Welcome to Winter in New Zealand. Today is the Winter Solstice, shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. Temperatures here in Titahi Bay are 10-15 Celsius in the day and 3-10 at night. A few weeks ago I may have spotted some frost:
But as you can see by the rolling green hills, winter here is pretty weak :)
This is our alternative to toboganning:
Winter is the time for planting seeds for the coming spring. There have been a few community plantings in our local park of native grasses...
And trees...
Rugby is a winter sport, which means there can be quite a bit of dew and mist sometimes. Since it gets dark so early the kids practice under the park lights. Here is Dave's collection of future legends.
Instead of the super furnaces we have in Canada, here we use a large variety of methods to stay warm inside, including:
- fireplaces
- electric heaters
- oil heaters
- fan heaters
- electric blankets
- wool blankets
- flannel sheets
- duvets
- bed socks
- hot water bottles
- wheat bags (heat in microwave, put in your pockets or bed)
- many layers of clothing, especially wool jumpers
- air circulation systems in the ceiling
- one piece pyjamas for adults and children (onesies)
- lined curtains
Pages and pages of store flyers are dedicated to things you can buy to stay warm. The more money you spend, the warmer you will be! We all think winter is pretty awesome right now, but it might get colder so I better not brag too much.
In other news, I found out through this book that Bamiyan, Afghanistan is the "Friendly City" (sort of like twin city) to Porirua
If only we could get a Bamiyan Kabob Restaurant here, right Thorncliffites?
