Australia : The Weather

I've been meaning to blog about this for quite some time but haven't really quite found the time to. Since there will be a strike tomorrow and my class and laboratory are cancelled, I now finally have time to write a long wordy post.

For those who predicted that I'll be really red in the summer (due to the sun) and just really pale in the winter? You got it all wrong! I continue to be red all year long due to reasons that I will mention later.

When we were packing to come here, news of bushfire etc came out so Cheryl and I thought it would be a good idea to pack a decent amount of summer clothing (around 65%). We were terribly worried that it'll be crazy hot and we'll just positively melt here because the temperature in Australia at that time was probably around 40-45 degrees Celsius. I ended up bringing short skirts, shorts, short sleeved shirts and basically most of the stuff I wore in Malaysia. Imagine our relief when the pilot announced on the plane (after a really long and restless 8 hour plane ride that the temperature was around (ok I can't remember the figure)... less than 30 degrees Celsius. When we got off the plane however, the first thing that we noticed was the blinding sunlight. The skies here are virtually cloudless so the sunrays reaches us without much obstacle.

For the first few days, I had to deal with getting sunburns on a daily basis. Sunblock didn't really help much and for the first two months, I was really turning brown. At the same time, on certain times of the day (like morning and night time), the temperature dropped so it was nearly impossible to walk around without a jacket. So imagine this, when I go out in the morning, I would wish that I am wearing long pants with a thick jacket (at the beginning I still went out with skirts and shorts HAHA). By noon, the sun would be up and it would be quite hot that I'll be laughing at my friends who bundled up in the morning. However, when it was time to go home, my friends would get the last laugh as I shiver a bit when we're all waiting for the train back home. It took us only two days to realise that in Australia, you can't leave the house without a jacket even in the summer. It is always wrong to assume that today would be a warm day just because it was warm yesterday and we really learnt that lesson the hard way.

Last month, the temperature started dropping even more as Autumn came. Think single digit temperatures. Sigh. You'll get purple hands from just walking to school in the morning. Even I have given up on wearing skirts. When I go indoors, the sudden change in temperature would make my face flush. Which is why I said I'll be red all year long arrgh. The rains started to get heavier too. In summer, the rain were pathetic mists of water sprayed on your face. Now, it's similar to those you get back home in Malaysia. Sometimes, I really think there is a big guy up there who can't make up his mind. There was this particular day when the sun was out in full glory, but the temperature was around 10-12 degrees Celsius and then it started drizzling. Zzzzzz.

According to the weather forecast, the temperatures are expected to increase to around 15-20 degrees Celsius again. Unlike those in Malaysia, the weather forecast here are quite accurate. When it say that it will rain, it will! However, I still haven't quite master the skills of dressing appropriately for different temperature ranges. You see, I have jackets of different thickness. So, there are still days when I wore a jacket that is too thin or a jacket that is too warm... you get my drift right?

I have no idea how I have just managed to ramble so much about the weather but yea, for those who are coming in winter, SERIOUSLY BUY MORE PANTS!

And since it's getting warmer again, maybe it's time to dig out my skirts again...