Finke Desert Race Day 1, Sat 11-6-11

   Manu rocks up to breakfast wearing so many vests he looks like a ball with legs. Minus 2 overnight – the coldest night in Alice since 1964.

   Blue sky pre-dawn at Finke start/finish. The yellow grass is crunchy with frost. The dancing stage is covered in a layer of ice. The water we try and melt it with freezes instantly. Damo, the Angels tour manager, organises hot water to be ferried in buckets. I ask Kirsty, the dance captain, if they have an ice-skating routine.

   Crowds in beanies gather around drum-fires while the cars and bikes have time trials and qualifiers. Vicious hand-to-hand combat between the XXXX Angels and the Finke Grid Girls is narrowly avoided by… ah, who am I kidding – it was never going to happen anyway.

   Later at the motel bar, I walk up to Manu and say, ‘I have to go to hospital.’ He looks me up and down, concerned. ‘Are you serious?’ ‘Yeah, they don’t do cash out here and that’s the closest ATM.’