As Australia endures the heatwave’s third day, four people tell us what it’s like living in some of the hottest places on Earth

Tolga Ozkuzucu, gardener and owner of Top Notch Gardens, Mildura, Victoria (46C on Wednesday)

“It’s been like hell. The thing is, you have to work. Start off early, knock off early – by one or two o’clock. You try and do as much as you can in the morning. By the afternoon, it’s too hot to work.

“You have to try and leave your tools in the shade. If you don’t, it burns your fingers. There’s not much you can do. And plenty of water. If you don’t have that, you’re in strife.

“At the moment, I’m knocking off right now, it’s already 42C. At lunchtime, no one wants to go outside, nobody wants to go anywhere. They’re inside all day.

“I try and start as early as I can. I’m not going to risk my body and health. People here are very understanding of that because they know how hot it is. I just finished a paving job that I should have done in a day and a bit, but it’s taken two and a bit days because of the heat. But people are very understanding. Nobody wants to be outside when it’s 46C.”

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Tina Loukissas, owner of the Niagara cafe, Gundagai, NSW (45C on Wednesday)

“It’s hot over the grill and deep fryer. It feels like you’ve walked into a sauna. It’s a good way to sweat out your toxins. On days like today, when it’s getting up to 43C or 44C, because you have all these machines going, the air-conditioning isn’t coping very well.

“We’ve got tables outside that nobody has sat at for the last couple of days. It’s still a busy time of year. People will often come in because we’re air-conditioned. There’s a fair few people inside but you’d be crazy to sit outside on a day like today.

“For me, because I’m running around, the air-conditioning doesn’t feel like it’s on. I’ve just come back from the local swimming pool because it’s just too hot. Most people are staying indoors from what I know. I don’t envy anyone doing outdoor work.

“I’ve made more wraps and put them in our display fridge. A sandwich or a wrap is much easier to prepare – but you’d be surprised. Someone always wants something quite hot.”

Michelle Coles, owner of the Cinema Augusta, Port Augusta, South Australia, (49C on Tuesday)

“I didn’t think it was that hot yesterday, if you want an honest answer. Yesterday at the cinema was very quiet. People tend to stay home. We’re quite used to it. Every summer is hot. A couple of degrees hotter doesn’t make that much difference.

“Honestly I’d much rather be in 48C heat in Port Augusta than in the city – you’ve got so much concrete and it’s closed in, but here it’s quite open. You just don’t stand out in the sun though, that’d be stupid.

“Most of us have got pretty good air-conditioning. Our local sporting centre is open with the aircon running for anyone who doesn’t have any. The one thing I do, is for the elderly people I know, I go and visit them.

“We don’t take our dogs for a walk early in the morning, we take them out at night. Even then, the concrete can still be quite hot. I walk out and actually stand in my bare feet to check.

“I think it’s different these days to what it was 20 or 30 years ago. You notice that people walk around with water bottles. Everyone has water bottles. I think people are sensible. We’ve got a couple of homeless people who pop into the cinema, and our girls are instructed to give them a drink. We have a really amazing community spirit here – everybody looks after everybody else.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A dog cools off in a sprinkler during hot weather. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Simon Duke, pool manager, Alice Springs Aquatic and Leisure Centre (44C on Tuesday)

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“Obviously it’s very hot in Alice. Even from 8am or 9am, we’ve had 35C. Here at the pool it’s obviously been very busy. We love that. We can offer a place for everyone who finds themselves in Central Australia to cool off. We’ve had the busiest December at the pool on record.

“For people, sometimes economically it’s a challenge to run an air-conditioner 24/7. Alice has a number of public places where they can come and cool off. The Alice Springs library and the pool are two places where all of the community has come together to enjoy a shared resource. The pool is one of the good things that the town council does.

“We’ve been having some special splash parties – which is free entry – with the support of Northern Territory government and the youth services, every Sunday night.

“The two things you need in Alice to make it bearable are access to water and access to an air-conditioner. Having said that, as a local you have to make the most of the early mornings. It is glorious from 5am to 8am, even in this sort of heat, to go for a run or a bike ride. You just have to pick your times.”