Sunday at Conference

It's day one of the World AIDS Convention and the buzz is here, there and everywhere. It is indeed a mammoth undertaking and the Melbourne Convention Centre is more than up to it. I have just traversed most of the venues, getting very lost in the process, but nevertheless getting a good idea of the immensity of this world-wide biennial convention. And this is a smaller one, because of its faraway location, only about fifteen thousand as against twenty-five thousand a couple of years ago in Washington DC. The next one is in Durban, one of the epicentres of AIDS so that will be gigantic.

First I have caught up immediatley with Lesley and all his PNG friends in the Global Village. I have registered and collected my showbag of goodies, with so many brochures and info paks I didn't know what to do with them, so have sifted through and kept half of them for later perusal. The Global Village is free for all, whereas the interior where I now am is for registered delegates who have paid their money or on scholarships like me. The first talks will be big ones because of the Ukraine tragedy and as it is the grand opening of the convention. There is no way I will catch Michael Kirby tonight so I will wait for another occasion.

 The queues for the first plenary session seem to be hundreds of metres long so I am sitting gazing and waiting for the throngs to dissipate somewhat before I venture into the cavernous space of the Melbourne Convention Centre. I was given some food vouchers and already have eaten one of them, a Caesar Chicken Salad which was OK. So I am now fortified. On examining the program I am exhausted by its breadth and complexity so will try and keep my attendance simple and interesting. It will anyway be an exhausting experience. The queue is moving so I may now take my place and see what happens in the great hall, surrounded by a multiplicity of tongues all seemingly loving this experience of hearing about one of the deadliest epidemics the world has ever seen. Funny that.

Inside the Global Village...

at the PNG table with

Lesley and his former teacher in PNG.

Lesley sporting the red ribbon AIDS key ring much better on his ear.

Inside the cathedral of HIV!

Waiting in chatty expectation...

of what will certainly be some stirring speeches

Departure for Melbourne

This morning wake-up went like clockwork, but when travelling, expect the unexpected. Ready on the dot of 3.30am the shuttle bus was on time ( but had no coins so I tipped $4) after two changes of Check- in counter we are here waiting for the gates to open, two hours before but no-one at security, even the coffee machine is not open. We are a small town here in Wellington I always foreget that, even when in so-called International flights to OZ.

Preparing for first customers

Patiently waiting, she knows what it's like. Next time I

think I'll lie about my departure time and then arrive only one hour early which is more than ample for Wellington. Last night's farewell dinner went well and my House Manifesto was accepted with a smile - all is well at No.42 Evans Bay Pde.

Am first through security when it finally does open and feel the need for sustenance as no food is served in this cheap flight to Melbourne. A BLT later (below) and a luke-warm but tasty coffee, I am now waiting for an hour before the call. All is good, and now for Melbourne.

Here are the two sorts of Wellington professionals, the Lawyer and the Judge, take your pick as to which is which! The hirsute, behatted gent has a sharp moustache, and the the man gazing at him may well be even a doctor going to the AIDS Conference. 

The waiting area is finally filling up. I suppose my early arrival is to be commended as I have no rush and associated stress, just time for a leisurely coffee and some breakfast, tres civilise d'ailleurs. I must learn to accept nmy new-found habit of early arriving and be happy with it. The background music is awash with the comforting voice of my favourite female singer today, Adele.

Plane bomb aftershocks

Am in Newtown after coffee with Tom at his place with R and N, I go to shop and buy a pie in a corner store to read the Saturday paper. All bad news about the plane disaster in Ukraine and the world looks more dangerous and sadder every day. Best not to read the news just live one's life. Am now home to cook a birthday cake for Fir tonight and pack my stuff for Melbourne and book a shuttle taxi for tomorrow 3.30am departure.

Also to write the house Manifesto for No 42 to deliver to all tonight.

 It will be briefly A. C. A.

 Awareness, 

Communication, 

Appreciation.

Downbeat but OK

Constable Street on Saturday

Full house at 42

It was something I have waited a month for and last night with a celebratory dinner of Italian style pasta, I entertained my new housemates from Kashmir and Paris. They wolfed down a lovely meal and then Sonny unpacked his large bags and settled into the Tiger Room making his mark with Tibetan flags on his doorway. Already Fir had prepared for his arrival with the Hindi protection Goddess hanging ouside his room. Such again is the serendipity of living the balanced life.

A day later and another terrible plane bombing in the Ukraine, Russian terrorists the cause, with nearly 300 dead of which 100 were en route to Melbourne's International AIDS conference, the one I am attending on Sunday. Whatawful news for everyone concerned. It will create a pall over the whole week with little to celebrate. 

