15/09/2015 Cairns 2015 Research trip review

15/09/2015 Cairns - Trip review.

Review. European research trip 2015.

1. The 2015 research trip was "on-budget" and completed all major research elements as planned. 
2. The most successful research elements were:
(a) the visit to London Natural History Museum for the primary source of Ferdinand Lucas Bauer paintings of marine animals from the Tropics (Queensland) and Tropical plants (Queensland, GOC) from the Mathew Flinders voyage of discovery to Australia 1801-1805.
(b) the visit to Paris National Natural history Museum for the primary source of Charles Alexandre Lesueur paintings of tropical marine animals (? Australia) from the Nicolas Baudin voyage of discovery to Australia 1801-1804.
3. The visits to the Cambridge University Library (Westall drawings archive) and Kew Gardens research archives (Franz Bauer artworks), while germane to the study were only a limited success. Follow-up work on the Westall drawings is required at the National Library and possibly at Mitchell Library in Sydney.
4. All images have now been downloaded into a minimum compression ".tiff" format and the brightness/contrast adjusted. Further post-production will be required prior to publication in the Thesis appendix but the images are now usable. These represent "filling the gaps" in the initial collection of images from the 2011 project feasibility visit.  
5. Subjectively I am very pleased with the quality of the images I have collected and that I have achieved my primary aim of "veiwing" the original sources of the exploration artwork produced on the 1801-1805 French and English voyages of discovery to "Terra Australis/New Holland". I feel honoured to have been able to see and hold the original paintings and drawings produced over 200 years ago during one of the first series of scientific investigations of Australia. 

I am indebted to and wish to acknowledge the assistance of all the librarians and curators in the various Museums.

Postscript:

A funny thing happened to me on the way to Europe! A week or so before my departure I got mild food-poisoning (a tummy bug) from a Japanese restaurant. Ironically, not from raw fish but from the Teriyaki chicken. I went to the 24 hour Clinic for the “magic” four anti-biotic pills (for treating Giardia??), which seemed to work or at least slowed down the flow dramatically. 

I was OK to fly, so off I went to London via Brisbane and Dubai. Reasonably unstressed but I arrived in London with jet-lag “Flu”, which took a long time to shake. Very poor sleep, which again I put down to jet-lag.

I got everything done at the London Museum, made  successful side-trips to Cambridge Uni Library and Kew Gardens, and even went to orchestral concerts (the Proms) but I noticed that I was walking a bit slower than I normally did, and at least one acquaintance noted that I looked “exhausted” after my walk back across Hyde Park. Given my normal daily walks along the Cairns Esplanade this distance should not have tired me out. Not enough “debilitation” to panic me, I was just a bit ”off”.  I then had to organize and travel to Paris, which again was reasonably unstressed but elevated my adrenaline a bit, and I had bought some day/night Flu medication by then; i.e., when in doubt self-medicate with paracetamol. 

Two or three days into my Paris research I noticed I was walking at my normal pace again (and my back-pack was not as heavy). I think I had been carrying the side-effects of the tummy-bug, and/or the “draconian” medication, for the best part of a month but had “soldered on” because of the adrenaline generated by the trip. I literally could not afford to be sick.

In hindsight, I seemed to be functioning OK, just a bit slower and clumsier (e.g., overbalancing backwards on an inclined travelator at the EuroStar terminal, which I blamed on my heavy backpack). The good thing was that I was not infective but I may have come across as not overly incisive to the Museum staff. Still not 100% in Paris but at least I understood what was going on. I realised I was not quite “with it” when I looked at my photographs; all work related and no tourist or background shots. Not even from my side-trip to Cambridge, one of my favourite places. I had narrowed my focus down to achieve my direct research aims, with little spare energy for peripheral tasks.   

So when I got the chance to photograph some of the Cite de Universitaire building and did an obligatory trip to the Eiffel Tower, I found I was cherishing my stay in Paris as this will probably be my last time here.  Again with 20/20 hindsight, while in Paris I slowly improved in energy levels and my interest broadened from the research-project focus. By this stage I had achieved all my major research tasks for the trip so could afford to relax a bit. By the time I reached St Petersburg I was enjoying the “tourist side” of the journey more but after two-months living out of a suitcase, was getting a bit travel weary. I achieved my aims of seeing the art collection of the Hermitage/Winter Palace and comparing the gardens of the Peter the Great’s “Peter Hoff” with Versailles. Flying back to Cairns I had few regrets and a deep feeling of achievement and maybe a little relief.

