the Huon Road into the Huon Valley, had lunch in Huonville, and went on up to the Hartz Mountains National Park and ended up walking to Arve Falls, along the way disturbing some wildlife and getting to play with some different camera settings.
Went to Tacos in Salamanca tonight with Adam. My chicken enchilada was pretty good; Adam’s tacos were fairly average. Thankfully, they have cerveza.
As for day zero (yesterday), there’s not much to report. The flights were screamingly uneventful, bar one snippy flight attendant telling me I couldn’t loiter around the front of the cabin. (Where else are you supposed to stretch your legs on a 737?) On time, daytime flights with no screaming children near me make me a happy camper. Paul was nice enough to give three strangers a lift to the university, for which I’m extremely grateful, particularly since he also gave a few of us a lift to the Coles in Sandy Bay later on too!
Tomorrow: I will attend a miniconf for the first time in (effectively) four years. Hopefully.