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Actually, if I write this the instant I get here, as I am, I won't have any stories to tell...

Well, sort of.

Drove down to the Airport, all was well, got there in plenty of time, you know, 50 minutes before the flight, 20 minutes before check in closes...

Now, I've never been to terminal 3 at Kingsford Smith before, so maybe this is normal, but it was absolutely full of people. Like, people everywhere. I try to find a check-in counter... but there aren't any. So it's Automatic check in or the highway... and it's 2,800 km between Sydney and here.

The line-ups are huge, which means I don't get my bag checked in until 20 minutes before the flight, and I don't get through airport security (even though they opened a third security line/scanner at exactly the right time for me to take advantage of it) until after the final boarding call. I am not the last person on the plane, but still...

Surprise, surprise, really, when I get to Alice Springs, my baggage hasn't managed to make it with me. I and another bloke, from London from the accent are sitting by the baggage carousel, watching two unclaimed bags forlornly pass us, and pass again.

We strike up a conversation (centred mainly around what to do next). Turns out he's come straight from London, his plane out of LA was delayed, and he barely made it onto the plane at all, let alone his baggage. He was the last person on the plane.

Turns out he's here on Final Year Medical Elective from the Bart's College, London.

We Sort it out. Baggage, both his and mine, will come on next flight from Sydney, which, surprise surprise, is tomorrow. Which is a long and involved explanation of why I have no photos for you. My camera cable (along with fresh underwear) is in the bag, sitting on a runway (well, I hope not literally) in Sydney.

I give him a lift into town, he is staying at a home stay, not 500m from the hospital. I am about the same distance away, in a slightly different direction, but I have an apartment all to myself. A very nice apartment.

first impressions: Green. Everything is greener than I expected. According to our taxi driver, not as green as it was a month ago, but much greener than it was a week before that.
And Red. Kinda like Christmas decorations. The dirt is red, the desert is red, and the funny rock outcroppings in the middle of town are also red. But with rough green scrub poking out of them here and there.

The bottom of the Todd River is sand. I had wondered about that. It shows the recent depravations of water, but is, once again, dry. I might go from here and walk along it, and see if it is the srt of dry that suggests underground water. Like low tide at the beach.

The air conditioning is... struggling. It is cooler inside than out, but you really only notice if you go outside first. My apartment was entirely clean, except there was a small freezerpak in the freezer. I had it out and on my head (and down my back, etc) very quickly. It didn't take long to melt. But now there are Ice cube trays in the fridge. and food, and juice.

The water here tastes... odd. I was trying to think how to describe it... but it's best described as like one of those saltwater pools, where you can tell that they still have to use some chlorine. But not quite as salty.

anyway, enough trambling from me.
I will post photos next time. Promise!

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