Three Saturdays in June.

 

What a month! The first half of June was all about preparing for my Semester 1 exam for Criminal Law. I felt happy with the way the exam went, in contrast to most of the semester where I felt like I was constantly behind or playing catch up. One of the joys of working full-time and studying, I suppose! Busy all around is an understatement. Here are three images that have been captured on three Saturdays in June, in three different places.

1 // Alice Springs, Northern Territory
I adore winter time in Alice Springs. The afternoons are bathed in glorious golden light and the mornings are clear and chilly. Many people assume that the desert is always hot and are surprised to hear that it becomes very cold during winter, with morning temperatures hovering around zero degrees (or below). Soup, baking, soaking up the daytime sunshine, reading under a blanket, walking in the afternoon all rugged up, riding to work and feeling the sharp air stinging my cheeks and fingers are all things I relish about this time of year.

2 // High country, Victoria
Amidst all the craziness of a busy time at work I managed to sneak a couple of days off and headed down to Victoria to visit my sister and niece. While Alice Springs winter consists of cold mornings, the sun generally makes an appearance during the day. In contrast it was nice to get a taste of cold, drizzly, misty winter in the Victorian high country. The fire was burning constantly and we warmed up during the day by going for long walks or country drives. I was there for winter solstice and we went to a bonfire night at a nearby property. It was the biggest fire I have ever seen. The sky was blanketed in stars, which gradually disappeared when the wintry mist rolled in.

3 // Darwin, Northern Territory
I had a day in Alice Springs before travelling north to Darwin for the week for work. Darwin in the dry season is infinitely more bearable than Darwin in the wet. The mornings are cooler (relatively speaking, around 17-18 degrees; people who live here actually complain about the cold!) and the air is dry and the breeze refreshing. It's still warm, around 30 degrees during the day, but minus the stifling humidity that renders you to a sweaty, lifeless mess during the wet. Yesterday we ate lunch with this view and a lovely breeze and it was rather pleasant. All the changes of climate (and the time spent in air conditioning, I suspect) have left me with yet another head cold but this time around I've managed to retain some energy.