Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I have been exceedingly remiss in posting to my blog for the past week or more. I do have an excuse for part of that, and it has been that I haven't had access to the web from my laptop, and that means that I was, and am, unable to download photographs.


My stay in Western Australia, like everywhere else, was fantastic. I was met at the Perth airport by Barb and Gus King who proceeded to show me the most amazing time. We first went to King's Park, which is a magnificent park overlooking the Swan River in Perth. I was made to feel instantly at home in that beautiful city. After a delightful stroll in the Park, we headed out to the local tennis club to meet my sister's brother-in-law, whom I hadn't seen for more than thirty years. He is a doctor; a GP in the area. After a glass of wine with Geoff, he took me back to his beautiful house in Claremont, close to the river, and then he, his wife, Wendy, and I all went out for dinner.

Of course, a lot of what I did has either now disappeared to the far recesses of what used to be called my brain. Other things I remember but very likely in the wrong order!

The workshop began on Saturday - "From the Sublime to the Ridiculous" - and an amazing sixteen people signed up for it. It was held in the Boy Scout HQ in Perth and was full of joy and laughter (exactly the way I like 'em). I had the students go through a Foundational Hand to begin with and then on to pen manipulation in the afternoon.

After a very pleasant martini with Barb and Gus, I spent the rest of the evening on my own and was able to catch up on some much needed sleep

By the following day everyone seemed to have "got it" (the concept of pen manipulation) to a greater or lesser extent. Somehow, we managed to finish a half hour early and we neglected to take any class photographs, because, by the time Barb had gotten everything packed up, the class had dispersed! Oh well!! I had gone round and done an alphabet for everyone in the class and it had taken me a lot less time than I expected.

That evening, Geoff picked me up at my hotel and drove me back to his house where he was preparing dinner for two of his neighbors and myself. We were also joined by Geoff and Wendy's son Tristan, their other son, Nick being otherwise engaged! It was a wonderful evening at where, I regret to say, I imbibed a little too much wine. Geoff has this unbelievably magnificent wine cellar, which would be the envy of anyone who enjoys a glass.

The next day was to be the lecture, but first, Gus and Barb and I had decided to go for a bike ride. G & B fortunately had a number of spare bikes and they picked me up at the hotel and off we went for our spin along the river. The river is truly magnificent and the bike trail runs all along both sides of it. We rode for a leisurely 18kms and stopped for a cup of tea on the way, before arriving back at our starting point. The next time I'm there, I want to do the whole ride down to Fremantle and back!!

After dropping the bikes off at their house, we drove down towards Fremantle and then out to Cottesloe for lunch and my first view of the Indian Ocean. I'm not sure that I ever expected to see that body of water, and I have to admit to standing there, not really believing where I was. We got back to my hotel in time for me to have a short rest before the lecture, which went fairly well and which was put on in one of the hotel meeting rooms.

After the lecture, most of the members of the class repaired to the Melbourne for a class dinner which was most enjoyable. Barb and I had decided that we would take the ferry down to Fremantle the following day, and meet up with Wendy at a local microbrewery. Several of the class members decided that they would join us, too. The trip downriver was spectacular; the houses were unbelievable paeans to overindulgence!!

The following day, Wednesday, I boarded an early flight to Melbourne and picked up three hours which helped to discombobulate me even more. I never used to suffer much from jetlag, but this time has been just a little different. More about Melbourne next time.

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