I spend a fair bit of time travelling in cold climate countries.  The coldest I’ve ever been was in Oslo (Norway) in mid-January, when one night the temperature dipped to -18 C.  I learned that at that temperature it doesn’t matter how many layers you have on, how fast you walk to warm up or how much hot coffee you drink, you’re still cold.  In fact it was so cold in Oslo that when we left and arrived in Bergen (on the west coast of Norway) we actually started stripping off the layers.  It was still -2 C.

Last December Rob and I went to Prague, and whilst it certainly wasn’t as cold as it had been in Oslo I still remember getting to the point where I was fed up with shivering and not being able to feel my feet.  One day, on a particularly long walk to the Bohemians football ground, I threw my toys out of the pram and had a tantrum.  I’m an Aussie, and December is meant to be filled with trips to the beach and sunbathing on the grass in the back yard, not wandering around post-Communist Prague trying to figure out whether my feet are suffering from frost-bite.

Now that I’m back from the UK again, patiently awaiting a letter from the British Consulate to tell me whether or not they will give me a student visa to study at Edinburgh, I’ve realized that Australian winters can be just as nasty as their European counterparts.  I know, I know - Australian winters, cold?  Laughable!  A frosty morning in Queensland, the ’sunshine state’?  I must be joking!  Unfortunately for the ice-blocks that have now replaced my toes, it turns out that winter in Australia can feel as cold as it does in European countries, and it’s our sunny climate that’s to blame.  You see, the majority of Australian buildings aren’t constructed for cold weather, they’re built to be cool, to let in breezes, to make the most of whatever shade is provided by nearby trees, to turn away from hot sunlight instead of towards it.  Our windows are single glaze, we tend to have shutters and blinds instead of curtains, and many of our floors are tiled or wood instead of carpet.  The covers on our beds are summer-weight not winter-weight, and many of our homes have air-conditioners instead of heaters.  The radiators that are so common in each room in every house in Britain simply don’t exist here.  In winter our houses feel cold because they are cold - often they’re only a few degrees warmer than the outside temperature, which in Brisbane can dip below freezing on some nights.  Whilst European countries may have much colder winters in terms of temperatures, when you’re inside with central heating, double glazing, fluffy bed covers and soft carpets you simply don’t notice it.

So next time you come across a hapless Aussie in a northern-hemisphere winter, wading through drifts of snow or chipping icicles of their hair, don’t pity them.  They have serious cold weather experience.