Winter In Paradise

When the inhabitants of England talk about Australia, it is as some kind of ever sunny, eternally hot eurphoric paradise inhabited by tanned 'clothing averse' blondes and racist, overweight country folk.

Certainly, during the summer time the sun beats down with a ferocity such as would never be experienced in Europe (something to do with missing Ozone), and the many beautiful white beaches are full of backpackers and locals, sunbathing, BBQing and surfing. Unfortunately during most of this period, I was at work, sitting in an air conditioned office on the 6th floor of a city centre office block at least 10 yards from the nearest window.

And then more recently Summer has turned into Winter (apparently it is the other way round in the Southern Hemisphere in case you were wondering). The days now are shorter than they ever were in England - it gets dark here at around 4.30pm.

I have begun to realise that it was not just the temperature that used to depress me during the ling British winter. It was the shortness of the days and the fact that I never got to see the daylight. I for one would definitely petition to work from around 5pm to 2am and have my days free.

And it is cold here...

Well that is actually as bit of a lie. It's not 'proper' cold here. It doesn't actually get much below 15 (celcius) as far as I can tell.

But the 'Sydneysiders' still wrap up in their hats and scarves and complain about the bitter cold. Their British roots cause them to talk about the weather incessantly. The schoolkids on the bus marvel at the sight of condensation on the bus windows and draw pictures and scrawl their names in the mornings.

And there is a reason why...

Basically most typical houses and units (flats / apartments) in Sydney (or at least every one that I have seen) are very badly designed. They have no insulation (which would help keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter) and no double glazing.

Heating is generally provided by little electric heaters (of the kind that were pretty much phased out of UK houses for their costliness), there are few gas heating systems (even though east coast gas is relatively cheap here). Or, as in the case of our unit, there is no heating at all, so you are forced to buy multiple little crappy electric heaters. Basically the units that I have seen are pretty much energy efficiency disaster areas.

Added to this Electricity here is generated almost entirely from coal, a fact that contributes to Australia being one of the highest emitters of CO2 (per head) in the world. And the units are freezing!