20th November 2010

It was 20 years ago today - 20th November 1990 - that I arrived in Australia.

It was 6 weeks after the Berlin Wall came down. Margaret Thatcher was in charge over there and Bob Hawke was the PM here.

Nicola was 2½ and Madeleine was 8 months old.

It has been a fabulous time.

If the next 20 years are only half as interesting it'll still be too much.

Thanks for having me Oz.

My last BGS Speech Day.

To South Bank for the Brisbane Grammar School Speech Day.

Jake is leaving this week and cleaned up 4 prizes including Dux of English.

His pile of books was handed over by Noel Pearson - who delivered an excellent speech (unlike the headmaster!)

EDGE OF COLOUR - GLIMMER VIDEOCLIP

Excellent video by Brisbane band. The boy half is John Teh who is a doctor I work with at the Wesley Hospital. Their EP is on iTunes.

Seven weeks 'til Skiing

Heading back to Hakuba in Japan for 10 full days on the piste ! Yippee

The Wonderful World of Anaesthesia.

BIG DAY OUT 2011.

Stayed up 'til the witching hour of midnight when the tickets went on sale for the Gold Coast gig. They sold out on-line in 7 minutes!

Luckily Jake & I were on our computers and managed to get enough tickets. Phew.

Good line-up includes ;

Tool, Rammstein, Iggy & the Stooges, M.I.A., John Butler Trio, Grinderman, Bloody Beetroots, Wolfmother, Lupe Fiasco, Deftones, The Black Keys, Birds of Tokyo, Primal Scream, LCD Soundsystem, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Die Antwoord, Angus & Julia Stone, Plan B, Booka Shade, Bliss N Eso, The Naked & Famous, Pnau, and many more.

Should be a VERY Big Day Out - January 23rd.

New Toy! - camera this time

My trusty Canon video camera is giving up the ghost so I did some homework and invested in this little number.

It's a Sanyo Xacti waterproof - so good for skiing and trekking. It can go underwater to 3 metres so good for snorkelling too.

Jake's 'Formal' - Brisbane Grammar School 2010

To the Brisbane Convention Centre for the 'Pre' Formal.
Jake & Grace.

Having paid an astronomically large sum of money to the Grammar Schools for 4 lots of school fees x 5 years I was told that they were only serving soft drinks at the Pre and I'd have to go downstairs to another bar to get myself a glass of something!

Fortunately a lot of parents regrouped at 'Era' restaurant where thirsts were quenched.

Fri. 3rd Sept. The 'Valentino Retrospective' at GOMA

To the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art to see the collection of Valentino designs.

It was very impressive. Superb art, almost sculpture - plus the social cachet of who had been wearing these pieces.

Sat 21st Aug. Wedding of Chris Burgess & Lissie Castrisos

Chris, son of Jenny & John Burgess, married Lissie in the Boys Grammar Chapel.
A splendid day with lots of friends. This is John before the red wine stained the shirt.
Jenny with her parents.

Mon. 16th Aug. Back to Cusco & the Sacred Valley

The train back to Cusco and it's Spanish colonial architecture.The following morning, a tour of the Sacred Valley and various sites including the massive Inca fortress of Sacsahuaman.

Place del Armes. Cusco.
Then, next morning, the 36 hour journey back to Brisbane.

Sun 15th Aug. A climb up Huaynu Picchu

A 4.30 am start to get to the gate for the climb up the very pointy Huaynu Picchu.

Against all my better principles I'd given in and bought myself a Peruvian style cap.
The track and stairways were very narrow. This gives no idea of the hundreds of feet of drop to one side.
There were even Inca tunnels to negotiate.
At the summit we were unable to see the ruins below because of the cloud.
A very satisfying climb so time for coffee then lunchime pizza and a jug of sangria.

Sat 14th Aug. To MACHU PICCHU

What a spectacular place.My guide, Ronald, spent over 2 hours taking me round the ruins. Photo opportunities everywhere.


