‘I remember my first long, hot summer in Australia’

Boy oh boy! Forty-five degrees in the shade recently, the hottest we’ve experienced this summer, (so far!); it’s only 2pm and our local Country Fire Authority fire trucks have already been called out three times to local flare-ups – at this rate the lads will soon be asking for pay!

We’ve been living in Australia for 30 years and are used to the much warmer summer weather here, after the half-hearted 26C or so that was the best England could usually muster, but I do recall the very first week we were here, on holiday, in February 1986, having left the city of Bath a couple of days previously, in freezing temperatures and icy blasts of wind. Jacqui’s brother Paul, who already lived in Australia had taken us to Nowa Nowa, near Lakes Entrance in East Gippsland for a few days so he could show us some genuine Australian seaside outback. He deposited all six of us, being our three kids, Jacqui and me and of course Paul himself, to Pettmans Beach, about 20 kilometres east of Lakes Entrance, a place as far from civilisation as we ‘poms’ had ever been. It was on the edge of deep, deep forest, reached by a very primitive dirt road, no wider than our vehicle and at the end of the trip we had to clamber over high sand-dunes to reach the actual beach. But once we got there, the sight was stunning, with sea bluer than anything we had ever experienced at home, the waves rolling in with a deep rumbling sound, the forest coming right down to the edge of the beach, and to complete the picture, there wasn’t another soul there, as far as the eye could see in either direction! It was a wonderful view, spoiled by just one ‘small’ factor.

The temperature was 45C! Yes, exactly the same temperature as we are experienced recently, the only difference between the two being that now we are accustomed to temperatures near to this. However, on that day at Pettmans Beach the temperature was about 54 degrees hotter than we had just left in the United Kingdom! This not only came as a physical shock to us, happening so soon, but was actually very dangerous – we were all very pale-skinned, half way through the English winter, and that heat, coupled with the actual radiation from the sun, could have done us some real harm, even to the extent of killing us! Luckily, Jacqui’s brother had brought a small beach umbrella with him, and we all tried as best we could, to crouch underneath it to get some shelter. I’ve attached a little sketch I’ve drawn, which might give you some idea of the situation we found ourselves in!

We only stayed for about 10 minutes before it became quite obvious to us that this was not the place to be, so we quickly packed up the few things we had brought with us from our vehicle and ran back to the shelter of the trees, burning our feet in the hot sand as we went, and frightening a huge goanna that was strolling along the path we were using, luckily making him run away. My first reaction when I saw it was that it must have been a small crocodile, it was so big, but as it ran I recognised the squat nose, quite unlike the long snout of an actual croc, so at least I was able to relax a little.

That was our very first experience, all in one day, of what Australian weather could be like, at its most powerful, how easy it is to get right away from the niceties of civilisation here, and how frighteningly large things like lizards are here, compared to the newts we were familiar with in England! Thankfully, the experience made us even more eager to make Australia our home, and less than a year later we were back again, this time as immigrants rather than as holiday-makers, a move we have never regretted in the ensuing 30 years!

One day I must take Jacqui to find Pettmans Beach again, hopefully on a slightly cooler day. Unfortunately her brother will be unable to guide us again, he died a few years ago, but a visit to that beach would help stir some memories of him.

Do you remember a hot summer where you live? Tell us about it. Are you worried about the forecast temperatures for summer in Australia this year?

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