Delma knew that it would be cold in August in Melbourne, after all it is a winter month. So Delma packed their winter gear. Delma bought an overcoat and scarf, a wool hat with a colourful pom-pom on top, and three jumpers. Delma feels the cold more than most.
Melbourne is well known for its four seasons in one day whether it is summer or winter, in that the weather changes rapidly and it could be sunny one portion of the day and windy and wet the latter part of the day.
The city's vast and effective Tram network people mover system, and as strange as it might be, has proven to be one of the solutions to the city's changeable weather patterns on any given day.
We have visited Melbourne many times during their 33 years of marriage. We've noticed that when the weather changes for the worst, rather than the crowds of people hiving it indoors into department stores and shops, waiting for the showers to pass, and thereby wasting valuable time, the mass of people hop on trams. The weather passes, they hop off again.
Next time anyone is visiting Melbourne, engage in a little research of your own, and watch to see what happens when a shower passes through the city. It happens so often, that in his view Melbourne people don't even realise they do it.
We booked into the Bayview on the Park Hotel for the three day duration of his visit as Albert Park was opposite and that seemed like a lovely venue for the video interviews for the Australian Missionary News IPTV (Television on the Internet).
Arriving in Melbourne mid-day on the Thursday and it was windy and cold. Friends collected us from the airport for lunch, and then dropped us off at the hotel. Having booked in we went for a 45 minute walk and by the time we were on their way back it had started to rain.
It poured for some thirty minutes or so, and then the sun came out and it was lovely. That night they attended the opening night of the Basil Sellers Art Prize and the weather had turned decidedly mild.
Next day it was wet, cold and windy again, so when the guests came for interviews, the hotel management had arranged a quiet spot indoors with plenty of light where the interviews were conducted.
A very late lunch was enjoyed and the party group called it a day by 2.45pm and as we walked outside, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it had turned surprisingly warm. The sun had a bite to it. One of our interviewees took off their coat for the walk to their motor vehicle parked a little distance away.
An hour or so later it was overcast again, shortly afterwards the rain began to fall once more, the winds came, and it was time for the thick woolies once again.
Melbourne people laugh about their weather patterns of all four seasons in one day and treat it as an identifiable plus for their beloved city. For the rest of us, it's quite a puzzle.
Living on the southern Gold Coast the joke is on the other foot, for in winter, the only ones in shorts are unquestionably those from 'Melbourne'!