Stifling, Inescapable Heat, and Beautiful Beaches

You would think after spending 17 hours on a bus and spending 2 weeks on bus tours that I would want to steer clear of them for at least a few days, but I found myself on a bus again today, riding around in Broome. I decided to be very low key today. I spent most of the morning floating around in the pool and sweating in the sun. I bused into the main part of town around 2pm and got groceries for the next 3 days. There are lots Aborigines here, but mostly just sitting around in the fringe, like they seem to whenever I see them. I had to sit and wait for the bus about 30 minutes because it only gets to each spot once an hour in the wet season. I was stressing about my cold stuff becoming warm. I did eventually make it back while most of my veggie stir fry was still frozen. I had bought a day pass, so I needed to ride at least once more to make it worth my while. I caught the bus again and rode the loop almost entirely, planning on being dropped off at the beach to walk home after. I could not believe that the chatty Irish woman from the Greyhound who talked to the driver the whole way was on the bus! And talking to this driver! Asked stupid questions about the route times. It's a stupid question because it's simple, they stop once an hour, the same time each hour, like 1:13, 2:13, 3:13. What could there be to ask? We finally got rid of her and the bus driver took a 10 minute break, but we chatted during it, so it was ok to hang out, plus I was in AC, so I was fine. He asked if I was local; I love when I pass for Aussie. He was surprised to learn I was from the states. We talked about Broome and how it was so far from everything. But it is very nice, and it's remoteness can be both a positive and a negative I suppose. He continued his route to Cable Beach. I waved goodbye and spent about 15 minutes scoping it out and enjoying the sunset. I was a bit disappointed that the water felt like bath water; I like mine a cooler to actually be a little refreshing. The beach, as far as the sand and how the water looks, is pretty similar to NC beaches. I went home and made my stir fry. I spotted some guys eyeing my food. One walked by and said, "That looks really good," in some East European accent. I almost offered him some, but I remembered it was to last me two meals, so I just thanked him. I watched as he spread white beans from a can onto a wrap with chili sauce for his dinner. I am on a shoe string budget, but the day I eat a white bean wrap for dinner is the day I go home because I am too poor.

This hostel is still great, but they do not turn your AC on in your rooms until 8pm, so there is nowhere to go throughout the day to escape the heat. I am trying to just get used to being drenched with sweat all day. As we North Carolinians all know, dry heat is so very different from wet heat. With dry heat, your sweat will at least evaporate, so you will be hot, but dry. In wet heat, you sweat and sweat, and it just sits in your skin and clothes and reminds you how hot it is. Yep, it's great.

Tomorrow I ride a camel!