DesDownunder recognised at last

[Bruin Fisher]

If anyone wants to know what Des has been getting up to, here's a video clip:

BBC News website item

May we join you, Des?? I'm currently freezing my toes off, having trudged through unprecedented amounts of snow to get to work!

[DesDownunder]

If anyone wants to know what Des has been getting up to, here's a video clip:

BBC News website item

May we join you, Des?? I'm currently freezing my toes off, having trudged through unprecedented amounts of snow to get to work!

Melbourne is about 800 km from where I am in Adelaide which is even hotter than Melbourne, so you are still correct about our weather.

Perhaps I should visit you Bruin, we are already hot enough, here. I'm sure I can think up ways to get you warm.

By the way two of your relatives have just taken up residence in our Adelaide Zoo, with their very own website.

One of the panda is called Wang Wang. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

[Bruin Fisher]

Well it's in Australia, isn't it - it can't be far away! Do you come from Australia? Well, you must know my mate Des, then!

Seriously, the enormous distances involved in Australia tend to blow the minds of insular UK types like me. A hundred and fifty miles from one side of the country to the other seems like a long journey to me. Three thousand miles to cross Australia sounds like a fairy tale!

Still, I'm right - I always said Des was hot!!

Love from Wang Wang

[Trab]

Distances are not obvious from maps, at least not if you don't overlay your own area of familiarity over top. We had visitors from the Netherlands planning to vacation with us, and they said they'd fly to Toronto and then just drive to our place. When we explained that driving from Toronto to the BC coast would take about 4 days of hard driving, they were shocked. When we pointed out that the whole COUNTRY of the Netherlands could fit inside our local school district, with room to spare, they were truly amazed.

[Graeme]

Melbourne equalled the highest overnight low of 30.6C, with the previous time being in 1906. So it was the equal hottest night on record.

It had a good chance of breaking the record since it was 32C at 6am that morning, but a weak cool change came through around 8am and pushed the temperatures down slightly. The Bureau of Meteorology standard is that they continue to record 'overnight' temperatures until 9am.

[TalonRider]

After our very cold start to the new year, we're finally getting back to some normal temperature for this area. They forecast we should be in the mid 40's by Friday. I'd gladly send you some of this cooler air if I could.

[Graeme]

I saw an interesting argument in one of the newspapers yesterday regarding Melbourne's overnight low that night. They pointed out that when the previous record was set in 1906, they didn't have daylight saving. As such, the correct comparison would have been to take the lowest temperature to 8am, not 9am, to allow for daylight saving. If they do that, the record was easily smashed, as the temperature was still around 32C at that time.

Gives a little insight into the challenges of comparing temperatures across the years.....

[Bruin Fisher]

Okay, okay, folks I confess. I hang my head in shame and admit that I'd got Castle Graeme muddled up with Schloss DesDownunder and for some reason got it into my noddle that it was Des who lived in Melbourne. It's bad enough that I can't get my head around the enormous distances between conurbations in Oz, but when I put key figures like Graeme and Des in the wrong cities I deserve to be relocated to a retirement home forthwith. Sorry, guys!

[DesDownunder]

Bruin, stop beating yourself up, that's our job!

I doubt Graeme is upset, and I'm certainly not.

We know how difficult it is to understand distance in Australia, it took me 20 years to find out that my second boyfriend lived in Melbourne.

[Graeme]

I'm certainly not upset. I'm more surprised that a high temperature in Melbourne is news in other parts of the world....