Where In The World Is Evan?

I’ve been back in Australia for a couple of weeks now and generally struggling to find my feet in a society that I no longer feel really a part of. I guess over time you romanticise the things you’ve left behind, which can only lead to disappointment when you get back. Imagine my surprise when the first thing I see in the newspaper upon my arrival are the race riots in Sydney. So my new year’s celebrations for ’06 needed to be a positive reaffirmation of all of the joy and happiness I’d experienced in the last year.

Upon my return to Melbourne I started living on the couch of a friend, in a share house near my old university. James and I get along very well, as we have many similar interests, so it’s been a lot of fun to get to know his extended group of friends. The family of one of them, Andy, has a farm property just outside of Melbourne. For the last few years he’s been holding a private rave on the top of a large hill—dozens of people, professional sound equipment, and a non-stop line of DJs playing sets all night.

Being the hight of summer the weather at night is often perfect for an outdoor party, however, on New Year’s Eve it got a little extreme. With the daytime temperature rising above 45° C, the humidity at almost zero and a strong southerly wind it was like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. By the time I arrived at the site I was already feeling sick from dehydration and not in the best of party moods. Good thing I had come prepared with a multi stage plan.
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