Apologies for not sending regular updates

Hello again everyone

I feel bad for not sending regular updates but I've had technology problems throughout the UK so even emails to family and friends weren't getting through.

Sitting here at Heathrow now getting ready to go home, it's with a tinge of sadness that we are leaving. A part of me would like to hop on the tour bus and continue the journey through the lovely countryside. The stint at Birmingham, in particularly the quaint countryside of Warwick and Rugby just made me want to stay here.

However the plan is to come back at 2013 and do a leisurely tour of the UK and Ireland.

The convention (at least the first couple of days was good). Admittedly I did enjoy the presentation from Mia Farrow and from Dr Alex Buchanan who talked about his protein biscuits he developed at CSIRO. Unfortunately, I had food poisoning on the last day and missed out on Dr Jane Goodall's presentation which I was also looking forward to. I found the presentations compared to last year's a bit 'light on' and found it tiring to have standing ovations for people in the RI Boards and the like because at times it did feel as if we were giving 'pats on backs' for people simply in the positions they are in. Overall, meeting people from all over the world and sharing the connection, there was a sense of community - more so with the English who were more than welcoming. I cannot say this enough - their hospitality was welcomed. Of course, we cannot say that for some other countries however where we were gobsmacked by the rudeness.

So despite not seeing the last day and spending the day hugging the toilet, I loved the London experience and enjoyed the HOC events around Birmingham such as the Treorchy Male choir, the home hosting at Rugby (we got to do a behind the scenes tour of Rugby School - home of rugby and also where Lewis Carroll and the place where Tom Brown's School Days was about) and of course, the spectacular Warwick Castle.

I am sure that Philip and Bill would have more to share about the last day of the convention and we look forward to presenting to the club on our experience.

And no, I'm not going to Montreal next year. I think I will lay off the conventions for a while until they are closer to home. Now, if they were back in the UK again....that's a different story.