I met up with John at lunch and we made a plan for more Pisco Sours and a climb of Huaynu Picchu next morning.
Evening meal was the traditional baked Guinea Pig ! Very tasty actually.
Pisco Sour time with my mentor and supplier.

Fri. 13th Aug. Flight to Cusco. 3,310 m.

To the central Peruvian city of Cusco - centre of the Inca Empire.

At over 10,000 ft people feel the altitude. The chemist shops sell spray cans of oxygen!!!! Clearly no understanding of respiratory physiology.

Thur. 12th Aug. Arequipa.

Last full day of conference. One of the keynote speakers was Dr. John B. West, doyen of respiratory physiology texts. Still going strong at 82!

In the afternoon, a walk around the old convent of Santa Catalina - venue for the conference banquet in the evening.

Great fun at the dinner. I sat with Neeraj and David Hillebrandt. John brought along a fine bottle of 20 year old scotch to celebrate the end of proceedings. Spot of trouble finding my way back to the hotel!

Wed. 11th Aug. To Colca Canyon to see the Condors.

John & myself up at 2.00 am. for the 120 km. bus ride over a 4,900 m. pass to Colca Canyon.
A stop on the way to take the tourist photographs.
At a spot called 'Cruz del Condor' we spent almost an hour watching these birds with their 2 metre wing-span.

Tue. 10th Aug.

The conference was going well. Met up with Neeraj Shah, a medical student from Kings in London who had a poster presentation.

Dropped into a museum in the centre of town to visit Juanita the Ice Maiden. She is a 500 year old Inca mummy whose body was discovered at 5,000 m. on Ampato a nearby volcano in 1995.

Lunch in a French restaurant had been arranged with John McCall my Glaswegian/Canadian/Orthopod friend from the Annapurna trip. We settled in for the afternoon.

By the evening John was accompanying Bryan, the American guitar player, on the harmonica.

Mon. 9th Aug. 1st day of Coference.

Behind Arequipa is a chain of volcanoes, this one is 'El Misti'. Apparently earthquakes are quite common too.

The meeting I attended was the 8th World Congress for High Altitude Medicine & Physiology. A very good scientific programme looking at everything from working at high altitude to cellular function at the molecular level and new research on genetics. Fun if you're into that kind of stuff.

Arequipa was a nice old town with Spanish colonial architecture.

Arequipa. Peru.Sun. 8th Aug.

Arrived in Arequipa after a 30 hour journey.

Very nice hotel called 'Sonesta Posadas del Inca' on the main square in the city, the Plaza de Armas.

EN ROUTE TO PERU

Having a 7 hour sojourn at Santiago airport before flying up to Lima in Peru and on to Arequipa.

I'm attending the 8th World Congress on High Altitude Medicine & Physiology and then doing the tourist trip to Macchu Pichu. Many photos will be taken.

Hoping to meet up with John McCall who was on the Annapurna jaunt. It seems he wants us to climb a 6000 m. Volcano! Hot stuff.

NO MORE GUYS HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL !

I trained at 'Guy's Hospital Medical and Dental School' in London in the 1970s. It was possibly one of the most famous medical schools in the world.

The hospital was founded in 1721 after a split from St. Thomas's. In 1982 the medical schools combined to be known as 'the United Medical Schools of Guy's and St. Thomas's'.

In 1998 Kings got in on the act and the entity became known as 'GKT' - Guy's, Kings, Thomas's.

However, in March 2009 the government set up so-called 'Academic Health Sciences Centres' and the Guy's entity was subsumed and is now 'Kings Health Partners'

Adding insult to injury - the Guy's name having gone with respect to medical education - the main Kings College website has a picture of the Colonade on it's home page!

So, RIP 'Guy's Hospital Medical and Dental School'. It was a pleasure studying there and, once qualified, working and living there.

Board Dinner

The Wesley Anaesthesia Group has a board of 6 and twice a year we go for a slap up meal.

Last night it was to the 'Buffalo Club' in Fortitude Valley.

A 12 course degustation menu WITH wines to match each course. Absolutely brilliant. It took 5 hours!

May have to go there again soon.