Nooooooooooo! (vember)

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Speaking of cold, it definitely isn't that here right now. I've returned to Adelaide exactly in time for the latest heat wave: a whole week of 35C+ days. Yesterday saw me toiling in the garden as the temperature climbed to 35.5, and today we're forecast 37 before the real heat sets in with a couple of 39C days starting tomorrow.

This is one of the reasons we're leaving Adelaide - I like hot weather, really I do - but days and days on end of it just saps the will to live. Actually it isn't the extreme heat during the day so much, as the hot nights. Last night was OK (it got down to 25), but when the really hot stuff kicks in it isn't unusual for the overnight minimum to be in the low 30s.

After a few days of this, everything is so hot that there's no escape. Air-conditioning ceases to be effective, the cold tap is running hot, the pool water is over 30, and you get burnt whenever you touch anything that's been in the sun. And of course, gardens die. Which is ironic given that I'm frantically trying to turn our "garden" into something vaguely beautiful in order to sell the property in the new year. None of which is made easy by the tough water restrictions we've had since the drought that greeted the new century, and which has only eased over the last 8 months or so.

Currently we are allowed two 3-hour periods per week when we can water the garden by hand using a trigger nozzle. Outside of those times we can only water using a watering can or a bucket. No watering systems are allowed. When the rate of evaporation is far, far greater than the rate at which you can apply water, this is a futile proposition with the standard plants we've all grown up with (excuse the pun). Even the weeds and trees died during the drought - your poor old roses and petunias never stood a chance.

So we're rapidly learning about drought-tolerant plants, and removing anything that can't survive on a teaspoon of water per week. It's crazy, and it's a lot of work, and it's very, very hot. So I haven't been for a run, but strange to say I'm feeling seriously fit now, RC people! I think a combination of strenuous physical labour, lots of water (for me, not the garden) and a fantastic summer diet of green, leafy things and a ton of fruit each day is doing me wonders.

It's very odd to sit here and read of the cold, stormy conditions which most RCers seem to be experiencing just now! But as I say, these heat waves are all a bit much, and I think the more moderate conditions of Sydney are going to be a welcome relief in the years to come. Sydney can get hot too, of course (one day of 45C there last summer), but they are generally short-lived and with some relief at night. The hot northerlies that blow across the inland deserts and which bring the relentless fearful heat to Adelaide are far from Sydney and will not drive me mad for much longer.

Enjoy your cool conditions, my northern friends, and spare a thought for me as I plant out another alien-looking twig in the hot sand here and hope for a bit of greenery come sale time.

MLCM.