COLD WEATHER

I love cold weather. Living in Darwin means that cold weather is often very scarce in terms of happening. Right now, this May, we are having some coolish nights, with the temperature getting down on two occasions to an overnight low of 17°. During the day, it rises into the low 30° area. What helps to make the cooler weather cool and keeps the maximum temperature during the day tolerable is the fact that the humidity is way down into the 20 and 30% mark.

The humidity is a real stifler, often making it seem hotter than it may well be. I survive the heat but much prefer the relative cold of the dry.

In 1996 June and July, my wife and I went to the UK for six or seven weeks. This was during a period of extended service leave. I wouldn’t say I liked cautions to ensure I wore enough warm clothes. When we were away, I never once put on a jumper; on a couple of occasions, of thick shirt but not a jumper.

We toured or visited all over England, from London up the East Coast to John-O-Groats in Scotland, across the top of Scotland including the Isle of Skye, then down the West Coast into Wales before finishing up in South West England at Lands End in Cornwall. We toured Ireland and spent several days on a narrowboat on the Midlands canal system.

And all the time without feeling cold.

How am I coping with Darwin’s ‘chill’ as winter begins to threaten Australia’s south? I am LOVING it.