chunder down under

In the bleak mid-winter

Australians are wusses. Well, most anyway – I wouldn’t wrestle a croc with only a mullet and annoying catchphrase standing between me and certain death. But, people down under, you live in a lucky land.

It was another public holiday (how many is it possible to have?) because it was the Cairns Show, where men with axes compete to chop through wood faster than the next man with an axe. I was at the Uni, for a change, as part of an intensive evening course. During one of the breaks we were standing outside; as it was a public holiday it was inevitably raining.

“It’s so cold!”, “I’m freezing!” etc. etc. was all you could hear for the next ten minutes from the gathered aussies, much to the bemusement of myself and two Germans. The temperature? An icy 25C, but with a bit of wind (actually quite windy, the lecturer who had just flown up from Townsville said that they ended up sideways on the runway). I suppose in the tropics that may count as cold (and it is mid-winter here), but could they just not put some more clothes on?

Actually, I am quite looking forward to coming back to the UK, just to have some proper seasons again. I was driving north the other day, windows down, sunnies on, cloudless sky but listening incongruously to Gallon Drunk. They’re not a band most people would be familiar with (apart from, perhaps, Nick Cave’s lawyers) but hearing their songs of falling drunk out of scuzzy Camden pubs into the rainy and grimy streets started to make me feel a bit homesick. They were one of the bands I used to see quite often, back in the early nineties when I lived in London. I kind of miss that kind of edge, and also the comforting feeling of coming in from the cold outside into a warm pub. Even having to wear a jumper feels nostalgic. Doubtless a couple of weeks of dreary weather will put a stop to that, but it is kind of samey here. I should be out of here before the summer starts though, perhaps earlier if I go to Sydney first.

posted by Hamish @ 8:35 pm