ASCS40 Trip | Monday
5AM starts are always the hardest, but the destination makes it worth it.
Today I arrived in Armidale, New South Wales. This is my first time visiting the town, and I have to say it has already charmed me. I’m lucky enough to have a hire car this time around, so I used the few hours I had spare before the welcome reception to go exploring.
I checked out the town centre first, making sure I knew where I could find the supermarkets, food hubs, and the like. Surprisingly, I then ventured back to the airport. It was for a good cause; @cavedraconem, @marybeard and another of my Amphorae friends arrived on the later flight. It was a bit of a squeeze to fit all four of us and our bags into the Corolla, but we made it work! After checking in at the college on campus where we’ve chosen to stay (nice and close to the conference venue!), I decided to go for a drive to one of the handful of nearby natural attractions: Gara Gorge.
I didn’t stay long due to the heat, but I did enjoy having such a beautiful spot to myself for a half hour walk.
When I returned, I tidied myself up and headed to the welcome reception. It was nice to catch up with acquaintances from Amphorae XII and to meet a couple of new people. I’m so excited to hear the papers on offer this year. If only I could split myself into five and go to all the separate panels!
To open the conference, we all filed into the main lecture theatre for the 21st A. D. Trendall Lecture, presented this year by Professors Lea Beness and Tom Hillard. There are three separate major lecture at this conference, which is quite the treat! If not for the fact that it was so late by the time proceedings wrapped up, I would have quite liked to talk to the two lecturers about prosopography, but there is always tomorrow - after having early meals as a result of such an early start, I was starving by the time proceedings wrapped up for the night. But a quick pizza order split between a group of hungry classicists quickly took care of the hunger pangs.
Pictured: the aftermath.
Tomorrow, I’ll be updating Twitter and Instagram throughout the day. I hope you’ll follow along on this adventure!
~ Admin @sassy-cicero-says live from Armidale, NSW. ~