Why I Love Winter

I love cold weather, absolutely love it. I probably should have been born in Siberia but instead I popped up in a gene pool in Australia. Maybe Mother Nature is as crap at geography as I am?

It’s a huge part of why I love living in London and if I never had to live through another Australian summer I wouldn’t feel like I’d missed out. Having said that, my gripe with Australia is purely weather based because I love Australia and Sydney will always be home but it’s a shame the whole continent can’t be shifted a few thousand kilometres south … near Antarctica somewhere.

So you can imagine my delight when the mercury hovered just above zero for the majority of the past week.  Unfortunately nobody else in my family shares my love of cold weather, particularly Luca who on a weekly basis asks me “Mum when is it going to get warm again” .. oh in about 7 months, sweetie. Don’t even start me on Rob, who guards the windows like the Gestapo, God forbid you should want some fresh air.

For me, the cold weather makes the school run a delight. The kids and I take forever to walk to school playing ‘who can find the best frozen leaf’, but they usually get bored once the hypothermia starts to set in because I stop every few minutes to take photos of frozen things.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked since I moved to London “but don’t you miss the hot weather?”. Not one single bit and I really can’t explain it – hot weather makes me feel irritable and uncomfortable and when we lived in Sydney I used to dread it every time October rolled around.

The novelty of living in a cold climate will never wear off and nothing fills me with joy more than an English winter. Now is probably a good time to also add that I don’t remember the last time I saw a fly.

Wandering down Regent Street around christmas time, inhaling air so cold it takes your breath away. Walking past frozen lakes with trees so bare of leaves that they look like they’re sleeping against a soft pale grey winter sky. Booooootiful! Unless you’ve experienced it for yourself, it’s something hard to describe, but for me it’s magical.  And best of all, winter clothes … Delicious.

So this year I’ll be giving the 40 degree christmas day a miss again as we’re staying in London. The downside is with that hot climate I hate so much comes my gorgeous friends and family, who I love to bits and miss especially around Christmas. However this time next year I’ll be there to bitch about the heat with you in person!

So on Christmas Day I’ll be thinking of you all in Australia when I’m rugged up in cashmere, sitting by the fire with Rob and our cherubs … watching the snow fall outside. Sans mosquitoes.