I return to a city shrouded in smoke.

I return to a city shrouded in smoke. It sits thickly in the air like fog on a mid-winter morning, and like in mid-winter, you know it is not likely to lift by lunchtime, like it would have in the spring time. The sun is a pale pink disc hanging in the gloom, casting an eerie light over the grey city.

I have only been in the city for six hours but already I am feeling nauseous from the constant inhalation of impure air. Lucky I escaped the worst of it.

The weekend in Melbourne was reportedly horrendous. Forty three degrees (celsius) on Sunday, with bushfires burning out of control across half the state. While I was two states away, cruising in a convertible on a perfect day up the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.