Australia is Hot
It's no secret that Australia is infamous for its incredible heat. In case you haven't heard, we're mostly desert too.
I've lived here for 21 years now, so I've gotten pretty used to it, but that's not to say that Australia doesn't have a surprise or two lurking up its sleeves.
Yesterday in Sydney we we recorded our hottest day in 80 years at 47.3 degrees Celsius, or 117 Fahrenheit, breaking many heat records and apparently the hottest single place in the world for the day. Now, for a country that is renowned for its yearlong heat, this is a pretty impressive feat.
Something that many people aren't as aware of is that since Australia is mostly desert, this would be a dry heat not unlike California or the West Coast in general, right? 100% not the case: Australia features a heavy, muggy, stifling heat, like the East Coast in the middle of August. It makes life difficult and everything becomes that much harder to do. You just want to hole yourself up indoors and racking a nice power bill from all the cooling.
How do I beat it?
I remember the first day I spent in Australia in February 1997 was pretty rough. Coming from New Zealand, I wasn't used to this heavy, tropical heat and I might have developed some heat exhaustion later in the afternoon and from the fatigue of the flight. I have an unusually high body temperature so developing these kinds of ailments are not uncommon for me.
However, 21 years later I'm able to find ways to adapt. I bought two tower fans, each with three fan heads for omnidirectional cooling, for a total of six fans (i only use 2 or 3 at most at any time, unless I'm playing ITG, then I'm using all 6).
I also picked up an air purifier by Honeywell. They make great purifiers and this is arguably the most important home appliance in my arsenal. It pulls dust in from nearby and filters it all out, circulating cleaner air. I really hate dust and it's one of the reasons I have trouble sleeping upstairs in my room now, because its so dusty.
I'm also looking into getting a dehumidifier to combat the extreme mugginess that we suffer from. That one's real important because it also helps with ITG and prevents powder from caking up on the panels as I play. I'm looking for a good brand and one that isn't too large or industrial.