I had the lovely opportunity to travel to Auckland for the RACP Congress this year. It’s not a conference I’ve been to before, and there were a couple of topics which looked interesting, hence my decision to fork out over two grand paying for conference fees, accommodation, flights and living expenses.
I hadn’t planned the trip with anyone, so I wasn’t expecting to see too many familiar faces there. To my lovely surprise, I bumped into several work colleagues, and even DH’s cousin from WA. I stayed in a fairly utilitarian hotel (Auckland City Hotel) near the conference venue (Aotea Centre). It’s a lovely time of the year to be in Auckland. The temperature was a very nice and fresh 21deg C during the day, and the grounds were scattered with fall leaves in all shades of gold, browns, yellows and reds. The main thing that stood out for me was how friendly the Kiwi folk were.
Of course, I never go anywhere without my trusty sketch book and my favourite sketching pen. Once comfortably settled into the conference seats, this is the scene I faced for about 6 hours each day of the conference.
Aotea Centre stands in the middle of Auckland Square. It’s a pretty non-descript building and therefore difficult to locate unless you know exactly what you are looking for. It was also heavily concealed under much scaffolding, like many parts of uptown and downtown Auckland, which made locating it on the very first morning rather tricky. I ended taking a very circuitous route to it, walking about 30 minutes, rather than the expected 5 minutes according to Google Maps. Once inside, however, it was pleasant, being spacious and airy. It was particularly pleasing that the ladies’ washrooms had many cubicles, and no one had to queue to attend to their needs. I was also very impressed with the food provided for breaks and lunches. I’m glad I didn’t bother to purchase breakfast each morning, as fresh fruit and bread rolls of different flavours were provided every morning as well as the usual hot beverages. Particularly memorable was this “cronut” (cross between croissant and donut) they served for afternoon tea.
Lunch breaks provided an opportunity for me to wander about the town square. Right in front of the Aotea Centre is the very graceful Auckland Town Hall, home of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra - a bit disappointing there were no concerts on while I was there….
Then I simply had to draw this statue of a figure of a man, standing in a rather strange position. The accompanying plaque reveals that it is of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, who was the longest-serving mayor of Auckland. I wonder why he was sculpted in that attitude?
While sketching, I noticed this young man on a nearby bench absolutely covered with pigeons and gulls, scrambling for feed that he was giving out. I presume he knows that birds sh*t a lot.
I was too tired on Day 1 and 2 to venture far for food. I don’t much like flying, and after concentrating all day on intent listening, I was knackered by the time I returned to the hotel at about 4.30pm. But after taking a little nap between 5 to 6pm on Day 3, I felt energetic enough to walk a little further and discovered this little gem of a Japanese restaurant called Masu, along Federal Street. I got to sit right next to the open kitchen and was able to observe the chefs up close. These guys were BUSY. And moved so quickly that it was difficult to capture them in action. They all moved around the tiny cooking space like well-choreographed dancers. I am glad no one lost fingers or set themselves on fire.
The food was absolutely delicious. Highly recommend the miso bisque and the crumbed soft shell crab.
What struck me was how friendly the staff was. 5 BIG stars for service.
Key themes that stuck out for me in the conference:
emphasis on moving away from the Cartesian mind-body split, and to start considering the patient as a whole again, particularly focussing on placing the person back into their usual context
moving away from over-reliance on pharmaceutical agents, and a greater focus on the development of therapeutic relationships and psychosocial health
I must remember to share these with my work colleagues.
