What's Up Down Under

Life has been ticking right along here in Alice Springs. We are in the dead of winter now, and what a winter it has been...heh heh. Temperatures have plummeted as low as -4.7C at night, and as high as 30C during the day. I can live with that. I do not know how I will ever go back to a Canadian winter...

Of course, the frigid temperatures here in central Australia has sent the locals running to bundle up in winter boots, puffy jackets, hats aka beanies, scarves, gloves, and thermal underwear. I kid you not. Meanwhile I'm still wearing sundresses and sandals...which of us looks ridiculous in the hot afternoon sun? I'll admit the mornings are a little chilly and I do put on a cardigan to walk to work, but it is shed after I arrive and not worn for the rest of the day, as it doesn't take very long to warm up outside once the sun rises.

One would think they were in the frozen Canadian temperatures too with the issues people have been having with water pipes too. It happened at the house of a friend and in my building as well. Thankfully I have had no leaks but I reckon the freezing comes from having absolutely no insulation in the houses or around the pipes. I'm not sure why that is, because the winters do get chilly here, so why wouldn't you insulate your house and pipes? Winter comes every single year...

My garden continues to thrive, and I am getting very good at pressing that button ever day to water. Someday I may even figure out the timer...the birds have been coming in after my seed bells finally, and drive Dundee nuts as they swoop into the courtyard to feed. We have also had another feline in our courtyard, one that I would like to capture and set free about a 100kms from here, the little bastard. He stalks my house, and between the hours of 1-3am, comes into the courtyard to terrorize and taunt Dundee through the window. It's a huge orange long haired tom cat and sometimes he just sits there on the awning above the window, peeping down through it, while Dundee leaps up the window frames. Damn, Dundee is dumb as a bag of hammers sometimes...I don't know what he thinks he will accomplish by leaping at the window. I'm sure my neighbor must hear the racket and commotion each night when the bastard is out there. I haven't seen her in weeks to explain what has been going on.

Had a brawl break out in front of my building a few nights ago. I woke to people yelling in English, which was odd, so that tells me they were from two different mobs. There must have been about 10 people, and there was talk of weapons (which usually do not mean guns) and then I heard someone pick up a steel pipe from somewhere, so I called the police. Of course, then a car came by and they scattered like mice, so by the time the police came, there wasn't much going on. It did make me nervous though, as I knew someone was going to get beat if they hadn't broke up like they did.

Went to an 80's party last weekend and it was a hoot and a half. Between dancing to the retro tunes (yeah, my high school years are now considered retro years) and sending up fireworks, I had a great time. The fireworks were a bit risky, and totally illegal to set them off now, as the law states you can only purchase and use fireworks on Territory Day in the Northern Territory. They are banned in all of the states. I can see why...people lose their damned minds over them. For some of the fellas, the goal was to tip them over as they shot out at everyone and caught shit on fire. Great. One even flew under my car and I'm certain, if it burned much longer, my car would have gone up in flames...and I'm quite certain my insurance does not cover fireworks damage...

This weekend is the annual Camel Cup, which I'll be heading out to on Saturday with some friends. I didn't go last year, but plan to take it all in this year for sure. Apparently there is about 30 minutes of racing and the rest of the day is spent drinking pints...sounds like a great day!