Some observations about living in Kintore

November 3, 2015 ·

Weather: In Kintore it is either hot or bloody hot! Yesterday it was 45C, the only respite from the heat comes from air conditioning and when the sun goes down....but even then its only a few degrees cooler.. most nights it gets down to a balmy 30C! The locals say that it only rains at Christmas time.

Last night I noticed flashing lights out from the window, so I went to investigate and realized that in the distance was a magnificent light show of lightning (no thunder to be heard), soon after I heard a few drops on the tin roof! But it's so hot that the small amount of moisture does nothing. The endless heat is very draining and everyone does their tasks at the beginning or end of each day. The locals sit outside in the heat of the day, under a tree, or bring the kids to child care where it is air conditioned. The locals bring their beds outside to sleep under the stars. There are no mozzies or flies at night, I understand why people in the outback like to sleep under the stars.

 Some of the older members of the community now know me and call out to greet me when I walk to work, often asking "is there child care today?" Soon after their younger family members arrive with the kids... (who needs a mobile phone!)

 When I first arrived at Kintore, I found it quite bizarre to hear the yelling that would go on, however I soon noticed that the yelling was occurring between small groups of people located in the shade in different areas, it seems that they avoid walking around in the heat of the sun and so yell to communicate instead.

After all it is stupidly hot!

I offered to dog sit my neighbours 2yld kelpie dingo cross, this week while they are away, however she dug out under my fence and took off to visit all the other dogs of the community. So then my other neighbour, who also has a bitsa puppy, is now dog sitting, as his fence is secure. Sandy and Kinda, the dogs, come to visit aunty Kristin. I think Sandy may have taught Kinda how to dig under the fence....

Sandy

 My neighbour is the new pool guy, possibly the most popular man in town! The pool had been closed for 5 months up until now! He opens the pool for adults only for lap training, and also after school each week day for the kids, and again for female indigenous women, and again for the males. The pool is open to general public on the weekends. I might start some lap training on the weekends soon in the early morning.