HOT WATER

 12 June 2026

I whinged about shower water temperatures while I was away but the worst moment was returning home. After 30 hours on and off planes and in and out of cars and airports, what one desires more than anything is a hot shower. And that’s exactly what we didn’t get.

Susan and I arrived home late afternoon, unpacked, put on some washing, nipped up to the shop for the ingredients for a tasty toastie and after that, I washed the dishes. It’s a rather long way from the heater to the kitchen taps but this time, the water never warmed up. There’d been storms in Perth during the previous week so maybe the pilot light had gone out but we couldn’t work out how to check it in the dark. So a kettle-flannel-wash it was all we got before bed.

Next morning, I managed to get onto a company that could send someone out that day. Not only that, they arrived within half an hour to diagnose the problem. An 18 year old system that had finally given up the ghost. Who said that you can never get a tradie when you need one? By midday we had a temporary system in place and after great expense to the management, a new solar hot water system was in place within a week.

I still remember the days when there was no gas in Victoria. There was an explosion in the Esso Longford gas plant in 1998 and the result was no gas for 20 days. In my case this meant no heating, no cooking and no hot water in my little terrace house in Sedgman St, Brunswick. It’s curious because when I was reflecting on that period, it was winter in my mind but in reality it was September/October. My mis-remembering must have been because one can never get truly warm without a decent hot shower. 

Sedgman St kitchen

I love my showers, morning and night. Too many, the conservationists would say. You should be saving water. Too many, the dermatologist would say. You shouldn’t be drying out your skin. But I’m afraid I’ll pay my water bills and moisturise later rather than give up the sensuous pleasure of hot water beating down on my shoulders.