#3 - Living in a Sauna (2/22/11)

I have now been in Townsville for two weeks, so I have a bit of an idea of what I've gotten myself into. My first impression has definitely been a positive one; Townsville is a very pretty city. While there are certain home comforts that I miss, I'm not homesick. Australia is too similar to the US in appearance to fall into homesickness immediately. That is, except for one thing that will likely be the death of me: the heat. I’d imagine at this point you’re rolling your eyes, perhaps trying to suppress the urge to blurt “duh.” While I certainly acknowledge Australia is often correlated with hot weather, I’d argue that has mostly to do with the mythical Outback. No one (in their right mind) lives in the Outback, so I assumed the weather elsewhere was manageable. Sydney never struck me as hellishly hot and I didn’t think much beyond that. It didn’t help that during my orientation in Oregon the speakers spent most of their time talking about what can kill you – crocodiles, snakes, jellyfish, cassowaries, sharks, spiders, octopi (yes, even the octopi can kill you here), cyclones, floods, currents, Dengue fever, drunk Aussies, to name a few – and no time discussing the heat. Perhaps they assumed we’d be so grateful we weren’t getting killed in some horrendous fashion that we wouldn’t notice the oppressive heat. Let me be the first to tell you, Townsville is HOT. I mean sweltering, hotter-than-hell hot. Based purely on the thermometer, it must be said that Townsville is not hotter than much of the US in the summer. Since I’ve been here, the temperature between the hours of 7am and 7pm hasn’t been below 31°C, which equates to about 88°F, though I would guess on average at noon it’s hovering right around 91°F. Hot certainly, but in and of itself, not unmanageable, and that’s coming from a Seattleite. But Townsville has two more tricks up its sleeve that separates it from anything I’ve experienced: angle of the sun and humidity. The US, being happily north of the Tropic of Cancer, never experiences the sun directly above. Townsville, at about 19°S, is miserably placed between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn (in no way is there any bias in that sentence). Due to this, the sun is currently situated almost directly above and the rays are intense. There seems to be no shade anywhere. I haven’t tested this, but I’m fairly certain it’s possible to get receive a sunburn on one’s nose and back of the neck at the same time. I didn’t think it was possible. I’ve now been taught otherwise

            While all of the above certainly contribute to the heat, the single most aggravating factor is the humidity. Good God! Townsville is definitely one of those places where you walk outside and immediately start sweating. Yesterday, Karen and I were sitting in the shade, not moving an inch, but still sweating copiously. According to the weather report, a little after noon today it was 32°C but it felt like 39°C, or 102°F. I’m not exaggerating when I say it feels like a sauna. I’d much rather walk in a dry 105°F than a humid 95°F. Today I left for my 9am class at 8:15am, planning on walking slowly so as to avoid being drenched when I got to class. It didn’t work. I had to go to the bathroom and use a load of paper towels to dry my face and arms off. I could have wrung my shirt out if I was so inclined. And the thing is, I was the only one. When I first arrived in Townsville and I was riding around in my parents’ rental car, I noticed that no one was out walking around. I understand why now. I walked for half an hour and I didn’t pass a single person until I was on campus. No locals are stupid enough to go for a walk unless it’s dark out. The locals tell me it will cool down in late April, but in the meantime, I’ll leave the hot faucet in the shower untouched.