Anyone who follows me on Instagram will have noticed a significant decline in pictures of Bondi Beach accompanied with lots of heart emojis.
Alas Sydney winter arrived in June and has stuck around for some time.
I don’t believe I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder or anything extreme like that, but like most British people I do yearn for sunshine. It’s one of the primary reasons for moving to Sydney and why I picked this city instead of Melbourne, which is known for having more culture and nightlife, a big part of my lifestyle.
So what is winter in Sydney like? As much as I dislike the cold, there’s something sweet and romantic about curling up by the fireplace or having mulled wine. Reykjavik, Iceland, was one of my favourite holiday destinations and a place I am committed to returning to.
Can Sydney offer similar experiences? Of course not.
However, we should be extremely grateful that it does not provide the bitter coldness of European cities. As someone who feels the cold much more than most, it does start to wear you down when you’re needing 4+ layers to leave the house to watch the football, or have heaps of heavy items to leave in a cloakroom of a bar because it’s physically impossible to survive the trek to get there without layering up. Berlin is one of my favourite cities – so much culture, history and brilliant party opportunities, but one of the reasons I could never live there is because it gets so unbearably cold even in Spring.
In Sydney, a beanie hat and leather jacket should just about sort you out during the depths of Australian winter. A parka certainly wouldn’t hurt, but in reality is only necessary in the evenings for sustained periods. Our winters are generally fine, except for a few significant factors:
- Sydney architecture is, inexplicably, not equipped for winter. Central heating isn’t a thing here…something I have never understood. It’s not like the convicts arrived, set up shop and then received an incredible shock upon discovering that a thing called ‘the cold’ exists, with Australia unable able to adapt ever since, is it? Either way, evenings can be a struggle and investing in a halogen heater has been one of the most important things I have done since moving here.
- Sydney is designed for beaches and the great outdoors. Melbourne is the more ‘cultural’ city for a reason – the weather is dreadful. Therefore you’re more likely to be cooped up in a warm cafe or bar because you can’t bear to go outside. As such, come winter-time here…there isn’t actually that much to do. Surfing is still popular but the water is that bit colder, and for beginners the waters are much tougher and choppier. But rooftop bars become less significant, days at the beach nonexistent and with it being the summer festival season in Europe and North America, there aren’t many touring bands, musicians or comedians at this time.
Sydney winters are certainly not difficult or unlivable….they’re just a bit ‘meh’. Many times we’ll get a nice, crisp, sunny day and that’s enjoyable. But you’d prefer a sunny day when it’s actually hot…
Many of my weekends have been (when not working) chilling at home and then hitting a party or bar that evening and that’s a shame. You’d have hoped more activities and festivals would happen here to compensate for the lack of sunshine but it feels like all of Sydney simply goes into hibernation.
Work has taken over my life over the Autumn and Winter however, meaning I’ve been too busy focused on that to think about yearning for summer. Perhaps next year I’ll have more time to explore and find winter-specific activities? Newtown is generally where winter picks up with more going on, something I may have simply missed. Snowboarding in the South and in New Zealand also picks up massively, and is something to enjoy.
The main reason to be thankful in Sydney winter? They still do mulled wine.
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