Traveling long distances by air is new to me, so going to Australia for TDWG and back was a totally new and fun experience, but long. Right now I'm in Athens waiting for my final flight back to Bucharest. I was able to get some sleep on an Emirates flight that was half empty, but two airplane seats don't make a comfortable bed. Waiting around in airports is not fun either, and there's all these procedures and security. But hey, I flew mostly with Emirates: good service, great food.

Dubai airport is especially nasty: one huge ugly building with kitschy architecture; lots of people in a small space, many sleeping on the floor. They drove us on and off the plane by bus, because they're building a new terminal and the old one is overcrowded, and there it hit me. From the bus I was able to see the sheer scale of the place. Lots of things happen at airports while you wait in a terminal behind thick glass: aircraft maintenance, fuelling, luggage handling, planes moving around. Also, at Dubai, the terminal and airplanes and buses are air conditioned, but even at 10 in the morning, spending 30 seconds on the stairs climbing on the plane gets uncomfortable. It's easy to take air travel for granted.

The conference itself was in Fremantle, an old town by Australian standards (about 200 years), now it's a suburb of Perth. Small buildings (except for a few blocks in downtown Perth), lots of space, big roads, big cars. And they drive on the wrong side of the street, that always tripped me. I managed to take lots of pictures; I'm continually surprised at what my little camera can do in good light conditions.

One evening I caught the sunset and took dozens of pictures, choosing just this one was hard. West-facing coastlines provide for interesting opportunities.

There was a train running near the coast, and once I managed to get my camera out in time to snap it.

This is Hannu Saarenmaa, from the Finnish Museum of Natural History (left) and Mihai Cărăuşu, from the Danish GBIF node (right). We were considering a beer just then. From here on, all pictures are from Perth.

I like fountains.

Perth has a shopping mall. With a food court, I suspect.

Apparently you're not allowed to take pictures in Perth train station. Pity, since it's really nice. The guard in the third picture told me "if you didn't know, that's ok, but don't take any more".

There are no really old buildings in Perth, altough some of them try. But I really like the street signs.