Neil A Gribble

12/9/2016 Cairns

12/9/2016 Cairns

Back "home" and sleeping irregularly/fitfully. Cooking fresh meat and vege meals with lots of fruit. No gut problems just the normal air-pressure related sinus/ear problems; always worst after domestic flights (last leg of the return flight). I will summarise/precise the European field trip over the next week and post it in 7 days.

10/9/2015 Brisbane-Cairns

10/9/2015 Brisbane-Cairns

Crowded flight but uneventful. Arrived Brisbane and got through Customs, Passport Control and onto the transit bus to the Domestic Terminal. Just followed the signs at the Airport!

Booked into the Domestic Qantas Club to wait for the Brisbane Cairns flight, had another breakfast and took an Anti-flu tablet (which had a small amount of pseudofed) to clear my sinus and hopefully allow ear pressure compensation. Flight from Brisbane to Cairns was again crowded but mercifully comparatively short and I caught a Taxi from Cairns Airport to my apartment. Very tired but I tried to keep going until "normal" bedtime. I had lost a day crossing the international dateline, so had actually been awake for 18 hours so far.

Powered up the hot-water, fridge-freezer, and turned on all the electronics at the poerpoints. Tried the car, which started immediately, and drove to the Supermarket for fuel and basic milk, eggs, and takeaway. Had a short unintended nap, ate a scratch meal, then watched TV until I finally called it quits and crashed.  

9/9/2015 Dubai-Brisbane

9/9/2015 Dubai-Brisbane

Got away from St Petersburg Airport at 5.10 pm as per schedule on a crowded A380. Reached Dubai by 12.30 am and found the Emirates lounge (and was allowed in, bless their hearts). My flight out was at 10.00 am or about 10 hours later so a bit of comfort made it bearable. First thing I did was to have a shower then a cup of decent coffee. Crumpled clothes but at least I felt clean and awake.

I sat and "vegetated" for a while, just catching my breath a bit in the Emirates Quiet Lounge. The flight had been full of crying children and "difficult" Pakistani passengers. (Why Pakistani's in Russia??) I almost understood the need for Business Class. Actually I can feel myself de-stressing a bit, now I am nearly home. Continuously organising travel details, "reflex" adjusting to changing situations,  and meeting travel schedules has its own cost, hence the attraction of pre-packaged tours. Given a decent group of fellow travellers and a useful tour guide, I am beginning to believe that it would be worth the extra cost.

Just on the topic of costs. I was forced to convert all my Euros and "emergency" US$ into Rubles because of the problems with my Citibank card but it also forced me to be fairly careful with my spending. (Questionable whether this was good or bad.) I managed to come home with only 55 Rubles (i.e., 1 A$ equivalent). I will still need to transfer monies from my travel cards back into A$ but overall I have been quite frugal.

[9.1 hours later];  waiting for Boarding call for flight to Brisbane. The Emirates lounge is a good place to sit-out a transit but time does drag a bit. I used my Internet to check the QF flight number and found it was routed to Auckland. Checked and it flys there after Brisbane?? We also got a breaking news feed of a BA plane that caught fire on a runway (somewhere in the USA); it caused a little consternation. Just waiting out the last few minutes before the boarding call (given no delays).  Had at least one breakfast plus countless cups of coffee.

8/9/2015 St Petersburg-Dubai

8/9/2015 St Petersburg-Dubai (Travel)

(3.00 am) Paid my last Ruble and US$ notes to the Tour Guide (which worked out to be around US$ 21.00, close to the recommended "tip" of US$25 in the travel info sheet) and handed in my questionnaire.  She had done an excellent job. My airport transfer was organised for 1.00 pm, from the Hotel Lobby; I was to checkout by 12.00 am then wait a bit for the bus. The Qantas/Emirates flight did not leave until 5.10 pm, therefore I had a wait of a couple of hours at the St Petersburg Airport, then I had a 10 hour stopover in the Dubai Airport.

