Setting out

Monday, July 2, I set of on another adventure, this time to Romania, yes the land of castles, gypsies and of course Dracula. The trip is designed around my wetland volunteer work for the Ramsar Convention, which is the oldest International Convention (41 years) and is focused totally on wetlands. The purpose is the 11th Ramsar Conference of Parties (COP) where all the 164 member countries send official delegations to approve changes or additions to the Convention. So it is a big meeting. I went to my first COP in Brisbane in 1996 when Australia was the host country and have been to everyone since then. I have gone in different roles, in Valencia I was on the Australian Gov Delegation. In Korea (the last one in 2008) and Romania I am there as a member of the Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel, which I have been on for 7 years as an Education advisor. The meeting itself is 8 days and sits in the middle of my trip and more will be revealed as it happens. The beginning of my journey is 3 days in Paris with our friend Beatrice Soss, who has lived there for many years and who visited us here in Australia last September. The end of my journey will be 5 days in the Danube Delta, the second largest river delta in Europe, on a small houseboat with a small group of friends, all wetlanders through and through. My days in Bucharest will be full-on but I will find ways to explore as far as I can around the town. I have learned a few Romainan words like thank you and please as it is nice to have a go, but suspect that English and a bit of half-assed spanish will get me through. My small dream is that I find that Mahala Rai Band, a Romanian Band we hear in Adelaide in March, is playing at one of the locals in the Old Town during my visit. You never know. Do not expect any more posts until I pick myself up off the long-haul flights from SYD-HK-Paris in a few days time.