POSTCARD FROM BRISBANE

“After these two, Dr. Diet and Dr. Quiet, Dr. Merriman is requisite to preserve health.” - James Howell

I was up in Brisbane for work once again today and essentially spent the whole day in long and packed meetings. I had to catch the first flight out, which meant I got up at 4:00 a.m. and eventually got home at 10:00 p.m. which makes for a very long day… Fortunately all the meetings went well and were very constructive with quite a lot achieved, which is more than can be said for many committees and meetings at work.

Usually at meetings like these, morning tea, lunch and afternoon are provided and the fare is typically an example of the colonial past where sandwiches, pastries, pies, biscuits, sweet rolls and other such carbohydrate and calorie-rich food abounds. It was unusual in today’s meetings that we were treated to a healthy choice of foods. Firstly, there were bowls of fruit on the tables and these were kept full of luscious seasonal fruits. Queensland is in a subtropical zone so the winters are warm and dry. Consequently we were able to enjoy grapes, bananas, passionfruit, strawberries, mandarins, kiwifruits , apples and pears. Secondly, there were dishes of nuts like cashews, almonds, macadamias and walnuts. Some dried fruit were also set out, including paw-paw, pineapple, apricots and pears.

Lunch consisted of fresh flat bread wraps with salad and cheese or lean ham. There were also some baked organic vegetarian pasties. There were juices and lots of cool water available during the day as well as herbal teas and green tea. Needless to say we all enjoyed the food, which did a great deal to keep our mind keen during the day and to make our meetings more productive.

We have a long weekend coming up, with Monday being Queen’s Birthday. This long weekend in Victoria is traditionally the opening of the ski season (http://www.vicsnowreport.com.au/reports/). There have been good snow falls already and the skiers have already started to congregate in the resorts that have fair to good cover that is conducive to good ski runs. No doubt, the weekend will be very busy on the snow fields.

I look forward to a quiet weekend at home with lots of R&R!