Sydney Harbour Bridge at dawn

Out for an early morning run before a quick breakfast and then off to the "preconference workshops". The conference I went to in Iceland last June included the workshops as part of the conference. The approach here is standard practice; workshops take place before (occasionally after) the conference and cost extra. 

I chose to attend the one on the CANMAT guideline for bipolar disorder in the morning and the afternoon on managing suicidal thinking. Both important issues for the way I hope to influence development in Auckland. 

The official welcome was by the local indigineous people, and was a good way to start the programme. Then two plenaries about story telling. One a psychiatrist telling the history of John Cade's discovery of the value of lithium for manic depressive illness (bipolar disorder). The other a man who has suffered severe depression telling his story in pictures as well as words.

Hope it continues as good or better.