The "Drought"

No big adventure today. To be honest I had quite the lazy day. After getting ready to head out on a hike on what looked like a clear and sunny day I ran back inside to grab my rain coat, just in case. This seemed silly as I have been carrying it around with me day in and day out and have yet to use it. This is because, if you didn't know, Australia is in a drought. Its dry, and very little rain is likely to hit the ground here...or so they say.

The stats say rainfall has been low...perhaps they are catching up on it now

As I ventured out in search of the Reserve (a park) nearby that Kellie had told me about, I could see the dark clouds off in the distance. I kept walking. I thought that if I just made it to the Reserve, that the weather would clear up and I could enjoy the afternoon writing on my journal and reading outside. That was a nice idea, but clearly not what happened. On my way to the Reserve, I must have taken one too many 'lefts' or something because I don't think I was anywhere near it, when it started to drizzle. Just 45minutes after I had left the house and it was sprinkling! As an Oregonian, I shrugged it off, not even bothering to grab my rain coat and kept walking. However, the more I walked, the more lost I got and the heavier the rain became.

Able to re-trace my steps, I made my way back to the house, and warmed up with a cup of tea. I decided my journal writing was to still be completed, just with less of a scenic setting. So as I sat at the dining room table I wrote and with each sentence, the rain came harder, and harder. It pounded on the rooftop and splashed violently into the pool. Trees were blowing, and once again I found myself sitting in Australia, with it not only raining, but POURING. Who's jealous now? Hahaha. They say that it never rains...that they are in a drought...but I'm not sure I believe it after today.

You say pepper, I say capsicum...

It was my night to cook dinner. I made a favorite of mine that is simple and easy to cook, fajitas! (with little room might I add for it to go wrong.) I had pre-cooked the chicken and chopped the peppers (or capsicums here) the day before, so dinner was a breeze. That was until I couldn't find the rice I bought to make Spanish Rice with. Last minute I told Kellie and Mark that I could just make some quesadillas to go with the fajitas in case we were still hungry - and Kellie's response was, what is that? Apparently she didn't exactly know what one was. Mark better understood, but was still at a loss, so I enlightened them. Fajitas, quesadillas and guacamole, what a fantastic American meal I cooked for my friends. Hahaha. Regardless of it's background, they as I, enjoyed it.

Dinner with the Millars...fine home cooking at it's best

By after dinner time, the sky had cleared and it looked as if Kellie would have tennis after all. (They could still play even after it just rained, because they played on clay courts.) Kellie belongs to a Tennis Club and plays on a team that has weekly matches. I decided to go with her to watch the team. Kellie joked to the other ladies that I was her coach.  I laughed. I joked that this was my preview to the Australian Open. Kellie laughed.

Similar to the Clay Courts at the Tennis Club...

I saw Kellie warm up and play only a few games before all of a sudden, the courts went dark. Lights out! We weren't as lucky as we had thought and a big storm that was thought to skip over us had landed in our neck of the woods, causing thunder, lightning, and you guessed it, a blackout on the courts.

The players quickly exited the courts and went into the Club House. Most anticipated that they would wait 15 minutes for the lights on the courts to regenerate and then they would resume their matches. The rain didn't cooperate however, and 30 minutes later, we were all racing to our cars to head home, as the rain continued. 

What would some American do without Ranch Dressing?

One more thing I learned at tennis tonight was this: Ranch is not known to Australians other than a style of a house. One of the tennis players told me how she discovered her love of Ranch Dressing while on holiday recently in Hawaii. She said she just couldn't get enough of it and brought a big jar of it home with her. As readily and loved as Ranch Dressing is back home, its hard to think that people have no idea what it is...

During this time I seemed about the only one distressed about the rain. We were in fact in a drought, so despite it ruining a perfect night of tennis, most others didn't have much to complain about. They actually seemed excited by it... I at least knew I'd sleep well if the rain persisted.