Life In Australia

For the past month or so, the weather has been lovely in Sydney, with sunshine most days. It’s still pretty cold in the mornings and evenings after it goes dark at about 5.30pm but, during the day, it can get pretty warm in the sunshine - up to 18 or 19 degrees C, which is very similar to a summer day in England!!

The air is still pretty cold, though, blowing from Antarctica, so, if you are out of the sun, it can still feel quite chilly. It’s also very cold at home throughout the day and colder still in the evenings, at night, and in the early morning. Australian homes are built to remain cool, which is great in the summer but not so good in the winter, as there is no central heating! So, most days I go out for a walk to warm up. It really lifts your spirits to see the sunshine, even if it’s not incredibly warm during the whole of the day.

Recently, I’d become a bit complacent about wearing sunscreen every time I went out. I thought, “I’m only going out for half an hour and it’s the winter, I don’t need to bother.” Well, one day last week, I came home with a few red patches on my face. The sunburn wasn’t too bad and, with lots of after-sun lotion, it went away after a few days, but it was a wake-up call, reminding me of just how damaging the sun can be in Australia and that you really do need to protect yourself, even during the winter. So, I’m back to using the sunscreen everyday - since I only need to apply it to my face at the moment, it’s not as time consuming a task as it is in the summer!