Weekend days off in Adelaide and Balnarring / Seminar in Melbourne

After flying in from Auckland…I travelled on up to Adelaide to Rich and Jess as Caroline set off home at Melbourne. John came out to meet me with Alex and very kindly took the big bag away so I could go with just hand luggage…

Met by Rich at Adelaide airport out for long drive back up to Port Willunga, amazing skies and beautiful sunset. Both boys in bed when I arrive and a great meal cooked by Jess. Great to catch up with friends much missed in SE London. But this is a great place to live. The following day we were on Southport Beach with Alex and Noah. Fun and games and a fairly long fairly scary swim out to the reef. Where Rich informs me about the various dangers hereabouts…the occasional Great White and a Blue Ringed Octopus colony. Danger aside (and, yes snakes get a look in via a handwritten sign about avoiding them in the sand dunes), they live in a very lovely place and have some new friends among the teacher diaspora from London…Great to see them…hope to stay longer next time…

Back to Melbourne after lovely meal out where John again meets me and we head back to the house…

The following day down with Gina and Alex and Ollie to quite a different beach at Balnarring via a night at the Moore’s house out on the peninsula. Dennis and Frances generous with time, food, hospitality – lovely house and enormous garden. Well set up for Alex and Ollie with trampoline, hammock and so on…

Catch up with Neil and Sophie and Maisie on the beach at St Kilda on a blistering hot day. My other friends who left last year…Also doing well and loving Melbourne. Because what is there not to like? I’ve never seen it in the sun before since on previous visits we’ve come in August in the winter. A beautiful city. Nice lunch out in Federation Square…Visit ACMI later – the BFI equivalent – where thanks to Neil and Sophie I was lucky to see an exhibition by Candice Breitz http://www.acmi.net.au/candice-breitz.aspx – identity and popular culture themes…

Lovely meal at Lucinda and Andy’s house, catching up with former MA and now PhD student – also great to see John Yandell from London there.  Lucinda also came to the seminar.

Gina kindly drove me out to Monash Clayton campus and I met with Neil and many of his colleagues including Michael Henderson and Scott Bulfin. The seminar seemed to go well in spite of disconcerting video link up to empty-ish rooms round the Monash campuses! But the room I was in was full of good and interesting people. Some great questions about my book and the work and good discussion afterwards. I hope they all enjoyed it as much as I did. IN fact

In Melbourne in the evening – out to a lovely restaurant treated by John and Gina – last night of the tour and all…Home tomorrow – really missing family now and wanting to be home but not especially up for a very long haul – looking forward to catching up with everyone in London nonetheless in the chilly northern hemisphere and seeing skies where Orion is the other way up. I will miss the Southern Cross though…a strange beautiful group of stars…