Spring has sprung, the sun has come oot, giving us a warning of what is to come later in the year. It reached 35C here on Sunday, only saving grace was that the humidity was around 20%. Next door cranked up the box window air conditioner, such a noisy inefficient thing. I have no idea how they will survive this summer. Their house has no insulation in the walls or the roof and air-conditioning units are in the small bedrooms, which after a time must become quite claustrophobic. I think I would go stir crazy if that was me. Thankfully I can retreat to the ground floor and escape the worst of the midday sun.
I’ve offered to help them prepare for this summer many times, however they just keep telling me that they will be ok. I have shade cloth, which if hung from the north east corner of the house will cool down that side of the house and maybe make it more bearable. Last year they had the aircon running 24/7, I don’t know how they can afford it.
Ann and Mick are both in their 70’s and their health is not good at all, if it is going to be as hot as they say it is this year then I would not be surprised if one of them succumbed to it. I hope not.
It was a long weekend and on Friday it was great just to stay home and be domestic, leaving me free for the Saturday to enjoy. I caught up with Julie in Brisbane. I got the train up to the city for the first time in ages. I left around 9am and so when I got to the city it was still quiet and fairly cool. I had an hour to kill before meeting her, so I grabbed a coffee and strolled around Southbank.
As it turns out, Saturday the 5th was when they had the Riverfire celebrations. They have fireworks of course and then the RAAF fly planes along the river and through the heart of the city. It’s impressive as they fly in such a cramped city skyline. I went many years ago when they used to fly the F1-11’s, they used to flare up the afterburners on the fly pass and it looked amazing, none of that these days. Safety first and all that!
It was 10am as I strolled across the Goodwill Bridge and I could see many folk already claiming their patch beside the river. Some had come prepared with everything bar the kitchen sink and others were just sitting there in the sun with no hats or shades, fuckin’ numpties. I could not imagine sitting there for 8 hours in the sun or the rain for that matter to sit and watch a bunch of fireworks and a couple of planes flying passed. Absolutely mental.
By the time I was leaving around 2pm, streams of people were heading down the find their spot. The only time I have ever done anything like this was in Sydney at New Year and I made my way to circular key with the other million people and it was one of the scariest things I have every experienced. You just got swept along with the crowds, stumbling over god knows what on the ground. Fearful that you might fall because if you did, I don’t think anyone would notice and you would be just trampled underfoot. I swore that after that night, Never Again! And I haven’t.
We walked along to the Westend markets and got a bit of lunch and resolved the problems of the world along the way, which was good. We usually go for a bush walk, but having a city walk for a change is rather refreshing. I ended up walking around 20.000 steps, which I think was about 14km or so, anyway I was pretty knackered by the time I got home and Sunday turned out to be a day of rest, no choice really.