Pre-Conference Social Events

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Social Events

Conference Dinner
The Conference Dinner, with wine and entertainment, will be held in the International Hotel on LTU Beechworth Campus on Thursday 9 December 8pm-12 midnight. The cost is included in the delegate registration fee.

Wine and Cheese Party
A pre-dinner Wine and Cheese Party will be held on Thursday 9 December from 6.30 to 8pm. Chambers Rosewood Winery is a major sponsor of the conference and Bill Chambers will give a short talk on wines of north eastern Victoria in general and his own in particular. The cost is included in the delegate registration fee.

Welcome BBQ by the Bandstand
On the opening night of the conference, Wednesday 8 December, a Welcome BBQ by the Bandstand (on LTU Beechworth campus) will be held from 7.30pm to 10pm (the food will be served 8-9.30pm with some kept aside for late-comers). The cost is included in the delegate registration fee.

Women’s Cocktail Party
On the opening night of the conference, Wednesday 8 December, a Women’s Cocktail Party will be held at the Bijou Theatre foyer (on LTU Beechworth campus) from 6.30pm to 8pm. The cost is included in the delegate registration fee.

Tours
Pre-conference tours have been cancelled due to insufficient numbers. All delegates who have already booked for these tours will be contacted by the conference organiser and refunded any monies paid. For further information please contact the conference organiser Sharon Wilson.

Associated with the conference are 3 tours to places of interest in the region. Each tour will need a minimum of 8 participants registered by 20 November 2004 in order to proceed. The organisers reserve the right to cancel any of the tours after that date and to refund any monies paid. Cancellations will be notified by email by 23 November 2004. For any enquiries, please contact the Conference Convenor, Katy Richmond. Each tour starts and ends at the Conference Centre at LTU Beechworth campus. In addition, as noted below, each of the 3 tours has alternative pick-up points on the Melbourne-Sydney train line. Please contact the conference convenor directly for information regarding alternative pick-up points.

Tour 1: The Gourmet Tour: $50
Tuesday 7 December 10 am to 3pm
This tour will focus on food and wine of the region. After leaving Beechworth the tour bus will meet the morning train from Melbourne at Wangaratta railway station (10.24am) before proceeding to the Buffalo Boutique Brewery near Wangaratta, followed by the Milawa Cheese factory for cheese tastings. Lunch will be at the Epicurean centre (PAYG - that is, at delegates own expense) at Brown Bros Winery in Milawa (see http://www.brown-brothers.com.au/milawa/frame_milawa.htm). Lunch will be followed by a wine tasting. After lunch we visit Milawa Mustards as well as Pennyweight Winery near Beechworth where winemaker Steven Morris will demonstrate organic wine growing and a tasting will be held (see http://www.pennyweight.com.au).

Tour 2: The Albury-Wodonga Experiment: $60
Tuesday 7 December 10.30 am to 4pm
The tour examines the Albury-Wodonga National Growth Centre experiment of the 1970s. It explores signs of what planners thought about the social as well as the physical and economic development of a new ‘city in the country’ at the end of the twentieth century. We will hear from some of those involved in the experiment as well as visit some of the places that were developed in giving effect to the project. The tour will be taken by historian Adjunct Associate Professor Bruce Pennay, from Charles Sturt University who has recently completed a history of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation. The tour will depart from Beechworth at 10.30am and at Wodonga, the tour bus will meet the morning train from Melbourne ( 11.18am). A short video will be shown at the Albury-Wodonga campus of La Trobe University over a sandwich lunch (included in the cost of the tour). After lunch the tour of the Albury-Wodonga will continue, leaving the region by about 3.30pm for return to Beechworth.

Tour 3: Wineries of the North East of Victoria: $50
Wednesday 8 December 10.15am to 4pm
Departing Beechworth at 10.15am, the tour bus will meet the morning train from Melbourne at Chiltern ( 10.51am). We proceed then to the Rutherglen wine district, famous for heavy reds and fortified wines for lunch at the Pickled Sisters Café at Cofields winery (PAYG - that is, at delegates own expense) at Wahgunyah. In the afternoon we visit 3-4 wineries depending on time, including Morris’s and Chambers Rosewood winery in Rutherglen.