The forecast high for the day we landed in Melbourne was 44 degrees. That’s raw air temperature, not “feels like 44 with the humidex“ temperature. Our flight from Brisbane was delayed, so we arrived close to 2 pm, just in time for the hottest three hours of the day. The heat was oppressive as we walked across the Tarmac. We took a cheapo flight and the airport is under renovations, so we were relegated to a temporary terminal building. A metal building. Without air conditioning. So a long, hot wait for bags, followed by a long, hot walk to the main terminal building to catch a bus into town. It was probably no more than 45 minutes, but it was very uncomfortable. I would rather fly into Winnipeg in January.

In Melbourne, the streets were deserted – too hot to be outdoors. We took refuge in an air conditioned café for a few hours, as our airbnb accommodation had no a/c. Fortunately, we only had to ensure the last few hours of the weeklong heat wave, as the heat broke that evening. By the next morning it was a full 25 degrees cooler, and we were wanting our sweaters.