Time For A Cool Change
Without Prejudice
What a relief it is when Melbourne weather cools down after hot days. Behind us are the sleepless nights with the fan full on into your face, punching hapless pillows into submission, days when the curtains are drawn against the harsh light of the unrelenting sun, creating rooms of gloom worse than Winter.
The air conditioning on full bore and the wearing of as few clothes as you possibly dare. Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen brave the midday heat and sensible Aussies stay indoors, nap, read, watch movies. We should be more like the Europeans with their very sensible "Siesta" .
But Melbourne doesn't stay hot for days on end like Queensland, Melbournians know change will come, you just have to be patient.
I was so hot when I first moved into my unit I lined the couch with towels and wet sheets to wrap around my body, the drying sheets apparently cooling like nothing else. I have a flat roof which is excruciatingly hot in mid Summer. The Men that built it handed me the keys five years ago with the one warning it would get incredibly hot in Summer. I cried at having a permanent home, mine for life, surrounded by beloved Family. But I remembered the men's advice and prepared.
I had little money and lots of stubborn Scottish pride so I had to get creative. I had asked for the unit to be placed where shady trees grew out back and had it placed so that the lounge and single bedroom would gain the most benefit from the trees. I also had it positioned so that the Family house at the front was not in my view, nor I in theirs. I faced a blank fence from my kitchen window but imagined it covered in greenery helping me to feel cool.
I had blinds and great insulation but knew nine of those would help when the over 30 degree days arrived. A cheap water cooler from the Supermarket was a God send and the hot days saw me busy making huge tubs of ice to go in its bottom chamber. I had fans that I positioned for maximum impact to circulate the cooler air and on one 40 degree day just lay inert in front of the fan and ice cooler on top of my bed thinking how miserable what could be.
I saved my showers till about 5 pm and found I had to keep wetting my hair or showering every half hour. Cold water on hot skin can make you literally scream I found out, but pretended I was in some hot Caravan Park with concrete floored cubicles, smelling faintly of shampoo and wee. My hair was constantly damp and this was the most cooling thing apart from wetting my wrists under cold water. That first Summer in the unit was a challenge and a half and I learned a lot.
The second was easier as I was loaned a portable air conditioner by kindly neighbours who had evaporative cooling. Then a few weeks later their evaporative air conditioning broke and the Landlord delayed in fixing it. I had agreed to buy a split system from the neighbours and the weather was so hot we never managed to install it. It was very complicated. So I just kept on using the Portable which was big and cooled two rooms without bother.
I mistakenly thought my neighbours had another portable and were also cool. I found out later that they had no cooling at all, thanks to the stingy landlord and suffered through the 40 degree days badly as both were very over weight. They eventually moved as they had been sharing with another couple and wanted their own space. Private rents are so tough on people who have had it all and lost it. But they found a better place that was cheaper over the other side of Cranbourne.
What a relief it is when Melbourne weather cools down after hot days. Behind us are the sleepless nights with the fan full on into your face, punching hapless pillows into submission, days when the curtains are drawn against the harsh light of the unrelenting sun, creating rooms of gloom worse than Winter.
The air conditioning on full bore and the wearing of as few clothes as you possibly dare. Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen brave the midday heat and sensible Aussies stay indoors, nap, read, watch movies. We should be more like the Europeans with their very sensible "Siesta" .
But Melbourne doesn't stay hot for days on end like Queensland, Melbournians know change will come, you just have to be patient.
I was so hot when I first moved into my unit I lined the couch with towels and wet sheets to wrap around my body, the drying sheets apparently cooling like nothing else. I have a flat roof which is excruciatingly hot in mid Summer. The Men that built it handed me the keys five years ago with the one warning it would get incredibly hot in Summer. I cried at having a permanent home, mine for life, surrounded by beloved Family. But I remembered the men's advice and prepared.
I had little money and lots of stubborn Scottish pride so I had to get creative. I had asked for the unit to be placed where shady trees grew out back and had it placed so that the lounge and single bedroom would gain the most benefit from the trees. I also had it positioned so that the Family house at the front was not in my view, nor I in theirs. I faced a blank fence from my kitchen window but imagined it covered in greenery helping me to feel cool.
I had blinds and great insulation but knew nine of those would help when the over 30 degree days arrived. A cheap water cooler from the Supermarket was a God send and the hot days saw me busy making huge tubs of ice to go in its bottom chamber. I had fans that I positioned for maximum impact to circulate the cooler air and on one 40 degree day just lay inert in front of the fan and ice cooler on top of my bed thinking how miserable what could be.
I saved my showers till about 5 pm and found I had to keep wetting my hair or showering every half hour. Cold water on hot skin can make you literally scream I found out, but pretended I was in some hot Caravan Park with concrete floored cubicles, smelling faintly of shampoo and wee. My hair was constantly damp and this was the most cooling thing apart from wetting my wrists under cold water. That first Summer in the unit was a challenge and a half and I learned a lot.
The second was easier as I was loaned a portable air conditioner by kindly neighbours who had evaporative cooling. Then a few weeks later their evaporative air conditioning broke and the Landlord delayed in fixing it. I had agreed to buy a split system from the neighbours and the weather was so hot we never managed to install it. It was very complicated. So I just kept on using the Portable which was big and cooled two rooms without bother.
I mistakenly thought my neighbours had another portable and were also cool. I found out later that they had no cooling at all, thanks to the stingy landlord and suffered through the 40 degree days badly as both were very over weight. They eventually moved as they had been sharing with another couple and wanted their own space. Private rents are so tough on people who have had it all and lost it. But they found a better place that was cheaper over the other side of Cranbourne.
