Yo! Aussie & Kiwi Ladies-how is "winter"

[RoadRaven]

Well, very mild here in the Bay
But that is not good news for me/mine.
We are on a farm, and the ground is rapidly getting too cold for the grass to grow even if it does rain
We are at the beginning of a winter drought, and our stock are facing a tough few months.
We cant sell any more as everybody is quitting their animals, so we'll just have to try and carry them through as best we can...

If we weren't farming, I would be loving this "winter"
(Its winter solstice in just a month, so def winter here)

[Laterider21958]

Icy, gusty winds with episodes of heavy rain on the way to work. Lots of icy wind during the day and then a heavy downpour as I got home from work. Must say, I was glad I drove the car! (I guess I'm not a dedicated cyclist yet.)

[beetle]

Well for a soft Sydneysider I think it is definitely winter - well at 0600 on sat mornings it feels like it.

CC - I ordered some GE witches britches the other day too. Am a big fan, I got to try them on a couple of not too early rides in Canberra on the weekend. To be honest I won't bother with full tights after using them, they will be quite enough for an aussie winter. I am going to have to sort out my feet though, even in a very daggy pair of toasty hiking socks my toes were v numb after 90mins.

Notummymummy - love your avatar! is that your bub?

On the snow topic, my husband comes from Hobart and yes one Christmas when visiting his parents there was snow on top of Mt Wellington.

[RoadRaven]

So, icey gusty sleet and snow in Invercargill today
Torrential downpours in the last week or so north and west of me here in the North Island.

But here in Hawkes Bay we are entering our 10th month of low/no rainfall.
We had 7mm in May, and non so far this month.
The ground is dry and brown and my son complains it is hard to hunt rabbits because of the crunching underfoot (dry grass) as he walks.

There is virtually no food left for our animals, there have been gale force westerlies for nearly a week.

This looks like the summer parching of February, or the Spring equinoxal winds ... not like the approach of mid-winter and solstice

[crazycanuck]

RR-I do hope you recieve some rain the next month or so.
I saw the news story on the NZ Herald site about the severe weather warning and didn't see any mention of rain
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10444151

I think most of the farmers in Australia understand how you feel about very little rain.

Here's hoping for rain in Hawke's bay!

C

[crazycanuck]

Hey NSW ladies,

Have you been affected by the horrible weather near Newcastle? Wow!

My thoughts are with the loved ones of the missing

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21875727-2,00.html

Bad week for accidents & weather in NSW & Vic

First the Kerang rail tragedy & now weather related tragedy.
(http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599...rom=public_rss)

My thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones in the accident.
C

[RoadRaven]

Wow, some nasty sad stuff across the Ditch
If anyone is connected to this, my thoughts to you from EnZed
Thanks for posting the links CC. (Today news links are loading for me!)

Strong to gale force westerly gusts continue on my part of this island... its race day today... an out and back 39km course and we will have a cross wind all the way, there and back, I think.

I woke up this morning at 5:30 as the side of the house got thumped again. Not sure how my children sleep through it!

Its 7am now and already 15'... doesn't seem like mid-winter at all.

[Oscarjane]

Rode this morning and must admit it was the coldest I have ridden this year. This is my first winter on the bike so don't know what to expect, but this morning was very very cold, but at least once the sun came up it was a clear day and not foggy. Temp was around 2 at 6am this morning

[Thistle]

we had snow in some parts of canberra this morning. people out in captains flat and bungendore have been told to take the day off cos the roads are treacherous

still not riding to work, hope to get back to that next week.

did a 10k ride on the weekend. i havent done more than 2kms at a time since i got sick in april. feeling about 80% though, so am planning to ride to work next week.

update on the whooping cough, broke my rib coughing. great so that has delayed my return to the bike somewhat.

but, most importantly, went to my new job yesterday (i start on the 2nd july) and amongst everything else, was shown my new office ... which is large enough to house my bike and located the showers!!

so, things are looking up! funny how one of my main priorities yesterday was to check out (surreptitiously) how biking to work would work

[RoadRaven]

Well, winter is def here...

We have had over 100mm of rain over the past 5 days or so... so although it is too late for grass to grow, at least the fire ban is off!

Tomorrow the forecast is for rain and cold sou'easters... gonna race anyway!

[enzed]

It's raining again. I can only hope that the rain helps full up the dam & doesn't affect north too much.

On Thursday, I was hoping to make the ride home before the rain came in the arvo. 30 mins from home, down came the rain.
Since Thursday is the day I play ulimate frisbee,I rang up the council phone line to check if all the sports fields were closed, the answer being yes.
That makes 2 weeks of sports practise being cancelled, and the way things are going next Thursday will be cancelled as well.
Apparently it's the wettest June in 4 years.

Oh well, it could be worse.
I could be living thru another Palmy winter, with heaps of rain, wind, grey skies, hail, frost & chill-blains. I think I'm becoming a bit "soft" living in Oz, and need to toughen up a bit.

[crazycanuck]

Enzed..you think you feel wimpy with Aussie winters..

I wonder if i've become a wimp. What will happen if Ian & I ever move back to Canada & experience a real winter

Winter in Perth does not compare to an Edmonton winter at all!!!

Nothing like a 24C "winter's "day...

C

[crazycanuck]

Hey, who sent us the cold winds? brrrrrr..At least we don't have the rain to go with it!!! (we need rain...)

GAH!

RR-how's the weather in Napier?

C

[RoadRaven]

Hey there CC

We had 102mm of rain over 6 days... and it was that bitter cold wind that is fresh from snow clouds... (wore many clothes on Saturday race - only 57 riders turned up instead on the usual 110 or so!)

Yesterday there was a light wind - it was cold - but we had sunshine which was delightful...
More rain forecast for the end of the week... hoping we will be lucky and get a break in the weather like last Saturday (described in my racing goals thread) because this week is a 43km race and thats a long time in the elements when there is fresh snow on the ranges!

So... how are you coping with your chilly days in the low 20's?