Hot!

Hot? It has been the hottest summer in years back in the old country. Record temperatures of 30 degrees, or even more.

But really, they have no idea.

I’ll give you hot.

35, 36, 38, 38, 39, 40, 39

Those are the temperatures for the last seven days in Adelaide. You can see them for yourself on the excellent Australian Bureau of Meteorology site.

And that’s not all. Here’s the forecast temperatures until next Sunday.

36, 38, 39, 39, 38, 38

To add to the joy, the overnight lows are mostly in the 20s. Low 20s, except for the coming Friday night, when the “low” will be 28 degrees.

There will be a little respite next Monday – we are promised a mere 34 degrees.

This situation is highly unusual. 13 very hot days in a row is unheard of. Previously, there have been eight stretches of very high temperatures for eight days in a row (defined as 35 degrees or above), but never nine in a row, and certainly not thirteen. There’s just a little doubt about whether the temperatures will get to 35 today (despite the forecast of 36), but given that it’s 32 degrees already, at about 11am, it does seem highly probable that today will be the ninth very hot day in a row.

I. Don’t. Like. It.

Neither do my children. Even worse, we had a public holiday yesterday (Race Day, I think – whatever), so we had a long weekend, cooped up inside to stay out of the heat.

We have had to deploy all the wet weather strategies for keeping children happy and occupied, inside, that we developed when we were living in Wellington. A visit to the local library, DVDs, board games, and all that. And the girls devise their own games. To our delight, yesterday the game du jour was setting up a library in Miss Nine’s room. There was an issues desk, themed book displays, library shelves, and a family room delivery service. I have borrowed two books. I’m allowed to have them for two weeks. Fortunately, so far no one has mentioned any fines for late returns.

As for the on-going bad weather. I blame the government.

Well, not really, but it is so easy to look around for someone to blame. The Rudd Labor government here is still very new, so it’s not very plausible to blame them, or indeed, to balme any government at all for the weather. On the other hand, last year in Wellington, when the dreary winter wind and rain went on for months and months and months, my husband and I both started to say, in jest, “I blame the government.” The Clark Labour government had been in power for quite some time, so it seemed reasonable to start holding them responsible for the state of New Zealand’s health, welfare and education systems, and even for the economy. And the weather!

I am starting to wonder about holding them responsible for the economy. The sub-prime meltdown is making its way into New Zealand, and interest rates are going up. At the same time, the worldwide demand for food is driving up prices for every day grocery items. Ordinary middle class families in New Zealand are starting to feel the pinch, and they will be looking for someone to blame.

I don’t think that the government can be held responsible for these events – they are happening all over the world, and there’s very little that the government of a small country can do about it. Too much like the weather – something to be endured, rather than changed. But at the same time, we can be prepared for the vagaries of the weather. Has the Labour government done enough to prepare New Zealand for the rough weather in the world economy?

And yes, I am still exposed to the New Zealand economy – we have a house there.