Beating the Melbourne heat
Jan 9th, 2008 by Nick
It’s 12:15pm Thursday in Melbourne as I start to write this. It’s also 98 degrees outside, with a high of 103 expected. You’d think that since Melbourne is further south, it’d be cooler than Sydney. Not always… it’s going to be like this today and Friday, then cool off into the low 80s for Saturday/Sunday.
This called for a change in my sightseeing plans. I had originally planned on taking a 10am guided walking tour from Federation Square (about two blocks from my hotel), but that thought got quickly scratched. Instead, I was out of the hotel on foot at 7:30am to go exploring. I did not cover a huge section of Melbourne, just the lower right corner of the city center, plus the Fitzroy Gardens and the Melbourne Cricket ground - about a three mile total walk. I had thought about taking a tram to St. Kilda for a walk along the bayfront, but in a 20 minute period the temperature had easily gone up 10 degrees, so I abandonded the plan and beat it back to the air conditioning of the hotel.
I’ll head out in a few minutes to go do some laundry, and then I’ll start a second round of sightseeing around the city center at around 5pm.
You saw the MCG? You are my hero. Spent many a late night watching Aussie Rules football matches from there on ESPN, back when they used to show that sort of thing. (Hawthorn vs. Essendon can be as nasty as Yankees-Red Sox.)
How was Stelio and the Mrs.? Sounds like you all had fun.
And how does Melbourne compare to Sydney, at least on first blush?