Melbourne,Victoria, 11-17 October

Tuesday, our first full day in Melbourne, we took the train some 50k to Bacchus Marsh. This is the town that Roger's Grandpa Clark (Leslie) and at least two of his brothers (Charlie and Norman) left around 1900 to migrate to New Zealand. Their other brother, known as Sten, who died a bachelor, either stayed or returned there. Roger's second name, Stenson, came from here.  Roger's father (Stan) visited Sten in the 1930s and was very fond of him.  Our son, Seymour Stenson, and our grandson, Philip Stenson share the name.  When Seymour and Carolyne named Philip they were not aware of the full name of his forebear.  See the pictures:

Back to Bacchus!

"Uncle Sten's" cemetery.  He is located in the Church of England part.

The next day Roger did a book launching for an excellent study of the Western Sahara situation by Zunes and Mundy.  Half the audience were supporters of Morocco which has illegally occupied most of the former Spanish colony since the mid 1970s.  Meanwhile the UN tries in vain to organize a referendum on the future of the area. This was the first time Roger has been heckled by an audience since the Vietnam War, so it was a lovely piece of nostalgia for him.

On the Thursday, Amy did a talk on Electronic Commerce for the "Obligations Group" at the University of Melbourne.  Roger gave the keynote address at a terrific conference on lesser-known war crimes trials.  (See poster on www.bossclark.com.)

Before heading on to Sydney, we were able to do a little sightseeing in some very changeable weather. The highlight was a trip to the top of the largest building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eureka building.  A few lucky souls among the readership are getting postcards sent from the highest post office in Australia.

Roger conquers yet another river -- the Yarra.

Side of the Eureka Tower

We also took in a very moving one-man show by the Aboriginal actor, Jack Charles, entitled "Jack Charles v. the Crown". Charles, who has incredible talent, was one of the "stolen generation" of indigenous people who were taken away from their parents and placed in group homes.  He has a long history of drug abuse and imprisonment for burglary.

On to Sydney and our third Australian State, New South Wales.