35C is quite tame. I grew up in South Australia, where that would be a normal summer temperature. Up to about 40 would be considered just "hot".
Victoria was always supposed to be cold and wet, and when I moved here there was a 10 year drought, followed by one summer where the temperature reached nearly 46C.
I never realized that it was truly that hot down there, at least outside of the desert areas.
I was sweltering here in Atlanta (aka Hot-lanta) when it was 95F/35C every day for 3 weeks straight a couple of months ago.
Fortunately we haven't cracked 100F/38C in the last few years.
Also, how does it heat up so fast in what must be EARLY spring to you guys? Our autumn is just starting to gear up about now.
If we get northerly winds coupled with little or no cloud, it can heat up pretty quickly. Much of Australia north of here is desert, and the northerly wind is almost always hot and dry.
Plus there is this El Nino thing (ocean current or something) that is warm and slow this year, which is causing temperatures to rise more than usual and for longer than usual.
The general feeling is that this is going to be a long hot summer.
The last couple of days have actually been the hottest October days in Melbourne since 1991 (which is before I moved here from Adelaide).
And today was nice and cool, maximum of about 18. Then it's about 8 degrees overnight, and forecast top of 22 tomorrow.
Oh and when the cool change arrived (south-westerly winds blowing off the bay) the temperature dropped about 12 degrees in less than 15 minutes. That is also fairly common (and quite well received too).
