Conflux -- Canberra Science Fiction Convention

This weekend Eric and I are attending a science fiction convention, Conflux 2, being held at Rydges Lakeside Hotel in Canberra 22-25 April. We're impressed by the turnout (around 200 attendees), more than many Australian National Conventions manage to attract, even when held in much larger cities. I confess that I didn't attend much of the con itself, being busy with other things, but I did catch up with several old friends. Eric says the con was well run and had interesting discussions. I enjoyed the disco -- the one time of the year when I endure loud music and do a bit of dancing (free-form). The weather was very pleasant for the time of year. I lived in Canberra for 10 years, so I know that late April can vary from cold and wet to sunny and reasonably warm (around 21 C -- cool by my standards, now that I live in the tropics). One day Eric and I took a walk along part of the shore of Lake Burley Griffin. As I commented on how much the lakeshore had changed from my memory of it, I realised that I moved away from Canberra 17 years ago! (How time flies...) More about the Lakeside Hotel: I wasn't at all surprised to find that the lighting in the room was woefully inadequate, and the one comfortable chair was nowhere near any light, nor was space available near a light so one could move the chair. On the plus side, the buffet breakfast was quite good, and not a bad price if one chose the book-in-advance option for breakfast ($15 vs. $22 if you didn't book in advance).