FMA Conference & Deniliquin

We reach Deniliquin on Tuesday, in time for the welcome reception.  Once we got out of the Snowy region, we drove through quite bare countryside which has its own stark beauty.   Most people would find it hard to connect with this kind of landscape but wide open spaces have a certain appeal to me although they would not be the landscape I choose to live in. 

Deni as the place is referred to locally has become quite renowned for the ‘Play on the Plains’ festival.  This festival includes the famous Ute Muster which attracts utes from all over Australia creating world records.  In 2010 for example, the Ute Muster attracted more than 10,000 utes to the festival and set an even stranger record for the most people wearing blue singlets.  In case you were wondering – there were 3,500 of them.  Perhaps I need to come back during the time of the festival.

The FMA conference attracted more than 250 delegates even though Deni is not the easiest place to get to.  Many like us, decided to do the drive from Sydney.  Others flew in to Albury and did a lesser 2 hour drive instead.

We start the conference with a welcome reception where we catch up with colleagues from around the country.  I really enjoy this conference.  The papers are always interesting to listen to and the networking opportunity over the course of the week is hard to beat.  We were approached by a number of consultants regarding the opportunity to collaborate on Flood Risk Management projects so from a work perspective it was a great week. 

We leave for home on Friday, breaking journey in Gundagai for a night.  There’s a long list of things to follow up but that’s why we make the effort to attend conferences such as this.