Escaping the heat

We went down the coast for the weekend to escape the crazy heat wave. After a hot week it just got ridiculous on Friday so I left early to pick the boys up (very hot, tired and cranky boys) and head down to the sea. This was the temperature according to the car as we drove out of town.



Forty five degrees! That is just insanely hot - and after the week we'd had, every brick in Canberra (and there are plenty) was radiating its own stored hotness. No, no, no. When we arrived at the beach house it was 26 degrees and overcast. And the next day got up to 30 degrees (ooooo, warm) so we jumped into the sea and had beautiful swims. And then a cool change came through in the evening and it rained! We were watching the heatwaves and fires on the news with some sympathy... but like it was in a foreign country and we were glad we didn't live there.

There was a purpsoe to the weekend though; lifting the pavers in the garage so the third bedroom extension can start. This is the before shot! Not very exciting. The builder reckons he can fit us in later in the month so we're doing some prep work. I figured out there were 495 concrete pavers to be lifted, and we can carry two a time, so the boys and I must have done at least 80 "squat, pick up pavers, carry fifteen metres, squat, lower pavers, repeat" which might explain why my bum and arm muscles feel like they do today. My husband was levering them out of the gound - some concrete but not too much, so no power tools required. Just unskilled labour.

I also sacked the most useless real estate agency in the world - Fraser Gray, if you're looking for someone, look somewhere else. They didn't manage to get a tenant for even one night for the entire four weeks we were away. In the hottest January on record. I am angry because they told me they were going to take photos and advertise it on their website. But they didn't, because "it costs them $200 and it wasn't worth it". Fine, but I wouldn't have signed a contract with them if they had said they wouldn't put it on the website. In fact, I would probably have paid the $200 if they'd let me know. So they lied, and I'm out of pocket. I am thinking about taking it further ... I will keep you posted. At least now the contract is cancelled and I have my keys back, so if we are thinking of trying again in the future we can try somewhere else. Anywhere else.