(no subject)

I am in Alice Springs.

I am absolutely freezing.

These two sentences? Should not go together. At ALL. I'm in Alice freaking Springs. The center of Australia! Where it rains like, on actual finger countable occasions each year! And it's not even their winter yet (okay almost. But not quite).

As we were landing, the pilot was all "Well folks, we have low cloud cover, 10 degrees centigrade and the local time is approximately five to four." *pause* "Oh, and it's raining."

People laughed. I LAUGHED. Oh, our sweet and naive selves. He really wasn't kidding.

Anyway, aside from the fact that I'm cold because I not only left my scarf and gloves back in irradiatedsoup's with cheerful abandon, I also left the fleece lining for my waterproof because I should check the weather forecast and not assume somewhere that is always hot is going to be hot when *I* get there, I'm cold because I'm sitting in the kitchen of my hostel. A hostel that is clearly designed around the weather being hot enough to fry an egg on the road so the kitchen is totally open to the elements, the bar is partly open, the toilets/showers have no outer doors and they usually show movies outdoors around the pool only they've called it off tonight because it is actually that cold and wet. I have to sit in the kitchen because the internet is totally undetectable from the bar next door, while I can just about detect it in my room on the other side but it's too far away to connect. I'm now engaged in a war between how much I want internet and how much I want to continue to have feeling in my fingers.

I'm sleeping out in this. Outside. In a sleeping bag. I'm so glad I packed my thermal vest at least, for what little good it might do. I might hunt up a fleece blanket tomorrow; they had a notice for some being on sale in Woolworths but there were none left. Hm. I wonder *why*.

Anyway, at least I made it here despite Tiger Airways being worrying rough'n ready after all the shiny big airplanes I've been on recently and although my hostel seems to have been built by a permanant inhabitant of the equator, it isn't nearly as bad as some I've been in. It's clean and there're two rather funny Liverpudlians in my dorm who're on the same three day rock tour as me on Monday. I saw them at Melbourne airport with their suitcases open, putting on as many clothes as possible because their baggage was so overweight and, as you do in these cases, I silently giggled and regarded them running back and forth to weigh their cases with increasing desperation as excellent entertainment. (I also pegged the guy as gayer than a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide when his case was three kilos heavier than the girl's). When they were on my free pick-up bus to my hostel I went "!!" at the funny coincidences in life. Then as I got back from my walk to Woolworths for junk food earlier, I met the guy trying to see to enter the code to our door by the light of his phone (the rooms open directly outside. Of course. Because it is always hot here. Right). I got chatting to them just now and was like "I'm doing the three day tour on Monday..." And I knew before the girl opened her mouth that that's exactly what they'd be doing.

Funny old world. They seem nice though, for all that I keep unconsciously mimicking their accent when talking to them. The guy was asking if there're toilets on the tour and we were both "...Behind a bush?" and he hid under his pillow with all the drama of the apocalypse. This could be a very entertaining tour. If I can move enough to see it from under all the layers I'll be wearing that is; task for tomorrow is to buy a hoodie. Preferably a nice touristy Australia one but there's a Jay Jays by Woolworths so screw the money; if I can't find a tourist one I'll just get the warmest thing I can find. And also possibly a scarf.

...I have to say that from all this complaining I'm doing, you'd think I was miserable. I'm not. I was while waiting to board the plane earlier, because I'd just got into the lovely habit of being in an actual flat and hanging out with irradiatedsoup and Monkey. Then on the plane I sulked my way through mild turbulence and dozed and wandered through Alice Springs airport after landing convinced that my hostel wouldn't be there to collect me.

Then they were and then the lady who checked me in was lovely and the rooms are clean and the beds comfy, not to mention the town is actually much bigger than I was expecting. I was thinking backwater nothingness and I got shopping centre. And getting to choose between a Coles or a Woolworths, when I'd been wondering if there'd be either. And for all that the weather's crap, it somehow gives everyone something to talk about that isn't "Name, where've you been, where're you from..." So far the biggest downside has been the TV in our room not getting Channel Ten so I can't watch the repeat of Good News Week but I watched it on the website anyway and it looks like they've finally got the podcast working anyway so I can download it tomorrow.

All in all, it's not been quite the disaster scenario I was imagining. The only downside is that I've just checked my bank account and gone O_O because the money has gone out my account but not onto my credit card yet, so I have pretty much no money left on it. But I used it to pay for my Rock trip earlier thinking it'd all been paid off. Um. It could make life... interesting. My other payment only took a day, so hopefully this one'll have gone through by the morning and ALL WILL BE FINE. YES. Jesus, I have no idea how I ended up cutting it this close with money. I mean, I have money because I took a bunch out in Melbourne thinking I'd paid my credit card off but I might have a whole lot less money if this doesn't work out right and the Nationwide charges me for it. Uh. Yes. I think I'm going to stop looking at my online banking now. And cross my fingers that the money I paid in yesterday hurries the hell up.

ANYWAY. My bankruptcy aside, life is not so bad. And I'm now down to less than a fortnight 'til I get to sleep in my own bed again which is totally not a bad thing. It'd just be nice if Australia was a little closer, so I could drop back in to see everyone without bankrupting myself to do it. *wistful*

Okay. The cold's beaten me. Off to go hide in the room and watch Primeval.