A lot of people think that the land down under is always hot and sunny. Well, it isn't! Because Australia is such a large country, its weather varies significantly in different parts of the continent.
Currently living in Adelaide, South Australia, the weather ranges between 10-15 celcius during the day and 5-10 celcius at night. Moreover, since it doesn't rain much here in the summer (Australia is often having water restrictions), the cold wind from Antarctica takes care of alternating rain and clear skies between the months of June-August.
Most Aussies don't mind the winter cold as it gets incredibly hot here during the summer, with common 40-50 celcius heat waves. For me who just came from hot and sunny summer in Montreal, this feels just like the fall season back home - minus the family apple picking and the gorgeous tree leaves turning red/yellow/green/orange.
But put on a nice pair of Australian Ugg boots, a warm sweater and mittens, and everything is A OK! After all, any Canadian like me who has been through the cold -30/40 celcius will find it quite laughable to call this kind of weather "winter"...
The only problem is night time, when the weather goes down, as houses here are definitely meant for the hot summer season. Indeed, Aussie domiciles are poorly insulated. The weather outside is pretty much the same inside! This was a rather harsh reality for me at first since back in Quebec we like to keep a warm 18-20 celcius inside the house at any time. Here, however, if it is 10 celcius outside, the temperature is the same inside!
Showering or even sitting in a room reading a book in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans is pretty much out of question.
What about heating then, do you ask? Well, that's the ironic part.
Basically it's like people here are literally heating their house with a blow-dryer! While some wealthy people have reverse cycle aircons (an air conditioner that blows cold air in the summer and hot air in the winter), it is more common to find tiny little portable heaters that take you back to the fifties or so. More so, these babies consume heaps of electricity and God knows it isn't cheap here!
The first time I saw one of those at my friend's apartment in Paris, I just laughed. How shocking to see such a minuscule appliance when back home every single house has central heating... except maybe remote cottages with no electricity!
But because winter here only lasts about 3 months and every one is trying to get over the summer heat during that amount of time, it seems like Aussies do not see the point in investing in proper heating devices.
So what do you do?
Put some warm clothes on (let's not forget the Ugg boots), cover yourself with a blanket of some sort, bring the heater as close to you as possible, shut all the doors and windows (so you don't lose whatever little amount of heat there is in the room), sit back and watch some telly!
After all, why complain? There's no snow to shovel, no icy sidewalks, and we can still bike-ride no worries! Moreover, the grass is green (which is great given how the hot sun burns most of it in the summer), the beach is near, and palm trees are all over!
(basic) Australian seasons & geography
Generally speaking, the seasons go as follows:
Summer: December to February (so Christmas under palm trees :)
Autumn: March to May
Winter: June to August
Spring: September to November
Keep in mind that the land of Oz is in the southern hemisphere - that is, below the equator. Thus the North of Australia is warmer while the south, near the South Pole, is generally cooler.
The tropical regions of Australia are in the north of the country. They include the central and northern parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland, and the northern parts of Western Australia. The weather in the Australian tropics has two very different seasons: the wet season and the dry season.
Meanwhile the driest regions of Australia are found mostly in central Australia, stretching from most of central and southern Western Australia, through the southern parts of the Northern Territory and most of South Australia, to the far west regions of Queensland and New South Wales, and the north-western parts of Victoria.
