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A Second Gathering of Shutists
Organizers of the Nevil Shute Centennial Celebration held in Albuquerque, New
Mexico in January 1999, are working on a follow up event, OZ2001. It is to
be held in March 2001, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria,
Australia, near where Nevil Shute lived, wrote, ran his farm, and raced his
Jaguar. For details, contact Dan Telfair at e-mail: dantelfair@aol.com,
telephone: 505-856-6774.
OZ2001 Update - Posted Dec. 22, 2000
The Nevil Shute Norway Foundation is happy to announce the Nevil Shute Convention-OZ2001, a celebration of the life and works of Nevil Shute Norway. The convention is planned as a sequel to the highly successful Nevil Shute Centennial Celebration held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 15 -17, 1999
DATES/VENUE
OZ2001 will take place Sunday, March 18 through Friday, March 23, 2001, in Frankston, Victoria, Australia, on the Mornington Peninsula, where Nevil Shute built his home, lived the last ten years of his life, and wrote some of his most popular and well-known books
HOTEL
The event hotel will be the Country Comfort/Ambassador Hotel in Frankston. A block of 30 executive rooms, 6 luxury rooms, and 12 apartments has been set aside for OZ2001 participants. These rooms will be held for us until February 15. Special event prices range from approximately $44 US per night for the executive rooms, to $72 US per night for the apartments, to $79 US per night for the luxury spa suites. Weekly rates are somewhat less. These prices may vary slightly due to currency fluctuations.
Reservations should be made as early as possible by calling the hotel (from the US) at 011-61-3-9781-4488. Be sure to identify yourself as a participant in OZ2001 so you will get the special rate. We are suggesting that you NOT go through a travel agent for these reservations as that would raise the room rate considerably.
All events, with the exception of two excursions, will take place at the hotel.
REGISTRATION FEES
The entry fee will be $300 US per participant ($550 AU for those registering in Australia), for registrations received by February 15. Thereafter, an additional fee of $50 US or $100 AU will be charged for late registrations.
Entry fees will cover round trip transportation between the airport and hotel, excursion transportation, cocktail party hors d'oeuvres, morning and afternoon teas, lunches on excursion days, banquet with wine, and all facilities and administrative costs associated with the event. Fees DO NOT include the cost of hotel rooms, lunches on other than excursion days, and dinners other than the banquet. For those participants wishing to bring guests to the cocktail reception only, the banquet only, or to both, additional cocktail reception and banquet tickets will be available for an added fee.
For those Shutists registering in Australia, payment may be made in $AU locally to an account at the Commonwealth Bank. Specific payment information is provided on brochures/entry blanks.
For those registering from the US and other countries abroad, payment should be made in $US, by a check drawn against a US bank or by some form of international payment certificate made out in $US. Specifics for the payment of fees in the US are provided on brochures/entry blanks.
PROGRAM
The tentative schedule calls for registration and film festival beginning Sunday afternoon, and cocktail reception Sunday evening.
For the film festival, we will have all ten films and television dramatizations that have been based on Nevil Shute books. This will be the first time ever that all of these films and television dramatizations have been available at one location.
Monday morning will begin with opening ceremonies, and the keynote address by Heather Mayfield, Nevil Shute's older daughter. These ceremonies will be followed by the first seminar presentation. There will be another seminar presentation Monday afternoon, and smaller seminars and the film festival continuing Monday evening.
Tuesday, we will have an all day excursion, with cookout and seminar presentation in a forest location, tentatively scheduled for the Dandenong Range. The event will mirror the cookout scene in 'A Far Country' as closely as possible. Tuesday evening, smaller seminars and the film festival will continue.
Wednesday, we will have seminar presentations morning and afternoon, and a banquet in the evening. There will be a banquet speaker.
Thursday, we will have a seminar presentation in the morning, followed by an excursion in the afternoon. The afternoon excursion will include lunch at a local hotel or restaurant, a visit to the Nevil Shute home, a tour of St. Thomas Church, the construction of which was largely financed by Nevil Shute, and a brief memorial service, followed by tea. Thursday evening, there will be a cocktail party with hors d'oeuvres and bar hosted by Heather Mayfield. The film festival will continue thereafter.
Friday, there will be a final seminar presentation in the morning and closing ceremonies in the afternoon.
SEMINAR FORMAT
There will be two types of seminars. The larger seminars will be held during the day. The general format will be that the speakers will present their topics for 45-60 minutes, followed by a half hour break. After the break, participants will return for another 45-60 minute discussion period on the topic, with the speaker acting as moderator. Morning and afternoon teas will be served during seminar breaks.
The same general format will be followed for the smaller seminars, except they may be less structured, depending on the desires of the speakers and the participants. These seminars will be held in the evenings, in conjunction with the film festival.
Speaker and topic lists will be provided to all participants beforehand with requests for their preferences. The seminars more in demand will be offered in the daytime, and those in lesser demand will be offered in the evenings.
DISPLAYS
There will be a book swap/sale area with books available for trade by participants, and books for sale from local used and rare book dealers. Copies of all Nevil Shute's unpublished manuscripts, including the book he was working on at the time of his death, will also be on display.
There is a planned model engineering display, with models built by the local model engineering club, copies of the Model Engineering magazine featuring articles by Nevil Shute, and associated items. We are attempting to locate an actual model engine designed and built by Nevil Shute to enrich the display.
There will be a photographic display of Nevil Shute's racing career, and a talk on the subject. Nevil Shute's racing Jaguar will also be on display.
Other displays will be developed as planning progresses.
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation between the airport and the hotel, and all excursion transportation, will be provided by modern, air conditioned, 21 passenger busses. There will not be any requirement for event participants to arrange transportation in advance, pay for tickets, etc. All that will be prearranged and paid for. Participants coming from abroad are STRONGLY encouraged to take advantage of the airport bus transportation that has been prearranged, and not hire rental cars for the trip to Frankston. After a 15 hour airplane trip, learning to drive a right hand drive car, on the left side of the road, through heavy traffic and on unfamiliar roads, is NOT recommended. Additionally, participants will not have any need for a rental car during OZ2001. Those wishing to stay after the event and rent cars for personal travel are encouraged to do so after they have had a few days to recover from jet lag and get used to thinking in terms of left hand traffic.
PRE AND POST OZ2001 ACTIVITIES
Ancillary activities for those arriving early and remaining after the convention are in planning stages.
One trip that is being planned is a one or two day drive through Mansfield (the town referred to as 'Banbury' in 'The Far Country'), through Merrijig, to Lenora (a station near Merrijig in the same location as the Lenora Station in 'The Far Country'), and on to the Howqua Valley and the township of Howqua, where Carl Zlinter grilled his steaks, wooed Jennifer Morton, and found his predecessor's cache of gold.
After wrapping up the details of the convention, Zia and I are planning to lease a plane for a 5,000(+) mile fly-about retracing Nevil Shute's flight about Australia, as detailed in his Flight Log and in James Riddell's 'Flight of Fancy'. If other pilots are interested in joining in this adventure, we could create a flying caravan.
Other post OZ2001 excursions will be developed as planning progresses. Any suggestions would be welcome.
OZ2001 INFORMATION
Additional information and/or brochure/entry blanks may be obtained from Dan Telfair in the US at <dantelfair@aol.com> (505)-856-6774, or from Colin Ackehurst in Australia at <ackehurst@peninsula.starway.net.au> 61-3-5975-7842.
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