Going to the DoGS

Each year the Deans of Graduate Studies (the DoGS) hold two national meetings and the first this year is in Cairns, starting Wednesday. In November we'll be meeting in Auckland. Since a "direct" flight from Perth to Cairns goes via Ayres Rock and I've never been here before, I decided it was time for a stop-over. It's beautiful, red, and surprisingly green, although there is apparently a large water table just 25m below ground level and they have had recent rains. It's also very cold, with nighttime temperatures down to about zero. Last night I joined a group of tourists, mostly Spanish although we also had a Russian environmental engineer with us, for dinner under the stars. The stars were brilliant; the dinner mediocre because it's very hard to keep food hot when all about you is freezing. Luckily I brought my ski jacket, which seemed ridiculous for Cairns but perfect for here. The image above is the sun setting over Kata Tjuta, The Olgas.