HOT, HOT, HOT! (Summer in Brisbane)
One of the many attractions of moving to Australia from the UK, let’s be honest, is the weather. After spending most of my life living in the UK, the thought of blue skies and sunshine was a huge attraction. Having lived down under for over 5 years now I thought it time to reflect on what it’s like living in Brisbane (in the Sunshine State) during those hot summer months.
First thing’s first, coming from the UK, summer is not at the ‘right’ time of year. For most of my life summer has been in June, July and August. All of a sudden, you move to the other side of the world and summer is in December, January and February! Schools have Christmas and Summer Holidays all rolled into one. To a British expat this feels very strange and confusing.
On the plus side, there are endless days of sunshine!
To someone used to searching for a glimpse of blue sky, how fantastic is that!
When I first moved to Brisbane I did wonder if I would be able to cope with living in such a hot climate. After all, it’s one thing to visit as a tourist, where you can sit about, have a dip in the pool or ocean and grab an ice cream. It’s quite another to go about your daily life in sub tropical temperatures. Funnily enough I seem to have adapted very quickly!
There are huge advantages to living in a sub tropical climate
Yes, most days are sunny and sunshine really does put you in a better mood. Without wishing to state the obvious, dry sunny days make it so much easier to be outside. At most restaurants we more than happily sit at outside tables. Outside events can be organised with a fair degree of certainty that they won’t be cancelled due to the weather and when it does rain it’s generally warm rain (I no longer own a rain coat!). Clothes dry outside in a matter of hours. No more days of wet washing draped around the house or adorning radiators in a desperate attempt to get dry.
On the downside …
Summer is HOT!
As I write this I am literally sweating my way through the hottest summer we’ve had since we arrived – even the Australians are complaining about it! Temperatures have been in the low 30 degrees for what feels like weeks now. Combine that with humidity of 80% and living conditions have become very uncomfortable.
If you’re living in a cold climate this might sound like bliss, but rest assured it’s not!
Getting up early is essential if you want to do any physical activity – be it work or exercise. When I say early, there are plenty of people I know who will be up and out by 4 or 5 a.m. Even after 5 years here this still seems very early to me! Call me lazy, but this year I have resigned myself to the fact that my new year’s keep fit campaign will just have to wait until the autumn – it’s just too hot!
Storms
When it’s particularly hot and humid I now can’t wait for a good storm to clear the air. However, you do need to be prepared for storms – which can be severe! Rain can be torrential and flash flooding is not uncommon. I have also learnt to be wary of hail which can be very large resulting in significant damage to cars and property in some areas.
On balance, Brisbane is a great place to live
Blue skies and sunshine are awesome! Luckily the hot summer months don’t last forever and as I write this we are nearing the end of summer and eagerly looking forward to the relatively cooler days of Autumn.