Melting, I'm melting!

(Written January 31...we now have an internet connection!!!)
The last four days have been miserable; the worst heat wave in Melbourne in about a century. The temperature was regularly 42 to 45 degrees Celsius, and the worst part was the breeze. Melbourne frequently has a breeze; it’s been one of our favorite things about the city. Now it is hot air. I’ve never felt anything like it. The wind blows and it feels like being under a hair dryer. It provides absolutely no relief. We get up in the morning in sweat, shower, and before we’ve toweled off, we have another layer of sweat starting. Stand in front of the fan to get it off, and then try to apply sunscreen. It is unbelievably difficult to get sunscreen to absorb into sweaty skin. Sound pleasant? Paul and I are starting to wonder if negative 40 degrees is better.

Public transport was in shambles. The trains are really only equipped to deal with up to 35 degrees. So, there were trains breaking down, and people sweltering, fainting, etc. Paul and I rode in one tram that kept having to wait for the one in front, that seemed to break down at each stop. We sat in the tram in what must have been 46 degrees, with no breeze, no air conditioning, a hundred other bodies, and sweat running down everywhere. Pleasant, I know. The transport company gave the whole city a free day of transport to apologize for the lack of reliability.

Melbourne Offers Free Travel as Heat Wave Buckles Rail Tracks

I felt most badly for the tennis players, actually. The Australian Open was on during the last two weeks, and the poor players must have been dying. They finally closed the roof of the stadium, but not until players had been trying to survive 46 degrees. Inhumane. One of the players described it as being like an out of body experience. I can only imagine.

After 48 hours of this, we decided to get an air conditioner. We didn’t want to buy a particularly expensive one, because we figured that our apartment would be pretty comfortable most of the time, and we’d just need it for the really hot days. So, we braved the 45o heat, and walked to several electronics shops, and found the cheapest one out there - $680. It was a floor model, so wasn’t in perfect shape, but we figured it was our best bet. There were no used ones for sale – everyone was buying. Even the window models started at $600. Things here are soooo expensive. So, we got the machine (without a box, but the guy at the store bubble-wrapped it for us) and then got it into the trunk of a cab, and brought it home. Paul did all of the heavy lifting, even less pleasant in the heat, and we got it up the stairs and unwrapped it, and it didn’t have all the parts. Sigh. So, we called the store, and they said, “oops” and sent a guy over with them. By the time we realized that they didn’t all fit, and we were still missing a part, the guy was gone. So, Paul got onto a tram and went back to the store, got the extra part, and some duct tape to try to make it work. Two hours later, he was back and had the malfitting parts duct taped in, and we thought we were finally up and running. Of course, as luck would have it, the thing was not working well. The hosing seemed to be giving off as much heat as the air conditioning was fixing. It didn’t touch the living room, so we moved it to the bed room, where it did help a bit overnight, but kept us awake. Every hour it would start dumping all of the accumulated water out a little nozzle. Apparently it was supposed to be attached to a hose that also didn’t come with the unit, and the hose going out the window wasn’t its escape point. We traded bucket duty all night. Although the machine was supposed to be 13,000BTU and able to completely cool a 25 square meter room, our little 9 square meter room remained about 30 degrees. Needless to say, the next day we packed the pile of junk back in its bubble wrap, along with the mismatching parts, got ourselves another cab, and in 42 degree weather hauled it back to the store. We hadn’t really wanted to spend that much on an air conditioner anyway, so we were glad to have the money back, though weren’t sure how we were going to sleep that night.
Last night, we treated ourselves to an air conditioned movie. It was beautiful. For two hours, we weren’t sticky. The movie was even better. Gran Torino was another memorable Clint Eastwood; well worth the money, but bring tissues. When we got out, there was this wind blowing…it was cool. Finally, the heat wave had broken. It’s been about a day since then, and we are waiting for the apartment to completely cool off, but are thinking that we might actually be able to use the covers tonight.

I start work tomorrow with orientation for the next four days, and then full steam ahead. My vacation has been wonderful, and I’m going to miss the lack of structure that went with the last month, but it will be good to get back in to some work, and especially to start putting money into the bank account.