Chapter 2

I spent the night at the Comfort Inn just south of Toowoombra and drove to Armidale on Saturday, spending the night in a motor hotel just off the New England Highway. Sunday, I drove to Newcastle, found a place near the beach and went swimming in the afternoon. There were lots of women in bikinis, but I managed to resist temptation and spoke to no one. I did read a bit of local history, learning that Newcastle had been a penal colony till 1823 and that it had been shelled by a Japanese submarine in 1942. I could remember the 1989 earthquake myself, but it was striking that over two years later some destruction was still visible.

Sunday I left Newcastle late in the morning and arrived in Sydney before 1300 on Monday, 18 January 1993; the beginning of my new life.

I located my "hotel" and registered. Then I went for a walk to familiarize myself with the area around UNSW. I realized just how large Sydney was and decided to take a tour bus to get a survey of a sort. There appeared to be a number of restaurants along Anzac Parade as I walked south. I stopped in an Italian place and had a pleasant meal, then walked back. I was coming to grips with the fact that I would be here for the next three or four years. I went to sleep thinking about locating BEES [(School of) Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences].

Tuesday morning I walked west on Barker Street, crossed Botany Street and located the south wing of the Rupert Myers Building. I walked into a door marked "Research Administration" and was told I should have gone to "Scholarships." There I was re-directed to "Post-Graduate Liaison," where I spent time filling out forms. I then learned that I couldn't complete my registration in BEES before attending the Postgraduate Research Student Induction – at which time I'd be given an "Essentials for Postgraduate Research Students" booklet – and that as a Ph.D. Candidate I couldn't enrol via the new online system.

I decided that having wasted the morning, I'd go for lunch prior to wasting the afternoon. I asked the woman where I could obtain housing information and where the entomologists were. She marked both on a campus map and I thanked her. I had a ghastly "quiklunch" across the street – overpriced to take advantage of students. But it gave me a place to scan my Manual for Postgraduates, where I learned that I could go by the Dean's office. I decided to do so – what did I risk? – as soon as I had been to the student housing blokes.

(Four years in Brisbane had rewarded me with an honours diploma and the knowledge that getting things done at a university meant inordinate trekking about and time-wasting, while requiring patience and persistance.)

The people in the housing office were quite nice – largely, I suspected, because I was their only "customer." They showed me a number of listing and located them for me on a map. The range was enormous, but I was going to try for under $1000 per month. It turned out that there were both furnished and unfurnished places in Kensington and Kingsford. The cheapest had no parking spaces. I decided that I'd weed the offerings without parking and keep those with a separate bedroom. I still had half a dozen within an easy walk of the campus. I made a list, thanked both ladies, and went to see what was going on at the Dean's office.

There I was made welcome and offered a cup of coffee. Again, most likely because I was the only post-graduate student around. I delivered myself of my five minute presentation on my interest in entomology and, specifically, myrmicology. I was asked whether I was aware of the collections at the Australian Museum. I said that I knew of them, but that I'd never been there. I was told that a good deal of top-drawer research came from the Museum and that I might be able to do some work there. I was assured of my welcome in the event I had any problems, got my hand shaken, and I was done. The information about the Museum was valuable, though.