Who Dunnit

Fri 6th

The ice breaker started at 7 but I didn't have time to get changed after the pool game, so went, as I was. There was a Murder mystery dinner afterwards and many of the people were already in costume. It was good to meet old friends and to get to know others -  both complete strangers and those who previously had just been names on emails.

I headed to my room about 8 to get changed. My character was Bessie Smith a black Jazz singer known as the "empress of the blues".

All the characters were from the 1920s, so we had various actors, writers and poets from that era. The plot was that H G Wells had invited us to a soiree and transported us to modern times in his time machine and was then murdered. I won't say who the murderer was in case you get to go to a similar event.

It was a pleasant evening with great food and was held in the library.

After it finished, a group of us finished up in Steve's suite until about 2am.

What, this old place?

Fri 6th

The Mensa conference was held at the Carrington Hotel In Katoomba. This is a colonial style hotel that was re-furbished and modernised so most rooms have en-suites.

The outside is very grand and the inside is all wood, high ceilings, stained glass and antiques. 



The stairway is directly down from the entrance with a bar to the left and the dining room behind it.

I was on the first floor which had its own lounge and further seating in the passage way between the 2 wings.

I was in a Colonial room which had an ensuite. It too was stocked with antiques.

There were no organised events until Friday evening although Adcom had their meeting during the day. The 4 Adcom members were the only other people, other than Mal and I who were there Thursday night, although people turrned up during the day on Friday.

Fortunately the hotel had wireless internet, which we all had for free. I spent dome time using it and reading in the morning and about 1 headed for lunch joining a group at the nearby Brasserie. THis was originally a bank and like the hotel itself has that old world charm.

The weather was not good so we spent most of the afternoon playing snooker and pool. The snooker table was full sized so games took about an hour.

Road trips

Thu 5th

Yesterday was as uneventful as most of the last week or so - a visit to the library to check emails, etc. I took the gopher again and made a movie of the drive through the village on the way home.

I tried to load it but it failed. Will wait till I get home to try again.

Fri 6th

Time to move again. We left Goolwa about 9. I was hoping to stop at a Dymocks on the way to the airport and pick up a copy of the latest Robert Jordan book which was released on 27th (ie after I'd left Adelaide) but both the shops that were on the way were out of stock.

Consequently we arrived at the airport a bit earlier than planned so I had 2 hours before my flight, which I spent in the Qantas club. I printed off some maps of the route from the airport to Katoomba and located the Dymocks stores on the way.

The flight was uneventful and for the first time in the last month or so I had an empty seat next to me. It was a bit under 2 hours so there was no movie. I read the paper, did the crosswords and that just about filled in the time. We did get a light lunch on this flight.

I had an hour to wait for Malcolm who was flying from Perth on Virgin. He was renting a car so I was getting a ride with him. By then I had my case so had to drag that with me and eventually sat in the coffee shop area in the Virgin terminal and read till. he arrived. We left close to 4-30 and by then the traffic was building up. We stopped at Parramatta for a loo break and picked up some kebabs. These were additional benefits, since the initial reason was to visit the Dymocks there who did have the book. I will now have something to read going home as I'll probably finish the current book I'm reading before then.

Because of the stop and the traffic it was after 7-30 before we reached the hotel and Mal's GPS had us at the back where there were no entrances so we spend some time in the alleys ways behind it before we got to the main road and could drive in. It was raining and foggy and getting dark so we had no views on the way up.

I walked to the Coles about 1 km away to pick up some mixers and nibbles. It was sprinkling and misty so I got a bit damp but not wet. Then I joined Deidree and Peter in their room for a drink. Mal had gone to the Wine shop across the road and returned with 2 bottles of red and needed a corkscrew to open them,but we didn't have one. Peter pushed the cork in with a peg so they could have some wine and I had my whisky. By this time my knee was really aching, not helped by the walk.

Time flies

Tue 3

Only 2 more days till I head off again. The last week or so has been quite a lazy time. I have come here to the library most days to get internet access and check my emails. A lot of the rest of the time I have been reading, watching DVDs etc or just having naps. The photo on the right is with Mum and Dad on their decking.

I have fixed up a number of problems for various clients and done some minor enhancements but generally not done a lot of work. I have looked up tours, cruises and maps for Mum and Dad who are going on a Cruise from Sydney to Melbourne and Tasmania in December. Their are a number of trips available through the shipping company but generally these can be up to double the cost of a similar tour you organise yourself.

My knee is still quite sore although I can move around reasonably well. It tends to be painful when I get into bed and is very painful if I knock it or over-bend it.

I have used Mum and Dad's gopher a couple of times to come to the library when they aren't heading out anyway to bring me in the car. THis travels about 10km so is not very fast but quicker and easier than walking.


I watched Dad at his bowls on Saturday but When we went to see Mum on Thursday she had dropped put of her game due to being overheated. It was over 30 that day and as skipper she spends nearly all the time in the sun.

Mum and I had a drive to Hindmarsh Island for a view of the Murray mouth one day.

Today Frank and Betty visited from Adelaide. Frank is Mike and Richard's cousin on their mother's side so not a blood relation to me. However, I tutored their son in Maths while I was at Uni, so we were quite close. (The son has now turned 50 himself.) I hadn't seen them, like my cousins, since my great aunt's funeral in 2002.