Up at 7.30 am for 8.30 am breakfast. No other tour group people up so after breakfast I went back to my room to pack and transfer photos from Camera to Computer. Took longer because there were multiple days (i.e., before and after midnight) and I either doubled up or "missed" transferring some shots. I will need to check my research photos for missing shots that may still be on the SD card and not transferred. Some of the anomalies in my data-set may be explainable, due to the idiosyncrasies of the transfer program, (given the initial problem with the Computer date/time setting).

Ran through the Internet info on Pulkovo Airport Terminal 1, St Petersburg, and had a basic idea of where to go for Emirates flight check-in. I am now packed and ready to go down to reception for check-out. Next stop Airport, via my prepaid transfer.

The transfer arrived on time but was by limo rather than bus (normally I would have simply organised and caught the hotel/airport bus, probably for a lot less than this cost me). The limo trip was comfortable and a surprisingly long distance, but at relatively high speed. Arrived at the Departure hall with tons of time to spare and got through all the customs, passport, boarding pass routine with no dramas. Only glitch was that they did not let me into the Emirates lounge at the Pulkovo Airport so had to sit out with the other "lowly" tourists until my boarding call.

As I had time I organised all my boarding passes right through to Cairns; so I do not have to run around the Dubai airport searching for the Qantas ticket/boarding pass booth again. I will still have to find the Gate/departure lounge for my Dubai-Brisbane flight but will have 10 hours to do that. I did manage to get Qantas Club member on all my boarding passes and for the Dubai-Brisbane one they gave me an "Emirates Business Class Lounge" pass as well. Given the 10 hour stopover this may be important.

Before the transfer limo came I was sitting in the lobby of the hotel and managed to say goodbye/good trip to at least two couples from the tour group as they passed through. Only three days but the group was quite reasonable travel companions. It was fun although I was pretty "travel weary" by that stage. Definitely "on the way home"!

7/9/2015 St Petersburg

7/9/2015 St Petersburg

Up at 8.00 am; sorted bills and money so can take care of the Tour fees etc today. And pay back my share of a coffee bill that another tourist paid for us. I am still having trouble with the Citibank debit card; it will be read by the tap and go outlets (as per London and Paris) but is rejected by the older "enter the pin number" type. Headed for a late breakfast to allow the Chinese tourist groups to clear. They have to eat then get onto their buses etc., so they are fairly "motivated".

The weather looks grey and overcast so walking in the gardens may be a bit damp. We leave at 10.30am so I will decide on shoes just before.

Weather held off and we had a big day:
1. bus trip then walking tour of the Peter Hof palace and gardens (Peter the Great's answer to Versailles)
2. Lunch at a traditional Russian restaurant
3. The church of the Spilled Blood (one of the reforming Tsar's was assassinated on that spot).
4. A night cruise along the canals/river to watch the opening of the bridges at midnight (closed to road traffic but open for cargo ships/barges).

Finished at about 3.00 am.

6/9/2015 St Petersburg

6/9/2015 St Petersburg

Up at 7.30 for breakfast and ran into all the Chinese tour groups that were getting an early start. Big breakfast hall but only just managed to find a spare seat. Killed time until 10.00 am when tour guide arrived and we headed off for a city tour. Found our own lunch then regrouped to be taken to the Winter Palace/Hermitage. Stunning building and art collection but crowded. Finished "touring" by 5.00 pm, so part of the group could go to the ballet. I opted for the boat cruise tomorrow night.

Found dinner at the hotel restaurant then changed my US dollars and Euros into Roubles to pay my local tour/transit fees. Used cash to pay for dinner and still have enough for tour guide. Found I was running a bit late for the group meetings so double checked the time; firstly for my watch then for the computer. The computer was set on the Paris time zone. After resetting for the St Petersburg time zone, my computer now gives the same time as the watch.

Highlights of the day:
1. visited a small Russian orthodox church during a mass
2. the Hermitage; two Da Vinci's and Rembrandt's " Abraham sacrificing his son".
3. the complex of the Winter palace and the harbour of St Petersburg

Large numbers of Chinese tourists (plus my own "travel weariness"), meant the Hermitage was not as spectacular as I expected. Excellent selection of artworks, beautiful buildings, great setting. Not quite on a par with the Louvre.

5/9/2015 Paris - St Petersburg

5/9/2015 Paris - St Petersburg

I was up at 6.00 am and had a light breakfast, but the hot water had not come through yet. (I had my shower last night to save time in the morning). The weather was cloudy but not raining. Very cold so chose thick trousers and my micro-fleece jacket "shell". Finally justifies packing them! Checked the St Petersburg airport and my flight is due in at 4.55 pm. Last minute pack then off to RER station and Charles de Gaulle Airport. Allowing a lot of lee-way time so I expect to be sitting in the departure lounge for a while.

