Victory Victoria

We flew to Melbourne in the late morning, Qantas having lived up to its record to date by changing the flight time without telling us.  Since this always seems to be later than advertised, this has caused us no undue problems to date, but Julian has told me to graze the internet in future to check the times.

Melbourne is a very different place to Sydney.  For a start, there are vastly fewer tourists and it has a cramped feel after the wide open spaces of the docks and quays of Sydney.  This is not helped by a traffic system designed around a tram network that very few people seem to use.  For example, one is required to swing left in order to turn right, and the mixture of one way systems and tramlines in almost every street ensured that the hotel shuttle (from which, as usual, we were the last passengers disgorged) seemed to double back on itself a zillion times in order to reach the next hotel in the list.

Amidst all of this ordered chaos, the Lundrum Hotel, where we held the evening's reception, was a true oasis of refinement and quietude.   Everyone rostered turned up and, as might be expected from a sheep-loving state, I was treated with the utmost respect.   Julian, on the other hand, has got into an annoying habit of introducing me as the embodiment of the mischievous nature of his staff at Aber ... "stitching me up with a bleating stuffed toy" was the most recent comment.  He seems to forget that I have proved singificantly more popular amongst the alumni than he has thus far, and I have received significantly more hugs.

We are, whatever our differences, beginning to take a warm welcome almost for granted (which is probably a dangerous thing to do).  The Melbourne crowd were no different, chatting away to each other immediately and giving Julian an attentive hearing followed by pertinent and insightful questions.    As ever, the two hour event soon stretched to three, and only Julian's insistence that his early morning flight to Perth required at least a modicum of sleep brought yet another excellent evening to a close.

One final point worthy of mention:  a distinguished guest for the evening (even if she is a Bangor alumna), Heather Ithell came especially from Adelaide to represent her son, Richard, who died tragically young and who was a promising lawyer.  Richard's particular interests were civil and human rights, and a prize in his name has been established in the Law & Criminology Department for the best dissertation in this area from a final year student.  Additional support for this prize is needed and would be gratefully received:  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RichardIthellMemorialFund