a taste of summer for my friends up North

Australia.

Summertime.

And the livin' is easy....well, that's how the song goes...
Not so easy in reality, it's hot, damn hot. and getting hotter. 

It's barely begun and we're in a heatwave with temperatures in the 40s, today was supposed to be 41C, but I didn't watch the news or the weather report so I can't say for sure that it did.
Although it certainly did feel like it. 

By the end of the week we are supposed to get 44C.
someone please, help me, I'm melting here....

I had the flat completely closed up while I was at work, not just locked, but the blinds were down, the curtains drawn over them and the awning was pulled down.
All in an attempt to keep out the heat.
And it worked.
I gasped my way up the driveway after getting off the bus, unlocked my door and stepped inside to dim coolness.
Bliss!

It did warm up a bit (a lot) by the time I'd had dinner and done a few other things, my own body generated heat and so did the TV.

I had a peek outside at about 8.30pm to see that the sun was still up above the horizon and the air was still very warm out there, so I closed up again and continued watching Haven and reading the blogs of my friends.

As I type this, it is 10.30pm, (I really should go to bed, I have work tomorrow), the sun has been down for probably an hour and a half, and the outside air is now cooler than the air inside, so I've opened both doors and windows.

This will make for reasonably comfortable sleeping as long as I remember to lock the front door before going to bed.

So far we've had dry heat, little or no humidity, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Humidity usually hits hard around February and the heat continues right into April.

Sadly, there have been bush fires in my state, South Australia, also in Tasmania and Victoria.
Firebugs are busy this year, I hope they all get caught.
So many fires, so early in the season.....

I can hear crickets chirruping outside my door now, they are attracted to the light and will be quiet as soon as I close the door.

Summer in Australia would be lovely if it wasn't for the heat.

Comments

  1. Yeah....that's just a little TOO warm for me thanks. Wow. 44. I start to get uncomfortable when it reaches 27C. Of course, we almost always have humidity here.

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  2. I saw the reports of the bush fires and thought of you, hope you, your property, your lungs, are all safe.

    Minneapolis is too warm, frankly, for winter, and I don't like it. We are probably a good 15 to 20 degrees warmer than normal, and it seems its been that way for a few years now...

    Pearl

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  3. HA! I know what you mean. That's exactly how I feel about summer in Georgia; it's be great if it weren't for the heat. Kinda like what my daughter said years ago. She said she'd be a vegetarian... if only she liked vegetables.

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  4. Are you also having a shortage of rain? We had that last summer. That hot hot hot dry heat. It rained one time all summer. I keep a weather journal. Hope you get some relief but sorry to say, ours lasted all summer .

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  5. Hi River,

    Second attempt at adding a comment ...

    The bush fires in Tasmania and South Australia have even made the news up here in the UK.

    Can't believe such temperatures. 45 is the highest I've endured and it was horrible (in Las Vegas).

    You should consider moving to England - average temperature in Manchester in the summer is around 25 (if we are lucky). Sadly there is also a lot of rain.

    :0)

    Cheers

    PM

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  6. I was thinking of your trek to and from work yesterday, and feeling so bad for you. Our temperatures have been vile, and yours viler (if there is such a word). I too have the house shrouded in darkness in an attempt to keep the heat out.
    Bring back winter - or at least autumn.
    Are any of your buses airconditioned? Some of ours are, and oh what a difference it makes.

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  7. Lord Rochester (on the go again)January 8, 2013 at 10:07 AM

    Thou art a firebug
    To torch the heart
    Though airconditioned passion
    Keep us apart

    -Rochester.

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  8. Seems we are all sweltering in this dreadful heat (40C in Perth today) and it is heartbreaking to hear of those horrific fires in our eastern states as well as your own state.
    Hopefully you can keep as cool as possible and get some respite soon.
    MOH lived in Adelaide for 2 years and said the north winds are truly unbelievably hot. Our easterlies are not the best either. lol

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  9. I was down by the sea at 6.30am and even then you could feel the heat building up...

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  10. Delores; I'm uncomfortable too after the temp goes over 27C, but there isn't anything I can do about it, except be thankful there is no humidity yet. And I'm thankful I have a fan at least.

    Pearl; I live in the city, so I'm safe, but I have a daughter and her family in the Adelaide Hills so I worry about her, and I have friends in all the states that currently have raging fires. I worry so much for them.

    Susan; my daughter used to say her job would be great if it weren't for all the customers. She worked in a supermarket like I now do. She has a better job now and loves it.

    Manzanita; Australian summers are always very dry, even our winters don't get very wet by Northern Hemisphere standards.

    Plasman; Victoria has bushfires too. our country is on fire! I'd probably enjoy an English summer, but I couldn't stand the winters.

    Elephant's Child; many of our buses are airconditioned, but a lot aren't. They seem to rotate them so every suburb has a turn with an unconditioned bus. Usually middle of the day times, so people traveling to work stay cool in the mornings. Yesterday's bus to town was hot, same today, but the connecting bus from town to work was airconditioned, thank goodness. Today was cooler as well, with a nice breeze offsetting the heat.

    Lord Rochester; nice poem.

    Mimsie; I truly hate those north winds, not only are they hot, but they carry pollens from the middle of Aus and all us hayfever sufferers have it bad while the wind blows. We had it cooler here today and the latest weather report tells us temps will be in the 30s instead of 40s, so that's a relief.

    Tempo; I find the heat is different down by the beach, more bearable somehow.

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  11. We left Australia on the 44C day and arrived to -2C here. I'm not sure which is worse!

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  12. Kath Lockett; I'd say -2C is worse, unless the 44C has high humidity too, then that one is definitely worse. At the moment it is dry heat, so more bearable.

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  13. What a day Tuesday was here in NSW! 140 fires burning with many out of control and some deliberately lit! I monitored the temp via the ABC's heatwave tracker and it registered Sydney (not sure what part) at 41.1 degrees around mid afternoon, which had slowly climbed from 32.2 degrees around 10.30am which was when I first checked. We too had the house closed and curtains drawn and my little puss even came in around 1pm wondering what the hell was going on... so I kept him in after that... and later in the afternoon I went out and hosed everything down to try and cool things off, while also filling up as many dishes as possible for the birds... they had been eerily silent all day.

    I can't imagine the temp being hotter but I know it was for many people, parts of WA reaching 49 degrees! And they say Global Warming doesn't exist! Yes, we may have reached temps like this before but all of Australia all at once, I think not!

    My thoughts are with all the bushfire victims who have lost their homes and sentimental belongings but I have to say I'm more than frustrated at the media for reporting no loss of life... they need to think about what they are saying... they should say no loss of human life but unfortunately tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of animals have lost their lives - wild, rural and domestic...

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  14. gaby@727m2; silent birds are always cause for worry when they're usually so noisy. I worry for all our friends who are in the firey states and hope they are safe. I worry too for everyone else of course.

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