I did indeed have a half-hour wait for the "Gate 14" to open, after getting to the Airport and to the Terminal 2C, then another hour standing in the slowly moving line for the AEROFLOT boarding pass and to check my suitcase. More lines through to the customs and passport control, then a wait for about 15 min before the boarding call. Everything was "just in time" from the RER journey through to boarding call, so although I left CITE very early for the airport I really could not have left very much later. No stress because I had "dry-run" the RER connections and located the correct Terminal before hand (and had given myself a lot of lee-way time).

Flight was good although crowded, and the meal was a bit strange but I arrived in St Petersburg on time and cleared customs and immigration with no problems. Met the "ON THE GO" tour lady and a couple of other group members and went by mini-bus to the hotel, excellent room. Had tour group meeting at 8.00pm then tried for a meal. Only MacDonalds open so got a Russian "Cheese burger and a coffee". Very little sleep.


 

4/9/2015 Paris

4/9/2015 Paris (Last day)

As planned a fairly lazy last day at the Cite. I checked with the front office of the Maison regarding inspections etc before/when I leave tomorrow morning. I just have to hand in my key-card to security on the way out, as there will be no office staff on the weekend, and therefore no inspection needed.

I had breakfast and lunch (full 2-3 course meal) at the Spanish Maison, taking a leisurely stroll around the grounds/park on the way there and back. Then I did my laundry and started packing my suitcase for the flight. First step was to sort the accumulated papers, maps, information sheets into what I needed to take back with me. Between the paperwork, the nostalgic "tour",  and playing with the computer the morning "went".

Laundry had the inevitable "glitch" despite working perfectly the previous two times I used the machines. Basically I put in my coins, set the dials, pressed "go" and it ate the coins but nothing happened. Front desk said they would report it but nothing could be done until Monday! After I explained that I leave tomorrow morning, one of the ladies came round to the laundry room with me and we retraced the steps, she put in her money and the damn thing worked!! At least I have a suitcase full of clean underwear and socks if searched by the KGB.

Afternoon was basically more of the same; checking through the Travel agents instructions and doing some Internet searching of St Petersburg. The weather has turned grey again (it rained last night), but I had an excellent sunny "last morning" for my walk around the Cite park.

3/9/2015 Paris

3/9/2015 Paris

Fine day, cold but mostly sunny. I did my personal emails in the morning;eg., joining a multi-buy for water tanks at NRC and replying to international Linkin contacts. For nostalgia more than for any other reason I had a full "Complete Menu" lunch at the Spanish house restaurant. Excellent beef stew with a fresh salad, something I have been missing. The diet both in London and here has consisted mostly of pre-processed packaged microwave meals, with fresh fruit on the side. Lunch was a filled half-baguette or the London equivalent, a Tesco sandwich. Cheap, filling, but of dubious nutritional value. Breakfast was a bowl of high-fibre cereal with milk and a cup of instant coffee. Not awe inspiring and heavy on the starch but I suspect it is about to get worse in Russia.

After lunch I headed off to the Centre Pompidou for a dose of contemporary art. Very much like the Tate Modern in its mix of international artists but more heavily European. No really inspiring pieces apart from some of the computer generated graphics. Back by 6.00 pm via Bus 67 and a bit of a walk. I am not necessarily more confident with my navigation, just better at it given familiarity with the Paris system. Dinner was simply eating all the last of my supplies (which became an omelette with cheese, cherry tomatoes and the last of my sandwich ham). A chicken stock cube mug of broth completed the meal. Empty fridge except for cereal and milk.

I have now completed my "wish-list" extra-curricular activities; I visited both the D'Orsay and Pompidou art galleries, did a free bus tour of all the sights including the Eiffel Tower, visited Sacre Couer Basilica and the Funicular railway, completed a Seine River ferry cruise (again past all the famous landmarks), "promenaded" down the Champs Elysees and best of all I got to see Versailles and the gardens. Tomorrow I do my laundry and pack for Saturday's flight to St Petersburg.

