An Outback January: Heat and a Virus

The heat is intense. The sun is scalding. Bitumen sizzles and a haze of dust hangs in the air. Long grass means a haven for snakes, and pink galahs strut through parched red dirt and brittle, fallen twigs. It’s January in Alice Springs, but the beginning of this year is unlike any other. 

The rivers in the Northern Territory have had varied experiences at the outset of this year. Some have flooded with a deluge of rain brought by the remnants of cyclones; waterfalls cascade off Uluru, and for the last few nights thunder has rumbled over Alice, bringing with it a drop in temperature, and driving rain. 

The air is humid. It slicks on the skin. For people of the Central Desert, who are used to dry heat, the moisture is difficult to deal with. It happens every January. The unusual element of life in Alice in 2022 is not the weather – it is the virus, threading its way through the community, peaking in other cities while we wonder what the future holds for us. For two years we have watched it dart around the edges of the Northern Territory’s closed borders, coming ever closer – and now it is here.

The dry Todd River: Summer in Alice Springs

People are slowly coming back into town after visiting friends and relatives in other states. Testing regimes require Covid tests to take place on multiple days after landing in Alice. Some return positive: people must isolate, as there are still vulnerable citizens in the community.

Multiple severe weather warnings have been issued as the weather rages over the Territory. Often, they are canceled when the storms do not develop. There is no way of knowing when this will happen; in many instances, they do eventuate, and lightning cracks and raindrops spatter. Likewise, many predictions about the virus have been made, but thus far, its journey in Australia has taught us one thing: we do not know.

Hold your loved ones tighter if they are close to you. If they are not, remember to keep in contact. Know that Australia is a big continent, and we live in only one small patch. However, we face this challenge as one community. Like the heat, we rise – and together we will prevail.