Aussie Life

     I went to the night market tonight - it was bustling with locals and visitors. Not as many stalls as I would have thought, think there are more at the Sunday market. What I did enjoy was the drumming group thundering their sound for us all to enjoy. The market is held on Todd Mall, which is about a 15 minute walk from my house, which is awesome. I really enjoy how close I am to downtown. Far enough away that I don't hear it from my house but close enough to walk anytime I want. I bought a hand dyed silk scarf, some homemade eucalyptus soap, a smudge bundle/stick from Hidden Valley (one of the town camps) and a homemade cinnamon donut, fresh from the cooker.
     The walk home was pleasant enough, the sounds of the market fading away in the background, the beautiful night sky overhead, temperatures about 20C with the heat of the day fading slowly, the scent of jasmine in the air, the sound of huge bush cockroaches crunching underfoot...saw a few campfires in the riverbed on the way, small groups of Aboriginals squatting around the fire. That's one think I must say I enjoy seeing - the Aboriginals certainly know how to "hang out". Day or night, there are groups large and small sitting outside, usually in the shade of a tree or building, often in a circle. Socializing with others be it family or friends is very important to these folks. In the daytime, it is often the men in a group of their own, and the women in children in another group not far away. Often there is someone doing some painting - usually the dot painting. Alice Springs overflows with dot painting, both in the many galleries and just laid out on the grass around them for private sales.
     The night sky is pretty amazing here. A few nights ago we had a harvest moon - large golden orange ball of fire crept up over the horizon and through the bushfire smoke that was hanging over the edge of town. I can see the Southern Cross on any given night. There are many constellations I can't see in Canada that are easily found here in Australia. They don't call the big dipper the same as we do - they call it the saucepan. With such a big open sky and little to interrupt the horizon, you can just see so much of the night sky at once. I've seen a few shooting stars which are always a great surprise.
     Footy and rugby are big here, bigger than hockey and baseball put together it seems. Everyone gets in on the action, and the World Cup Rugby is coming up so there's a fair bit of excitement in the air. Footy is Australian Rules Football, very different from American football, and a whole lot less padding for either game which makes for some real nice looking men with great bodies - I'm certain that's why the women are so very interested in footy and rugby! I haven't quite worked out what the difference is, but don't really care - I'll watch good looking athletic men just like the next gal.
     For anyone who has ever traveled through Alberta and noticed how many pick-up trucks there are - at least half the population seems to own one - well there are even more people in central Australia that drive a 4-wheel drive. There are tons of Land Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Jeeps, Toyota Hilux (a pick-up truck aka ute) and countless 4wd campers. Common sights in Alice Springs are any of the above with swags on the roof rack along with water containers and extra gas cans aka petrol cans. Camping is HUGE in central Australia and I can't wait to get back out there myself. I'm thinking of going for the night on Saturday to Rainbow Valley. I haven't had any volunteers to go camping with me as my friends are all into the footy and rugby, but I'm keen to go so will likely head out alone for the night. Rainbow Valley is supposed to be quite pretty at sunset and sunrise, so the only way to do that is camp overnight or drive in the dark, which is not recommended in this neck of the woods. I used to be afraid to camp alone, but after traveling so much last year I've conquered that fear and rather enjoy it. If I want to be social, there is usually someone else at the campground to chat with - Aussies are great conversationalists and quite friendly, at least in central Australia they are.
     So life is ticking right along here for me. It has been such a good move to come here and I've not been homesick for Canada much at all, particularly now that fall is moving in and winter is not far behind for my friends back home. We're in early spring here with hot days and cool nights but heading to even hotter days with 37C forecast for Monday. Good thing my air con has been serviced recently - I might need it!