Dear all,

Here is some more information about Kaikoura. The general plan at present is as follows.

There will be no activities on the 7th (Friday). On the morning of the 8th, around 11:00, there will be a Powhiri, which is a traditional Maori welcome. Talks will begin on the afternoon of the 8th. There will be morning and evening talks every day from the 9th to the 14th, with the exception of the 12th (Wednesday), when there will be no talks. The last talks will be on the morning of the 15th.

Accomodation will be provided for the nights of the 7th to the 15th, inclusive. We ask that those who do not need a room for all 9 nights let us know.

Lunches and dinners will be provided, beginning with lunch on the 8th and ending with lunch on the 15th, with the exception of the 12th, when we will all be on our own. Vegetarians should let us know.

Because of the large number of people attending this event, we ask that those with grants and those who are bringing family members contribute to the costs with $200-$300 (New Zealand dollars), or more if you are feeling generous (except for invited speakers, of course). We also ask that you approach your respective departments for additional funding.

We also want to remind you all to make your travel arrangements as soon as possible, if you have not already done so, especially with regard to the ferry and rental cars.

More details will be sent in future mailings and will be posted on the soon-to-be-updated website. If you have any questions, please send them to kaikoura@mcs.vuw.ac.nz.

Best,

Rod and Denis





Dear All,

We have added several things to the workshop website, including a workshop timetable. You will see from it that most days have talks from 8:45 to lunch, which ends ar 14:00, and more talks following dinner, which starts at 18:00. The exceptions are the first day (Sat. 8), when we will have the powhiri and lunch, followed by talks and dinner; Wednesday 12, which will be a free day; Friday 14, when we will have a barbecue in the afternoon (unless the weather is bad, in which case Fellows' talk will be moved to the afternoon); and the last day (Sat. 15), which concludes with lunch.

There are also several links to information about things to do in Kaikoura (whale-watching, dolphin-swimming, etc.). The only activity that we are scheduling is a day trip on Wednesday, which you can read about on the website. Anything else that you want to do while there you must book for yourselves. Since this will be during the high season, it is essential that you do so at least 3 weeks in advance.

We would like to ask for some help with setting up the coffee and biscuits for breaks. If anyone has a partner coming along who would be willing to help, we would appreciate hearing from you.

We are told that e-mail/web access and photocopying are available at the Kodak shop in town.

The place where meals will be served is not far from downtown, but it is a roughly 100 meters uphill walk. Anyone who needs to have transportation to meals arranged should let us know.

We assume that all vegetarians and all people who are not staying the full 9 nights have told us about it by now. If not then please let us know.

If you are making a contribution as requested in previous messages, please make checks out to NZMRI. You can give them to us at the conference, but we would prefer that they be sent to

Marston Conder
Department of Mathematics
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland
New Zealand

There is information on the website about shuttles from Christchurch to Kaikoura. We are told that these shuttles will stop to pick you up at the airport, but only if you contact them in advance.

There is a (somewhat ambitious) list of recommended reading available at the website. These are suggestions made by the speakers as background to their talks.

We strongly recommend that anyone who will be taking the ferry and/or renting a car should make arrangements as soon as possible.

Best,

Rod and Denis





Dear All,

The accomodation list for Kaikoura is up on our website. The page is http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~kaikoura/accomodation.html. Please take the time to find your name on that list and verify that the information given there is correct. If not then please let us know as soon as possible.

If you are taking a shuttle from Christchurch then we assume you can be dropped off wherever you are staying. Otherwise, it should not be hard to find these places; we've included addresses and contact numbers on the webpage. Most of the places are on The Esplanade, south of the town center, except for the Backpacker-type place, which are on Deal Street, close to the Marae. We will try to put a map of Kaikoura up on the website soon.

The number for Kaikoura Taxi is (03) 319-6214.

Best,

Rod and Denis





WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

We have had a significant catering problem. To wit, the caterers can only accomodate 100 people per meal. Because of this we will only be supplying 2 out of 3 meals, and you will need to find your own meals at the other times.

We have made a schedule for meals. Note that each person gets 2 days to explore Kaikoura restaurants (or even Malborough/mid-Canterbury). If students need assistance we will provide a meal allowance on those days we are not catering for them.

We have used `day off' rather than `2 out of 3 meals' since this does allow more easily for travel to wineries, whale watching, etc; so please plan accordingly.

We will provide a list of cafes, of which there are plenty. (Check the website in a few days.)

HERE IS A SCHEDULE OF DAYS FOR MEALS. ANY 1-1 CHANGES ARE FINE BETWEEN CONSENTING ADULTS. OTHERWISE, YOU MUST STICK TO THE SCHEDULE SINCE THE MARAE WILL NOT ACCOMODATE MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE AT ANY MEAL.

Best,

Rod and Denis





Dear All,

This is our last message. We are looking forward to seeing you all safe and well in Kaikoura, assuming the world survives Y2K.

The talks will be held at the Memorial Hall, which is on the Esplanade. It is more or less opposite the Information Center, and should be easy to find. A map of Kaikoura has been added to the website.

Please have a final look at the web site to check which meals you get and where you are staying.

Following David Gauld's suggestion, we are meeting at the Memorial Hall at 10AM on the 8th to prepare for the Powhiri. We will then walk up together to the Marae.

If you need help finding your accomodation or need any other help once you arrive in Kaikoura, we will try to have someone at the Memorial Hall. Rod will be in Kaikoura from the 5th, staying at the Futuna Rocks (++64-3-319 6333) until the beginning of the workshop.

We are assured that our e-mail will remain functional, but if you have any troubles at all, please contact Rod on (++64-4-478 4848) or Denis on (++64-4-472 1000 ext. 8076 or ++64-4-475 9911) and we will try to help.

Ciao,

Rod and Denis