Chapter 10 "Don't like the weather....? Wait 5mins."

So far, my great Australian adventure has taken place in one (little) city – Melbourne. One remarkable feature of this area is the weather, which, thank god, has been improving in the last days. I arrived and was greeted by a gray 8degrees, which have climbed to a pleasant 14degrees in the past 2 weeks, but in general, the weather forecasts here are quite amusing to follow, because you usually have sun, clouds, wind and rain predicted for pretty much every day and it’s always a gamble when stepping outside, never really knowing what to expect. Leaving the hostel in sunshine can mean coming back an hour later with wet feet (because I do not always run around in the most waterproof shoes when not needed). Wrapping up nice and warm to take a walk on a gray blustery day can mean suddenly sweating and wishing you had brought your sunglasses just a few steps out the door. The latter example has proven to be the more enjoyable one, of course. I’ve optimistically bought picnic goods (Turkish piede bread, 3 dips and some olives) on a sunny day strolling through the market, only to have to rush into a covered brick gazebo after the first few bites. I’ve lugged around an extra jacket on a looong walk along the beach, because the wind I had previously experienced there had decided to stay away.

The in-betweens, the moments in which the weather decides to flip, can however be quite beautiful. Watching clouds brighten and take flight within fifteen minutes, revealing a bright blue sky and letting the colors around you come to life, like turning up the saturation when tweaking pictures… And while the sun still bounces off the high rises and reflects off the green of the trees and grassy patches, the gray clouds in the background get darker and darker, you get an end-of-the-world kind of atmosphere – beauty and danger, darkness and light. The Yarra River seems to be used to its fluctuating surroundings, it stays a constant murky light brown, the only stable element in the ever-changing portrait of Melbourne. Only at night, when the city lights illuminate the surface and wind creates patches of ripples upon it, it appears to be dancing to the weathers strange tune.

Note: When in Melbourne (in winter), be prepared for any and every weather condition.