Well, according to the papers, Sydney was the hottest place on earth today? I think the townships in Central/Northern Australia might think Sydney is being a bit wimpy - but what good is the media without the hype. I would have to agree with them however as we were in Sydney on Saturday for the monthly Pyrmont Markets. Luckily our stall is on the Wharf walkway so we get the breeze from the water, however the temperature was around 42 - 44 degrees depending on where in Sydney you were. This soon became apparent as we attempted the drive home. The hour and a half stuck in city traffic was trying enough, but the ute seems to have the same trouble multi-tasking as James. Towing a large trailer, sitting in traffic and keeping the air conditioning going was too much...the air conditioning had to go. We thought we would seriously get heat stroke. Once the traffic got going it was a long drive into the mountains. We put ice on the floor of the ute, we threw a lot of water over each other. We were grumpy and silent. Once over the mountains the temperature dropped and the engine decided that maybe it was not going to blow up. The air conditioning started again. We decided that we might live afterall.
The animals seem similarly unimpressed. The pigs are fairing pretty well - the have huge wallows and lots of shade. Like us they don't do much during the day but are very active at dusk and dawn. Ammos and Coco are not impressed - being born and bred in the UK they think they are bieng tortured...in the photo above Ammos is actually alive - he spends most of his day like this. Coco is enjoying the mouse plague that the heat seems to have brought on, but getting her out of the house is an effort in itself - she has found the fan in the office and spends her days lying under it looking miserable (see photo). We are promised cooler weather this week - otherwise I've promised Coco we will shave all her hair off again.