…I do still occasionally go for the passenger car door when I’m meant to be driving.

We’re deep in the heart of winter here in Sydney at the moment but it doesn’t ever really get proper cold here. Very occasionally, out further west (pretty much where I work) it can be one or two degrees Celsius in the mornings before warming up to sixteen or seventeen degrees during the day. But that’s pretty rare. Most days the overnight low is probably between seven and ten degrees.

But here’s the rub. When I walk outside in the morning and it’s thirteen degrees, I feel cold. As a Canadian I tell myself, “Thirteen degrees is not cold you idiot,” but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s bloody cold out!

And don’t even get me started on the indoor situation. Most Australian buildings retain absolutely zero heat in the winter (they retain all the heat in the summer though!) which means it feels cold inside too. I remember during my first winter here I’d be crowded around the gas heater in the staffroom at work with a British woman. We’d comment how pathetic we felt, the ones from cool climates huddling around a heater in Australia, land of the sun.

So while I’ve coped with the indoor heating situation, being cold outdoors in thirteen degrees is worrisome. Amanda and I are planning on moving back to Vancouver later this year (more on that later) and I’m very concerned how the Vancouver winter is going to treat me. If I can’t even cope with an Australian winter, Canada’s next winter may do some serious damage.

And Amanda…well she’s got a big shock coming to her.

Amanda and I drove over to South Head today in the hopes of seeing some of the Humpback whales that are currently heading north along Australia’s east coast. We spotted numerous fountains of water from various blowholes before we finally saw, way out there, a spray followed by a small little breach of a whale. Despite being miles away it was still pretty cool. Especially for someone who’s always loved whales.

The photo above does actually have a whale in it, if you look carefully. If you check out the photo at this link, you can see it with my helpful notes.

Like last year, I spent Canada Day at work. I tried pulling the whole national holiday thing but for some reason it didn’t fly at work today. And like last year, I wore the above shirt to work. A colleague who was out of town on excursion even remembered to text me a “Happy Canada Day.” Well done, Chris.

Amanda also surprised me by decorating the apartment in anything Canadian/red. She’s awesome. My other highlight of Canada Day was seeing someone wearing a Canucks jersey at Central Station on my way home. I was tempted to say something to the man but then remembered I’m pretty anti-social.