The maximum daily temperature is well above 30 degrees, the air is generally still, my hair becomes curly every other day, most expats (I’m meaning the ones actually on an expat package) go back to their native countries for an extended holiday, drinking two litres of water a day is necessary for survival but is supplemented with wine and beer – it can only be junk season.

This Saturday saw us on our first junk trip of the year. Mrs Wave organised it for no particular reason than a few people had been having a chat in the dog park and decided that it would be good to all get together. It was.

There are two main styles of junk – fully catered or self-catered. This one was self-catered so we brought along our own food and drink to share. Standard across all junks is the tendency to eat and drink too much and also sunburn. You can generally tell the Australians on a junk (aside from the accent) as we are the ones that tend to slip, slop ‘n slap more than any other nationality, especially the English.

It was a windy day, indicated by the T1 that was raised earlier on Friday. This influenced where the boat would go as some people onboard were feeling slightly queasy. A sheltered harbour was found which we shared with about another 20 junks (some were themed eg. pirates and had organised other water sports like wakeboarding, banana-riding etc. Ours was more of a ‘kick-back’ junk. Most went for a swim and then clambered onboard again so we could eat lunch.

Around 3pm, the weather became worse with showers at irregular intervals. We weren’t fussed but the captain announced (via an interpreter) that we needed to return to shore as a T3 had been raised and the boat wasn’t insured for that with people on board.

Yes, it is typhoon season too but it has been late in coming this year and not as severe as previous years (many of us are disappointed by the lack of a T8 to date as it has meant no extra time off work).

Next Saturday, we are on another junk trip with some work colleagues of mine. This will be slightly more active with various water sports being organised and it is also fully-catered. Hopefully no typhoon but you never know.

* Thanks to Men at Work for the title to this post.