Melbourne's Hottest Day

We all knew it was going to be hot, very hot. The FCC Chinese New Year was rescheduled as the predicted 43C was deemed too hot for any outdoors event. The evening was cool but the temperature started climbing quickly. I had organised to pick up my new bike. Unfortunately they only opened up at 10 so I had to ride home later than I’d wanted. By 10.30 it was already 38C. As soon as I got home I said let’s close all the doors and not go outside again for the day

Around lunchtime the wind began to howl, and the temperature climbed rapidly. I was shocked when I saw 45.8C on my indoor outdoor themometer. Without air conditioning we were doing well inside at 32C. We whiled away the day watching DVDs, playing games, having a bath and not doing much at all. Fortunately Camille was oblivious and just played happily in the nude all day.

Soon the smoke started billowing overhead. We listened to 774 and heard how fires were starting up all over the state. News reports confirmed this. We all realised it was serious, but as yet we didn’t know just how bad.

Around 6.30pm the change came so we opened up the house and were able to sleep quite comfortably. During the night I woke up and went downstairs to listen to my radio and heard the shocking news. The whole town of Marysville was gone. Just wiped out. Stunned I went upstairs to wake Tim and tell him the news.

Of course there was far worse news to come. Kinglake, Narbathon, Strathewen and all the other small communities were gone. Whole families. 200+ perished. Beautiful happy families and smiling faces we saw in the papers in the following days. We’re all totally shocked as we try to imagine the fear and terror they all suffered.

I found out that one of my colleagues at work Laurie Carter lost his home at St. Andrews. Everything. Just gone. Harder still for Laurie given that he built his home himself and it was a true labour of love. As the fires were surrounding him all that we can be grateful for was the his family was safe.

A southerly blew for a few days after the fire so there was no smoke in the city even though the fires are so close. The wind has now changed and we can smell the smoke everywhere. The sky has a eerie grey tinge to it and the sun is like a great big red ball of fire. And still the CFA are battling to control the fires, some 1½ weeks later. We’re all just lost for words during this sad time.

Chinese New Year: the year of the ox

If you are an ox you are
Loyal patient and dependable
Most compatible with a snake rooster or a rat
Could become a brilliant surgeon, general or hairdresser

Each year we learn something new. This year we enjoyed a whole fish remembering to leave some over (a symbol of abundance). On the eve of the New Year we vistied Linda, Sven and Anna’s home and enjoyed dumplings, noodles (for long life) and another whole fish. Our favourite festival-the Tianjin Kite festival at Royal Park-was again a lot of fun, with lanterns, kites and face painting. Nana, O and Chloe came along to enjoy the picnic.

The summer that was................

Such is the hectic pace of my life, that I have not sat at the computer to write this blog for many weeks now. Tim and my birthdays, Christmas, New year and holidays have all passed. I think it’s time to make amends………..!

My birthday
A wonderful night was spent with Mum, Dad and Jo at Rumi’s eating delicious modern Lebanese food. (Tim was the babysitter for the night) On the actual day Tim Camille and I went to the Red Emperor at Southgate, where Camille thoroughly enjoyed the chicken and corn soup.

Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, so we carefully prepared Santa’s snack: milk and a mince tart. For the reindeers carrots of course. Camille as usual was awake early and was in seventh heaven as she opened her gifts and found that she finally had a scooter. Other gifts were a Chinese dinner set, and a game of crazy chefs.

Christmas lunch was held at our place, so the whole Goodman clan arrived. After exchanging gifts we sat down to the traditional hot lunch (never again might I add as it was just too tricky to keep everything hot!!). The that night the Pyers arrived for a far more leisurely and relaxed Christmas dinner. Tim’s new speciality ham cooked in Coca-cola (a la Nigella) was despite my misgivings surprisingly good.

Our holiday
First we made a trip to Grannie Annie’s in Daylesford, where we ate divine cherries and splashed around on the verandah. We visited the Jubilee lake which was surprisingly lush and green given that it was mid-summer.

Then off to Waratah Bay to visit Ruth Chris and Mei at their new holiday house. The Boote’s also made the long trek from Mt. Beauty (they sure do get around!). the house sits on top of a ridge and the view of the Prom is amazing. We all had a fabulous time and ushered in the New year with one too many wines. The weather was cool to say the least, but it didn’t matter in the slightest. The girls all had a great time, keeping themselves busy as only 3 year olds can.

We made a short visit to Tim’s mates Dick and Jane in Cape Patterson before taking the ferry from Sorrento to Ocean Grove. There we spent our days at the Barwon River or at the beach or the rocks at Pt Lonsdale relaxing and generally doing not much at all