It's winter, but not as we know it

As I write this it is day 5 of spring in the Sunshine State and already temperatures are in the high 20s and even early 30s.

I have nothing against blue sky and sunshine, but I do miss the rain, grey clouds and chilly temperatures. I have a couple of drawers dedicated to winter clothes and no chance to wear them. The locals though were spotted on occasion rugged up with scarves, gloves, beanies and puffer jackets like you wouldn't believe...and the coldest it has been is 5C...one morning !!

Anyway, I decided that while "real" winter was happening in the southern states that  it was time to go and get bone-chillingly cold; to remind myself what it was like. We booked a weekend in Canberra, but ended up with one night in Sydney as we couldn't get direct flights at reasonable prices.

familiar landmarks

a rainbow walkway

lived here for 10 years, never saw this building before !

look at THAT light

...and THIS building facade

terrace houses - my favourite of all time, will I ever get to live in one ?

rainbow bike outside an INDEPENDENT bookstore

check out that window box !

waiting for pizza, in an authentic italian pizzeria

corner Oxford Street & Crown Street

Convicts built this bridge, on the original roadway to Goulburn at Towrang

Bungendore houses, did convict ancestor Joseph Dickinson, the plasterer, work on these ?

The entrance gate to Willeroo, Lake George; place of birth of Joseph's daughter Sarah

floating sphere sculpture - reminded me of Welly, just a bit, capital city art

Little National - perfection

St John's Church, Canberra

School house at St John's, built by the Campbells to benefit the children of the Scots shepherds working his land and which looks like it has been transported straight from the Highlands

Great-great-great-great-great-grandparents

Rainbows in the spray

So as you can see - gorgeous days - definitely chillier than home, but not as freezing as we had prepared for. Also, not enough time to do everything or go everywhere, so next year we will be back...maybe earlier in the season too.

Is it Autumn yet ?

There are some towns with reputations or attractions that just need to be visited. Stanthorpe is one of them.

It is in the Granite Belt, a little further inland and south from Allora where we went once before to see the sunflowers. The region is known for its microclimate and winemaking, but there are also microbreweries and an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

It also gets quite cold there in winter. Well cold for Queensland anyway. It seems to share the competition for the title of coldest town with nearby Applethorpe where for many years 100% of the apples in Queensland have been grown.

We went to see if autumn might be hiding there – if it gets frosty and sometimes even snow, you would think there might be some colour in the foliage.

We found some, but not as much as we had wished for. So renown for the chilly winter temperatures is the town, there is a giant thermometer in the park.

Then it was time for the drive home and to continue the packing and organising for our upcoming move. Only weekends and evenings available for those tasks since we were both working. 

#52Ancestors, Week 49, Winter

Winter in this hemisphere is at a different time of year. Strangely though, even 200 or so years after emigrating many of us cling to the images of snowy frosty rural scenes at Christmas, red breasted Robins on fenceposts, branches or spade handles in snowy gardens. All the while we plan Christmas dinners which don’t involve standing in a hot kitchen for too long – salads, cold meats (if any), barbecue, pavlova and look forward to afternoons in the shade, at the beach or by the pool.

How topsy turvy it must have been for those early immigrants to celebrate Christmas in the heat of summer and Easter in autumn rather than spring. (interestingly we still celebrate Easter with spring-like symbols too – baby chicks, baskets of flowers and other baby animals). What about birthdays? How did it feel celebrating your mid-summer birthday in midwinter and vice versa? Was seasonal affective disorder a thing then? Did the change affect people at all or was it just a “Oh that’s right, I live HERE now” type of realisation. I wonder did anyone even consider or realise that these moments in their lives would be forever changed after emigrating to the southern hemisphere.

Winter itself is not in the same realm in the southern hemisphere as those in the north which we perpetuate in our imagination. It does get cold, there are storms, we wear warmer clothes and heat our homes. But we don’t have snow, apart from on high mountain ranges (normally), or days where the darkness of evening begins mid-afternoon. We all say we are cold, but in reality, most of us have no idea what it must be like to live and work in temperatures of -15 or more; just as many of or northern hemisphere cousins cannot comprehend living in 30+ or even 40+ temperatures through summer.

I like winter. The one great thing about it, compared to summer, is that you can dress for the occasion. Put on more layers to keep the chill out, take them off when you have thawed out or reached an agreeable Temperature. Summer doesn't have that advantage, it is just hot so you wear minimal clothes to begin with.

Perhaps in 2019 a white Christmas might be on the horizon.