Last year, I met a guy who, upon finding out where I was from said, “UGH! Canberra is the absolute worst.* It’s hot in summer and cold in winter.” Instead of dwelling on his strange idea of what exactly the weather is supposed to be (because, last time I checked, it’s actually quite acceptable that summer is hot and winter is cold), I’d like to focus on the last part of his statement, because he was quite right: Canberra is pretty cold in winter.
I guess different people have different definitions of ‘cold’. If you’re new to the city, and think that anything lower than 20° is ‘cold’, I’m telling you right now that you’re in for a bit of a shock. But luckily for you – even though my name is not Kevin – I’m here to help. Having experienced a number of Canberra winters, I’ve got a few tips that you’ll hopefully find useful.
1. Socks
The other day, I made the second most game-changing purchase of my life (second only to the cinnamon doughnuts from Breadtop).
Enter: Target socks. AKA: the best socks for winter you could possibly imagine, and also the best $7.00 I’ve ever spent. By the way, it was a pack of two, so it was actually $3.50 per pair (or $1.75 per sock!). If you want to avoid your toes looking like the fingers of that girl who fell asleep outside during the Canadian winter, you need these socks. Alright, alright, so it doesn’t get quite that cold in Canberra, but still, you should definitely run-not-walk to your nearest Target for a pair of these.
2. Tissues
Everybody hates a sniffer (and yet… So. Many. Sniffers.), so you don’t want to be that person. I think it should be a worldwide policy that every man, woman and child have a packet of tissues on hand at all times – especially during the winter. So do yourself, and everyone around you, a favour and spend the $2.00 on a packet of Kleenex so you’re never unprepared for the inevitable runny nose because of the winter cold.
3. Beating S.A.D (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
Colds and ‘flus are not the only things that give winter a bad rap. The weather getting colder and the days getting darker can often affect people’s moods more than they would think. Sometimes what helps is a change of perspective. For example, my life motto is “I like to party and by party I mean take naps”, but during the summer, I always feel bad for not heading out ‘on the town’ (as my mum likes to say).
With winter approaching, you just need to get out there. So what if you’ll half freeze to death walking between venues? It’s all part of the fun of going out in Canberra. Grab a big jacket as well as your friends and enjoy some of our city’s best venues.
Winter in Canberra can be a magical time. All you need to do is embrace the cold rather than fight it. Soon, it will become your friend and, but the time winter returns in 2016, you’ll welcome it back with warm and open arms!
________________________________________________
* By the way, I later found out he was from Harden (Ten points to Gryffindor if you can tell me where that is without Googling it), so I really don’t think he was in any sort of position to be so judgemental!
