Final day of MACNA, Pete headed off at start time & I lounged around. I did a bit of shopping, only bought the one top but checked out a lot of shops. Made some lunch and took it over to the convention centre. Finally got around to putting all the raffle tickets from my gambling wins the other night into the various prize boxes. We made the big decision and bought tickets to next years MACNA in DC. We did a spin round the exhibitions and picked up a few b...

Another day that the alarm went off and getting up was tough. Pete went to the early lecture and I decided to be lazy and stay in bed. After just one talk Pete was back so we went for a walk. Denver has some similarities to Christchurch, lots of green open spaces with art; sculptures, murals & around the convention centre massive mosaics depicting the cities history. At the front entrance to the convention centre is a giant blue bear peering in through the g...

Day one MACNA it was an early start - too early after the late night lol We hit the talks, Tony Vargas on his latest tank build, Kevin Kohen on NPS tanks; we are all inspired now to set up a smallish NPS tank. Next up was Singaporean Tea Yi Kai speaking on rare wrasses. Then Jamie Craggs, an Englishman who is studying how to get stony corals to spawn, fascinating stuff. We watched a bit of a debate between Julian Sprung & Jake Adams re refugiums. We then ...

Another gorgeous sunny, blue sky day for our drive though to Denver for MACNA. We drove through the mountains with vast areas of National Forest, tall pines & wildflowers, lush green cattle & horse ranches. Popping our ears all the way we rose and fell with the roads, crossed pretty crystal clear rivers and even the Rio Grande. We passed through small country towns, the odd Indian trading post, small ski field & hunting lodge. While we were still in...

It rained overnight but we woke to a sunny mid teens temp day. We had to drive back a ways through the Kaibab Forest which was a nice change. Under the trees we spotted toadstools and wildflowers; at the top of trees the odd large nest, golden eagles perhaps? We passed several groups of bike riders cruising the road. As one group pulled onto the road one of them dropped his bike in the middle of the road and totally couldn't pick it up. Adding to his humiliation...