Perth #2

I have just returned from my week in Perth, which turned out very well. My keynote address to the State of the Cities (SOAC) conference was reasonably received and sparked some long debates. And the social side was good, too. We had opening drinks at the Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC), famous as being the home base of Australia's yachting team who finally lifted the America's Cup off the US in the 1980s, after many decades of trying. That took place off the New Jersey coastline, but most Australians can remember the then Prime Minister telling employers that anyone who fired a workers hung over from the celebrations was a bum! That line was recorded for posterity at the RPYC. However, on this occasion there was no sign of Alan Bond who financed the attempt.

Two days later we also had the conference dinner at the RPYC, and very good it was too. In between there was a civic reception at the Perth City Hall. My slides show the view from the RPYC to the city centre and the view in reverse! Perth is very attractive along the Swan River, home to many of the wealthiest in Australia!

A long-time colleague of mine, Roy, and his wife, Chris, entertained me to dinner last night in Freo (Fremantle) near where they live - at a Turkish restaurant - and they ran me all the way to the airport. We'd met in July this year in, of all places, Maribor in Slovenia - we were attending the same conference. And they looked after Rebecca when she was in Rio a few years ago.

I left Perth at 3.00am Eastern Summer Time, three hours ahead of Perth where it was midnight. And I arrived back in Armidale - via Sydney at 10am, just 7 hours and 4000km later. Amazingly, the return trip to Sydney was faster by one hour than going: 3.5 hours to 4.5 hours. That reflected the jet stream accelerating aircraft speed on the return to 1100 km per hour. So I turned up to bridge this afternoon with 4 hours sleep under my belt last night - not a success!

AS