Had a long talk with Sonny and discover his background is quite elevated and erudite, with his father a sculptor and grandfather a famous radical educationalist in Kashmir, in the mode of Rudolf Steiner.

He shows me his website which is quite impressive but written in an Indian style English which I have offered to help him with. 'Kitchen Atelier' is his moniker.

Sonny's Tibetan room...

Sonny and Ilham at first night dinner

My last BnB guest Lyndy at breakfast.

Final day at Flashdog Studios

The second day of workshop was even better, especially as I followed my inner nudge to go back to the hotel and ask again for my car key which resulted in finding it stuck in the receptionist's key shelves, no apologies there of course. Relieved,  I have now organised and paid for a duplicate to come from Stuttgart so no more worries in that area.

The weather has turned bad, again, and tonight, quite weary after a very hectic two days, I have cancelled Scottish dance and am staying home on my bed relaxing with classical music on the fantastic NZ Concert FM Radio. What a great education this station is, I love it.

Tomorrow I look forward to the arrival of Sonny, early after all, at 1 pm so his room will be ready for him.

I feel privileged to have these three excellent people under my roof, and I look forward to a long and fruitful friendship with all three of them.

One of the workshops..

With my angelic friend Angel!

Workshop on Inner Guidance

The much awaited workshop and book launch for Anne Archer Butcher's best selling book 'Inner Guidance' has come to Wellington and of course ECKANKAR is sponsoring it. Forty people came this morning and I am hosting one one of them as my final guest with Air BnB. It was a good morning and  the talks were excellent, really quite inspiring. The subsequent launch was at Comfort Quality Hotel and it seemed the same people came who were all true believers. I bought another copy to give away.

Tomorrow is the final day.

In the meantime I have mislaid my car key but have now decided it has fallen out of my pocket into the couch at the hotel. Hopefully tomorrow I can pick it up. Of course it is a sign that I will immediately get another key cut, even if it is $200 as that is the cost for imported keys.

I live and continue learning and now I have Sonny moving in on Thursday which is a lovely event and one worth celebrating. I know I will learn lots from him. I am also going to cancel all my activities when he comes as I will only see him for three nights before I leave. Am now very excited also about my Melbourne and Perth trip which begins on Sunday in only four days time.

Selfie with good Sydney friend Annie who has been a great advisor during my housemate search

Finally, new housemates!

It has taken exactly a month to find a suitable person to share my house with, but now I have not one, but two who fit the bill. One, a young French girl named Ilham, from a Moroccan father, has moved in today, and she seems perfectly suited to my smaller room which she embraced with unabashed fervour. In her late twenties she is having a final overseas fling and is really a lovely girl. Happily she arrived at the same time the other prospective tenant was here and as they got along so well, and both loved the rooms, I decided to rent out both of them, a result financially more favourable for me too.

The other new housemate is an exceptional young male from Kashmir who is a graduate engineer who has decided to study Culinary Arts with the Wellington  Cordon Bleu School. His nick-name is Sonny, he is a very bright 25 yo, and when he comes in on Thursday I then will have a full house negating the need for a BnB.  My ad. is now off the net and I am very happy although the experience was a good one as I learned a lot. Who knows, I may do it again one day given the right circumstances. For the moment though, I am now solvent and happy with the prospect of going to Melbourne next Sunday.

I have arranged to meet my future Kashmiri housemate at Cafe Scopa in Cuba St and arrange his moving details, tenancy agreement etc. Sonny's real name is Vaibhav Vishner, but he has said we can call him 'Sonny', which is his mother's pet name for him.

It is a wet and freezing day so Scopa is warm and inviting. I am here early to get a good table so Sonny can see me on arrival. As he is a trainee chef, enrolled at the French Cordon Bleu School, he may be interested in the food magazine I have bought for him, a NZ speciality, called 'Dish'. It features a lot of warm succulent winter dishes suitable to tempt his palate. When he secures my large front room my month-long search for tenants is over. Let us hope I am not disappointed again, but I think I have earned some success rate at this stage.

A local food magazine for Sonny

The cosy feel of Scopa

Sonny at Scopa

Well as you can see I was not disappointed. On the contrary I am delighted, thrilled and quietly expectant that marvellous things will ensue from my new living arrangement with my three tenants, all very special and exciting in their own way. The Universe has really smiled on me and now it is time for me to give something back. I'm sure I'll be told what it will be. I am very grateful indeed and tonight after swimming I received a lovely hug from Paige before I went around to collect the cash from Sonny for his rent. He was staying at a very modest Air BnB and it is clear he is ready to move  into our wonderful houshold. My home here now feels complete.