Today can be summed up in one word- HOT! I promised I wouldn’t complain about the weather over here- what can get worse than feet deep snow and below freezing temperatures? Apparently the opposite! It reached around 34 degrees Celsius, which once would have been nothing to me, but for some reason my body couldn’t function properly because of it today!
We woke up with the whisper of a warm breeze upon our skin and I thought, ‘Great, a hot day for us to enjoy!’ Then I began to sweat.
We got a bus then a train into Adelaide city centre, which was not uncomfortable, but that may have been because these modes of transport all have air-conditioning! Once we were in the city we ducked under the shade of a tree beside the river Torrens and ate the first part of the picnic we had prepared the previous day.
The day was just beginning to heat up properly and we stupidly began to walk around the town at this very time. Sun high in the sky, hats on and skin covered we began our walk along the river and towards the botanical gardens. It would have been a lovely walk if I hadn’t been so warm! The parks around Adelaide are well manicured (as seems to be the habit in Oz) and the botanical gardens were lush and expertly looked after. I wasn’t necessarily thinking about these things on this walk, however, and as soon as chance allowed I rushed indoors to escape the heat- blissful air-conditioning!
I’m slightly embarrassed by my typically English reaction to some slightly warmer than usual weather. All I can think is that I have acclimatised so well to the UK and its cooler climate that my body has forgotten what its like to live somewhere warm! My only hope is that it will quickly get used to it again and soon 34 degrees will, once again, be the norm and I will actually enjoy it!
Needless to say I spent most of the day fatigued by heat and trying to escape from the sun every chance I got! It didn’t help that Nabeela was insisting on clinging to me for the entire day. Poor bairns still poorly and daddy just wasn’t good enough for her, so sweaty mammy had to manage with a toddler strapped to her back or front for most of the day.
We briefly visited the Art gallery of South Australia (mainly to cool down), but I did receive the spine-tingling thrill of seeing a wondrous work of art for the first time. I’m sad to say that this has never really happened for me before, I can appreciate art and enjoy looking at pretty paintings etc, but I had never really seen a piece that made me stop in my tracks, tears spring into my eyes and a shiver run along my spine. Until now. I don’t even remember who painted it, but it was a large painting and quite old. The artist had captured the ambience of a forest in South Australia, with a mother carrying her child upon her back returning to her tiny camp. The lighting was magical and the glint of a stream peaking between the undergrowth looked alive and dancing. I took a snapshot of the woman with babe on her back to keep in my head.
When we returned to Christies beach, the earth had cooled enough for me to enjoy the delights of the dusk hour- that time between day and night, where families are together, laughter and quiet chatter fills the air and everything is slowing down and feeling lazy. We skipped around barefoot in the sand and sea; skin exposed and breathing freely.
With hindsight, Ryan and I realised that this was where we should have spent the entire day. The beach is much more appropriate for a hot day. Rather than stomping the concrete during the midday sun, we should have been shading beneath a tree beside the beach. Mental note- chill out when it’s hot!
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