An Apology
First let us start by apologising to all our regular readers around the world for not blogging for three days.
There are several reasons for this. Sunday and Monday were both very quiet days, Sunday was a day of recuperation after the Thai meal, sometimes called a hangover day,I believe and as a result all we did was read and take the dogs to the beach .Hardly scintillating reading.
Monday we went shopping in the Stockland Mall, and there was hardly anything interesting about that. Shopping is a kind of twenty first century penance we all pay to the great god Mammon, we do it with I'll grace shuffling around looking at things we don't really want to purchase and experiencing pangs of avarice about items we can't afford. It is hardly great material for a blog such as this.
In the afternoon we took the dogs to the beach by ourselves. We had been given the relevant permission by Zoe, and feeling brave took them to their favourite beach. They were as good as gold, and whilst we were a a little concerned they slight not respond to us they were excellent. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to come home without one of them.
Tuesday was a day of inertia as temperatures in Sydney rose to 42.3C. There is something about heat a which makes one lazy, and this was a very oppressive heat. The day started warm but you could feel the temperature rise as the morning progressed. It was a day for staying in the cool and not undertaking any strenuous activities. Apparently it was even too hot for the dogs so we couldn't take them to the beach.
I had an attack of conscience and worked hard on a talk I have promised to deliver in Tasmania, but even just sitting there typing bought out floods of sweat. The heat is also not conducive to clear thinking and the result was a talk of about twenty minutes length when I need an hour.
All around us there are bush fires, well there are several in New South Wales, and there is great concern there will be more. A state of emergency was declared, all national parks and camping sites were closed and all fires were banned. In Tasmania the devastation has been dreadful and we have been keeping a very careful eye on that.
Whilst I was working on my talk, the first pangs of a farewell were felt as Rosemarie began to box things up to go home. This is not a task the master packer enjoyed and it was done with more than a little reluctance. A suitable box was found, and vacuumed out by me to ensure there were nod nasty spiders in it, and slowly a pile of things to be sent home appeared. I am fairly sure, but not definitely certain that malt of the pile is mine, but then I am sure I can survive. I did note there were none of Rosemarie's shoes in the pile, and happened to remark on this to be given a fairly terse response, which I shall put down to the heat.
The heat continued into the evening with the forecast saying that the temperature would drop at midnight, which it did. In fact it fell by 20C making it much more bearable, but even then the accumulated heat of the day made sleeping a nightmare and very uncomfortable. We have experienced 40C before in France several years ago and it is not a pleasant temperature, but this was aggressive heat, unrelenting and threatening. I can't help thinking about how early settlers coped without air conditioning, living in huts with no showers etc. in the middle of the afternoon the electricity went off for about two hours and then we really felt what the weather was like, there was not a hint of a breeze coming in through the open windows and doors and we  just sat there reading.
According to an article I read yesterday the body doesn't appreciate temperatures above 35 and the fantastic advice offered was to wear light clothing, to seek out a cool place in the house, to drink lots and to avoid strenuous exercise. I think we met all of these recommendations, but perhaps there are people who need to have this kind of advice.