Just a quick one today - no photos - bike sale seems to have fallen through so I will be riding home. Paypal informed me that the email I had purporting to be from them was in fact a fake. I have heard no more from the "buyer"...

Had lunch yesterday with Wiz and Sam's son, Edward, formerly of Culcairn (near Albury) but now of Darwin and soon to depart for another job somewhere out of town. Good to see a familiar face from home.

Yesterday the Darwin Symposium began with a public lecture from Chris Darwin, great great grandson of the Man. Chris's talk was very entertaining, including an account of his attendance at the "world's highest dinner party" in the Andes a few years ago. He and some companions climbed a snowy peak about 12,000 ft high, and set up the dinner table and donned their dinner suits; who should arrive in the middle of it all but a pair of Argentinian climbers who almost fell back down again in surprise at the sight. Their faces were something to see.

Then last night there was a welcome reception at Parliament House - supposedly a tie was necessary, and I went to a certain amount of trouble to get one from the Red Cross op shop, and also purchased a pair of shoes. Needn't have bothered - crocs would have been OK and out of about 200 people there I was one of about 5 who wore a tie. Oh well.

Today the Symposium began in earnest and it was a torrent of mental stimulation for me, such as I have not experienced for quite a while. Lots to think about, and in time I will put a fuller report on here somewhere. Today's speakers included Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty, who had plenty to say about viruses and immunity, all mfascinating; unfortunately he also had a bit to say about "climate change deniers" and "people from Texas" which produced loyal applause from the politically correct segment of the audience but did nothing to enhance his own credibility. Since when did a molecular biologist become more of an authority on climate change than a geologist?

Running out of time, more tomorrow.