Australian falls. UPDATED.

Plane trees in Heidelberg burst with unseasonal fall foliage after being cooked by this summer's heat wave like potato slices in a deep fryer. Today is forecast to top 44 C (111 F), which would make it the hottest February day of all time and, combined with northerly gale force winds and a continuing severe drought, the 'worst day in history', according to Victoria's Premier (the equivalent of a state governor). Why? Because the entire state is a perfectly packed fireplace, and today Mother Nature is bringing the gasoline and flamethrower.

Meanwhile, 'fall' carries a more predictable but equally devastating connotation in flood-ravaged north Queensland with a prediction of more torrential rainfalls. One half burns while the other half drowns. Australia is a land of extremes.

UPDATE: Another 'fall' -- as in record for all-time highest temperature in Melbourne -- as the mercury hit 46.4 C (116 F !!!!) this afternoon. The hottest day ever recorded in Melbourne. Aradhna and I ventured out for breakfast at a local cafe earlier in the day. Felt like walking through a hurricane in a pizza oven -- sans rain, of course. As a matter of fact, with humidity below 10%, we had to keep our mouths closed during the 15-minute walk home or else feel like bushfires had broken out in our esophagi.

Fallen leaves along a sidewalk in Elsternwick should be the result of autumn chill, not scorching heat.
Flowers in Fitzroy Gardens mimic the reaction of most Melburnians to the heat.