Heatwaves and temperature crashes.

The highest temperature recorded in the town’s history, was how the temperature of Port Augusta was described. The  “Official Temperature”was recorded as 48.9c but the temperature monitor in the center of the town recorded 52.6c. Here, my monitor recorded a temperature of 43c as did the monitor of a friend in another part of town, yet the “Official Temperature” only recorded 37c.

Part of the local legend and conspiracy theory is that  in the early days of the town, the temperature of the area was “adjusted”  so as not to discourage people from coming here. It was advertised as having a “Mediterranean Climate” although off-hand I can’t think of many places in that area that experience temperatures of 40+C. Anyway, the higher temperatures meant  lower and sometimes, no wind. I  thought this was great and suitably attired,  I managed to get almost all of the leaves swept up. Didn’t bode well for my plants despite the  daily watering and monitoring. It’s also been a busy week in that I have had three medical appointment that were  unplanned. What I mean by that is that doctor called and said he wanted certain tests for Annabell and I  took her for these. And a call that he wanted to see her – that’s later on this morning.

Last night it was suddenly quite mild and Benji and me visited the Wetlands  and had a good walk around the place. The thing I found surprising is that despite the coolness of the evening, there were not very many people about. I was, however, disappointed to discover that the Wetlands Kiosk was closed. I would have thought it would have remained open late, which would attract more people to the area in the mild evenings. There was not a breath of  wind in the air. The water of the ponds were still and calm – sort of like me, really – still and calm — Yeah in my dreams!

Today – Friday – the wind came back, the temperature fell to the low 20s and we had a few spots of rain – so few spots I think it was scared to show its face after being away for so long.  The heat, is some parts of the state and the country, only served to exacerbate the drought, pushing our farmers further into depression. Many of my plants did not survive and I did have concerns with my young Mulberry Tree, but it seems to come through ok – as far as I can tell.

I was hoping to go through to the Port this week and then on to Quorn Hospital but all these doctor dates with Annabell kind of knocked that on the head. She is ok otherwise. She coped reasonably well with the high temperatures this last week and we are going to look at replacing the Air Conditioner in her room with a reverse cycle Air Conditioner. It will give her more control to regulate the temperature to what is comfortable for her. I took Benji out for a walk this morning and it was – as they say -“Fresh”. In fact it was so fresh that I was sorry I had put on only a light jacket – and yes, that’s how far the temperatures have fallen. Sort of giving us a breather before the heatwave forecast for next week. Today, and tomorrow  I have  fundraising days for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This will take up much of the day. Fortunately it’s not a hot day – I think about 24c. We should be ok today and the team out tomorrow should have about the same,