2/9/2015 Paris

2/9/2015 Paris

The weather was cold but sunny so I decided on Versailles. I caught the RER B to St Michael-Notre Dame and changed to the RER C line to Versailles Chateaux RG. No extra cost to my Navigo card.

The journey took 45 min both legs and I walked out of the Versailles Railway station into a suburban street. I had memorised the walking directions from an Internet travel blog and set off across the street, between the Cafe and a Vegetable stall, then turned right down the next street until I came to a (very large) parking area, which is the car-park for the Chateaux. Walked through the car-park to the "huge iron gates" and followed the signs after that.

They relieved me of 15 Euros and I joined the tourist "conga line" through the very large palace. The "Hall of mirrors" would have been truly spectacular before electric (or even gas) lighting. The crowds were intense and getting more so but I saw (and photographed) what I came for. The real story is in the formal gardens that surround Versailles. Truly magnificent even today. I walked a few kilometres right around the Grand Canal (central lake/water feature) and visited some, but by no means all, the smaller garden "rooms". Many, many acres of grounds all set-out in a geometric pattern with central sculptural pieces in each "room". It would take days to go through it all properly. In its heyday, with hundreds of serfs/workers maintaining it, wow.

I called it quits when my back started to ache, a sure sign of exhaustion, and back-tracked to the railway station. I took only a couple of minutes to sort out which train to catch to get me to St. Michael-Notre Dame, to meet up with the RER C line. Either the French have improved their communications since my last visit, or I am getting more adept at puzzle-solving but I got to Notre Dame relatively easily. There was a short delay waiting for a Cite bound train but I was back by 4.00 pm. It was quicker coming back than getting there is the morning?? I just missed the rush-hour both times.

Late lunch/snack then a nap and work on the computer till dinner time.

1/9/2015 Paris

1/9/2015 Paris

Up at 6.00 am and off to the Maison Espanola for petit dejeuner (the restaurant is open today). A little bit of nostalgia; the meal and people were as good as last time I was there (on the initial feasibility study). It was raining and cleared to slate-grey threatening skies. I will wait a day before travelling to Versailles but may try for a dry-run into the Charles de Gaulle Airport, after the morning crowd thins out. 

It fined up a bit so I made a run for the RER station and set off for Charles De Gaulle Airport. Relatively easy to get there by RER (B) line although it takes a fair while, definitely the longest train trip I have taken within Paris. The Terminal 2 station is at the end of the line and I memorised all the landmarks so I could get back there. I then followed the arrows/signs to 2C, much as I had done "virtually" via the CDG website. There is a difference in logic however. The arrows started off pointing towards the direction that I had to go but then started pointing down?? I worked out that they were "telling" me I was on the right path, any change of direction had a directional arrow. 

I went up three escalators/floors navigating this way to a departures area and again followed the signs towards 2C. There was a number of powered walkways to take me to the next building. I finally came to a series of numbered desks, with the usual "sheep herding" tape barriers, but no Aeroflot sign. I walked on further and there were a series of info booths, one of which did have an Aeroflot sign. I explained in English that I had a ticket to St Petersburg for Saturday and I was just locating where I had go ahead of time. The lonely info lady, who was fiddling with the water-cooler for something to do, explained that I would need to go to Desk/Gate 14  (just back a bit) at 10.30 am (earliest start) on Saturday for the 12.30 flight. So far so good.

I then backtracked down to the RER Terminal 2 station, with a few false turns but ultimately got there and chose the opposite platform to the one I arrived on. I thought about it later and given this was the end station that choice really did not make sense but luck was with me and it was the right train to get me back to Cite Internationale. I had subconsciously checked the overhead train notifications, as you do when you are tuned-in to travelling, but it was still more luck than good management. I was back to the Cite early afternoon, reasonably pleased with myself. So long as there is not a huge crowd on Saturday morning my trolley suitcase should not be a problem (there were a number of them on the train, either sitting on seats or at the doorways).  

I am glad I could sort out my route before the time-deadline and potential luggage problems increased my stress levels. I find it is usually time well spent when you do not speak the language; unhurried Information staff usually speak better English. Particularly when there is not a long line of fretting customers all worried about their flights. 

As for the CDG Airport (in the rain) well it is big, and crowded, and confusing but I was not blown-over by its styling. It looked a lot like Dubai in a neutral "international" way; complex, functional, and a bit idiosyncratic.