Sunday dawned, and while we knew it was going to be hot from the weather forecast, nothing quite prepared us for the, what turned out to be, the hottest day in many a year. In fact, Penrith, to the west of Sydney, reached 47.3C, the highest temperature recorded by a weather station in the Sydney metropolitan area in 79 years! Where we were in the city, it got to 42C during the afternoon, which was, shall we say, hot enough.
Our plan for the day was to head to the Australian National Maritime Museum, which we had not visited before. There are different ticketing options, and went for the Big Ticket, which gives you access to not only the museum, but also the vessels on display. We were advised to start with the ships, as when it gets too hot, these are closed to the public. Neither of us wanted to go onto the submarine, so we headed first for the replica of James Cook’s HMB Endeavour.
I was surprised at how small the ship was, though I am not sure how big I expected it to be in retrospect, but it was great to imagine what it must have been like on Cook’s world voyage between 1768 and 1771.
It was really hot already on board, but we headed over to HMAS Vampire, a destroyer that saw active service between 1959 and 1968. We missed out the other ships, including a 19th century barque or tall ship, as it was just too hot, but a good excuse to perhaps go back one day.
The interior of the museum brought some air-conditioned relief, and we spent a good amount of time there. Even if you are not that interested in maritime history, or sea-faring in general, it is still worth a visit, as there is a lot to learn about Australia as well as ships.
When we came out, the temperatures had shot up even more, and we strolled back into town, using shops as cover from the heat (and using that as an excuse to purchase several items…..).
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Thistles and Kiwis 
I was in Penrith in the UK a few weeks ago, quite the opposite temperature wise! Be safe in your heatwave!
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:-). I can just imagine! Now back in NZ where it is only 24C….
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