Christmas at Alice Springs

 After a two-day drive from Tanunda with an overnight stop at Coober Pedy, we arrived at The Alice with the sole purpose of spending Christmas with our small family.

December is, as expected, hot. This year was no exception - it's still hot as I write and will be hot for a lot longer. Mornings are coolish and very pleasant but the heat creeps up during the day and eventually, an airconditioned spot is better than being outside.

When we lived here and were much younger, we could cope better with the heat and low humidity; we've always been hot, low-humidity people, but after six years of living in the Barossa, we're now acclimatised to cooler weather.

Many more people die from cold weather than hot weather as the UK and parts of Europe will attest to this winter, but the Barossa never gets cold enough to impact our health. Our beloved planet is entering a cooling phase, but when it's 42 C at Alice Springs, it seems that cooling is a figment of someone's imagination.

Then you read the reports: "90% of Mongolia is under snow, China breaks all-time cold records, and Guatemala has its lowest emperater in 39 years".

When we are hot, we wish for some cooler weather; when cold, warm weather.

Forget about the weather for now at least.

It was great to spend time with our kids and to catch up with a couple of long-term friends. Christina had several coffee catch-ups with her midwifery colleagues and we chatted with a few shopkeepers we know, one couple of whom we had as neighbours in 1992.

Alice Springs is a sad sight deteriorating monthly and the crime continues largely unabated as no one at government level seems capable of finding a solution although they can import 860 Palestinians from Gaza which no other country wants. It's perhaps easier than resolving local challenges. 

Dale's car had two windows smashed a week ago. Last trip, it was Tory's ute window that got smashed. Everywhere you go you see vehicles with plastic covering windows that have yet to be replaced.

Meredith, friend Rob and I replaced Meredith's patio decking the timber of which had become ugly, splintered and dangerous to walk on. Merbau decking from Bunnings has saved the day.

Christmas was very quiet at home with some roast lamb, ham, and a variety of roasted vegetables. We actually won the ham at an RSL raffle before we drove up which was convenient.

Now we need to see what 2024 will bring us. That's anyone's guess.