Well the Bureau of Meterology got it right this time. It was 34c by 9.30am and 42c by 11.00am with a very nasty wind. It is what Aussies call bush fire storm weather. Even with all the warnings that commenced 24 hours ago, they still had to rescue ten children left in cars and who knows how many pets.
They replace some of the commuter trains and trams with buses as the rails start to buckle in the heat. People are asked to leave out water for the birds and Koalas that normally get their water through the eucalyptus leaves they eat, are coming down from the trees seeking water. This exposes them to foxes, wild dogs and cars unfortunately.
We decided we would head out to IKEA as we wanted to get some shelving for Frasers father. Walking outside was like be blasted by hot air from a furnace. We can assure you that it was a quick dash to the car. The IKEA store had to have been the largest one we had ever seen. We made the fatal error of forgetting where we had left the car so spent 20 minutes searching for it but thankfully it was parked underground out of the blazing sun.
There was the thought of going for a swim but as hard as this may seem, it was just too hot. This kind of heat just saps the energy from you. Before leaving for IKEA we had shut the place up and pulled all the blinds down and run the air conditioner for a while to keep the place cool for Henry. Our plan had worked beautifully as when we returned the place was still cool and Henry was forgiving towards us for our absence.
So, do we prefer the heat or the cold? When it comes to the extreme weather events they are pretty much the same but just in reverse. With both, it is difficult to go outside. With one it is burnt skin by sun or frost bitten skin by cold. With heat it is die by thirst or cold it is die by being frozen solid!! You choose.
Between the hours of 3.00-3.20pm the thermometer dropped from 42.3 to 25c. It was quite remarkable and don’t really remember such extreme weather changes in such a short time. Melbourne is known though as the city with four seasons in one day.
Severe bush fires are raging in Tasmania and there are some bushfires here in Victoria. The heat is bad enough but when you get the winds behind it, that is when you are in big trouble.
Code Red is referred to as Catastrophic!! Fifteen years ago, that classification did not exist. You wouldn’t believe it but as we sit here on Saturday writing Fridays blog, it is pouring with rain – go figure.
We made our way into Henty House as we were going out to dinner to celebrate Fraser’s dads 95th birthday this evening. He likes Indian, so as it is his birthday he gets to choose. As we would say over here, 95 not out is a very good innings indeed – that’s a little cricket terminology creeping in there for the non Aussies.
There were five family members missing but we had all been together for Christmas. It is difficult when everyone has work commitments and live a long way away.
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