the signs of the dry

The dry season is near. We are on the cusp of cooler days, infused with the smell of burn offs and months of festivals. The harbingers of the changing of the seasons are everywhere.

Dragonflies orbit. The rain stops. Deckchair Cinema reopens. Mindil Beach market owners set up their stalls. Long-socked grey nomads are spotted hiking the periphery of the city. Work has become outrageously hectic.

Waiting for the bus, I sat across from an man at the bus stop who lives in the community across the road. He told me the 'knock-em-down rains' were still to come. That's when the long dry grass is flattened by heavy rain. It's a season in itself. But the dry is near.

The sunsets remain the same.

one week = one year

The last few weeks have been a blur; a jam-packed week-long holiday in Queensland for Dad's birthday; my boss in town for interviews and Tiwi Islands Grand Final weekend; and .... soon to be moving house!

Oh yes the lady shack has been usurped by a more grown-up abode. I have returned to the land of co-habitation. The house is a typically Top End pad; louvres from the floor to the ceiling, plunge pool, big yard, tropical garden, tranquil locale. As soon as I peered through the fence I envisaged lying in bed in one of the many bedrooms, watching the rain through the louvres on a wet season morning.

Pity they are heralding the dry season's return, oh well. And, best of all, I get to procure my pup ! The yard is large and dog-friendly ie lots of room to run and no way of escape. There is a shed too. I'm sure we'll find things to put in it. I've never had a shed before.

And so to the visit from the boss. We had many-a-social-occasion, having important business lunches and lolling at the Ski Club. He also timed it to be in town for the Tiwi Islands Grand Final at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. The day was long, hot, yet so rewarding and fun. We boarded an early flight on a light aircraft to get over there in time to set up the broadcast, which we did from an old truck which the locals dragged over to the side of the oval for us for the day. We busied ourselves setting up, then spent a few hours looking at local art sales. I bought some amazing Tiwi fabric and a 'goose'; a wooden sculpted magpie goose, intricately painted.

And the kids! They were so enthusiastic and talkative and interested. And super cute.

The trees around the oval had been chopped down, so there was little to no shade for the thousands of southerners to shelter within. At one point during the day, I saw a group of people huddling in a line of shade cast by a large pylon beside the oval. Someone was heard to ask; what are you lining up for?

Despite the heat, the lack of shade and the sandflies; the day was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I came home with chafe, bites and sunburn, but so happy to have had the privilege to see it. It was such a reflection of life in the NT. You really do live life with the volume turned up, life at 200%. The experiences I have had in one week up here have been more meaningful and exciting than one year of living in Brisbane. I am constantly reminded and gladdened by my decision to move here.