We had arrived in London in early December , got ourselves oriented for a couple of weeks , and then , because the small hotel we were staying in was to shut down for Christmas , we moved north to York . From there we moved south from city to city along the east side of the country , experiencing the rigours of a very cold English winter.

We were , for instance , flooded out of York , snowed out of Lincoln , black -iced out of Kings Lynn and Norwich , fogged out of Cambridge ; and we loved every minute of it .

I was on drama study leave and by the time the year's sabbatical was over , I had seen over two hundred performances.

By April , after another stint in London , we had worked our way up to Liverpool , then around and about the Midlands , down to the south coast , then over to Wales . During the gradually warming months I had been out and about with lots of Children's Educational groups, and had been lucky enough to be able to register for the Children's Drama Conference being held in Cardiff .

By now the year had warmed its way into April , with a heat wave for the Brits and a pleasant , middling-warm style of weather for us. I must at this point explain that I am about five foot eleven inches tall , of rather pleasing rotundity , and at that time I still had most of my hair . What I had done was grow a beard , and had let it stay untrimmed through the winter. I am at the best of times an Esau rather than a Jacob, and the beard was abundant .

The Conference was a remarkable experience : one of the great times of the trip. I was at a series of daily performances by acting and dancing troupes that began at 8 am and usually ended after midnight . I made contact with groups from all over Europe which later proved most valuable.

One contact I will never forget.

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff held a reception for all the visitors to the city , and a magnificent effort it was . The food was abundant , and the drink flowed freely . I managed to organise myself into rather more whiskey than I would usually consume , and so there I stood upright , beard jutting forth -- but at the same time , I fear , slightly owl-eyed .

There was one visitor to the conference whom I had noted before ; a diminutive Japanese professor , accompanied by a young lady interpreter .

As I stood benevolently observing what was going on around me , the young lady approached and deferentially informed me that the professor would like to ask me for a favour . She did not explain what it was to be , but as I said , I was feeling at one with the world and humanity , and in order to signify that I would be willing to hear his request , I nodded solemnly.

It seems however that the professor understood that the interpreter had put the actual request , and that I had acquiesced to it with my nod.

He rushed over to me , and looking up to where I towered over him , he reached up with a high-pitched giggle , thrust both his hands into my beard and scrunched it gently .

I hereby lay claim to being the only Australian ever to have had his beard fondled by a Japanese professor at a Welsh Lord Mayor's Reception.