For the past two years I have attended the Royal Society of New Zealand Honours Dinner, this time, most conveniently for me, at the Dunedin Town Hall. These have been events with a delightful charm and energy, with youth and seniority, artistic creativity and scientific analyses placed in juxtaposition, and have managed to celebrate achievement in a spirit of teamwork and cooperation rather than success as an end in itself. Also, there have been statisticians receiving awards on both occasions! (Jeff Hunter receiving our Campbell Award in 2006 and Xiaogu Zheng the Edward Kidson Medal from the Meteorological Society of New Zealand in 2007.)

The theme for 2007 was Antarctic research. The dinner started with a reading of Derek Mahon's poem Antarctica by Bill Manhire (“I am just going outside and may be some time”) and an organ recital, then a presentation from the Otago Girls’ High School winners of the 2007 Freemasons Big Science Adventure DVD competition including a travelogue from Greenland. There was also a live phone link to Antarctica and a display of the flag Sir Edmund Hillary planted at the South Pole in 1958. Not to mention the dinner, and the awards, and lots of “science stuff”. Some of the recipients even managed to express subtle political statements (“it’s amazing the role serendipity has played in my career”, “a special thanks to our long term funders”).