Melbourne— 43 degrees C

My last two days in Melbourne. 

Dec. 20:

The temperature was predicted to be 43 C. I had previously experienced 40C when living in southern Saskatchewan, but that was a long time ago.

I decided to rent a bike and ride to the beach. In the morning, it was about 25 C. When I talked to the guy at the bike shop, we discussed the heat and I said, "But it's supposed to be windy. That should help." 

"No," he said, "It's a hot wind." He was right. The wind was from the north, and it was hot!

I had done some research about the beach and learned that I could get a $16 day pass for the St. Kilda beach club, where I would have access to lockers, showers, and towels. Sounded good to me, so I rode along the bike path to my destination. 

On the way, I had a bit of an adventure. I had strapped my backpack to the bike rack, and when I was about halfway there, I stopped for some reason, looked back, and saw -- an empty rack. Since the pack contained my sunscreen, water bottle, and wallet, I had no real choice but to turn around and retrace my ride. I found the backpack on the road under a bridge. It had been driven over by at least one car, and the sunscreen bottle had burst and my water bottle was badly dented, but my wallet was there. All good. 

The beach club was every bit as good as advertised, and I had a nice long swim or two or three. Soon it became too hot to stay on the beach, so I headed back to the hotel. 

I wanted to get back as quickly as possible because there was not a lot of shade on the bike path, so I rode fast. The air was hot, the wind was hotter, and as I approached the park just before the bike shop, I suddenly started to feel dizzy and faint. I willed myself to stand firm when I hit a red light and had to wait in the sun, but as soon as the light changed, I rode across the intersection straight for the shade of a big tree. I had a little water left in my water bottle, so I drank that and stayed there for awhile until I felt more normal. Then it was on to the bike shop and back to my air conditioned hotel room.

December 21:

It was much cooler today, with a high in the mid-twenties. I took advantage of the chance to explore a new neighbourhood, one with plenty of wrought iron balconies.

I also took a tram ride. This was interesting because there is a connection with Edmonton. A couple of the cars from the High Level Street Car came from Melbourne. 

And I took in more of the wonderful architecture.