Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Winter cold

Morning fog and frost in Jindabyne.
Brouillard matinal et givre blanc à Jindabyne.

With -1°C recorded in Sydney's western suburbs, yesterday was the coldest morning in 21 years. There was white frost on my car, something I had never never seen before in the six years I've lived here. Sydney homes are generally poorly insulated and most have no heating apart from the occasional portable electric heater. Of course the days are often warm and sunny but as soon as the sun sets, nights are cold and I've heard many European women (used to harsher winters but also to central heating) complain about how cold it is inside the houses here - why is it that women always feel the cold more than men?

Avec une température de -1°C dans les quartiers ouest, hier a été le matin le plus froid enregistré à Sydney depuis 21 ans. Il y avait du givre blanc sur ma voiture, ce que je n'avais jamais vu depuis six ans que je vis ici. Les maisons à Sydney sont généralement très mal isolées (pas de matériaux isolants, plein de courants d'air sous les portes etc.) et n'ont le plus souvent aucun chauffage à part un ou deux petits radiateurs électriques portables. Bien sûr, les journées souvent ensoleillées sont belles avec des températures autour de 18°, mais dès que le soleil se couche les nuits sont froides et j'ai souvent entendu des européennes, habituées à des hivers bien plus rudes mais aussi au chauffage central, se plaindre du froid dans les maisons ici (toujours des femmes, d'ailleurs - pourquoi souffrent-elles du froid plus que les hommes ?) b
Winter storm on the coast between Tamarama beach and Bronte.
Tempête d'hiver sur la côte entre Tamarama et Bronte.
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44 comments:

Kate said...

What a wonderful shot of the beach and waves. Splendid!!

Janet said...

Winters must not be too cold there if you don't have much frost, but I can't imagine not having heat when you do have frost! Brrr!

freelancer said...

Ca fait froid dans le dos, ici il fait 35°C ... mais cela donne envie de passer l'hiver en australie !
Très belles photos.

Et toi tu as un chauffage d'appoint ou central ?

Lavenderlady said...

Oh, I want to be here!!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm.. yummy.... proper weather. None of this unnatural sunshine stuff we're getting at the moment. The frozen thistle warms the cockles of my heart....

Cergie said...

L’hiver t’a offert trois images qui sont des splendeurs, mais tu as le mérite d’être allée les chercher, de les voir, de les saisir...
Avec ce message et ton message précédent tu brosses un portrait surprenant de l’Australie bien, bien loin des clichés !

Tu me fais penser au roman "Rebecca" de Daphné du Maurier. Magnifique roman dont Hitchcock a tiré un film (du Maurier lui a offert aussi "les oiseaux")
Rebecca, épouse morte noyée de Maxim de Winter
Le domaine de Manderley et son cadre magnifique
La nouvelle épouse sans nom qui se débat contre l’omni-présence de la morte
La cabane sur la plage où est la clé du drame
Tes trois photos sont le décor du roman...

hpy said...

Tes premières photos m'on fait chercher quelque chose à mettre sur le dos! Et la troisième m'a rechauffée malgré les vagues.

JaamZIN said...

we have like 40 Celsius today...so its good to come to your site to cool down:)

Anonymous said...

Wow. That top photo of the old tree and gate is tremendous. It looks like a photo straight out of a John Wayne western movie and the bottom one of the ocean, is in contrast to the first one and looks like the first page in a travelogue. Wonderful photography. What did you eat for breakfast???

Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo

claude said...

Brrrrr ! But pictures are great ! Back home from north of Germany where it has been warm !

Anonymous said...

All three photos are splendid. The one of the coast is just gorgeous, and I wouldn't have known it was cold in that one. I could sit there and listen to the crash of waves for a long time right now. Stay warm!

Anonymous said...

35 degres a l'ombre ici .. c'est une joie de decouvrir vos belles et rafraichissantes photos

Chuckeroon said...

Great sea shot, to your usual standard. I'd forgotten it is winter there.....super frost shot.

Annie said...

Night time is the coldest, I suppose. Time to put on the wool hat and gloves while sitting around the television.

I hope the sun warms you today. The pictures you present today are wonderful to see - and I love the names of the places there around Sydney, very picturesque sounding.

Annie

Jilly said...

Amazing to see Sydney as cold as this. Your photographs are simply stunning. I love the first one, with the mists and of course the last on of the beach. Just beautiful.

Dsole said...

BEAUTIFUL SET OF PICS!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how beautiful photos, I almost miss our winter - almost :)

I hope, you have some kind of heating system at your home!

Take care!

Andrew said...

I was wondering why women are always colder han men too. Anywho, awesome pictures, Thank You

Bobby D. said...

So incredibly beautiful! I love wintertime so much!

M. CHRISTOPHE said...

Bonjour Nathalie

Un grand merci pour la qualité des images et du commentaire de ces 2 derniers envois.
Un visage suprenant de cette région si longtaine et qui nous fait tous un peu rèver.

Lilly said...

Great pictures.
our planet is so amazing. It is very hot in here. 40 degrees!!

iBlowfish said...

I enjoyed your post today. And your first picture above just created sense of mysterious.

Steve Buser said...

All the photos are really great. An exceptional post

--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo

Olivier said...

ce brouillard , une ambiance de film de zombie, un remake de la nuit des morts vivants ;o). que voila de belles photos, il est toujours déroutant de voir les différences de saisons selon les hémisphères.

Anonymous said...

La première photo me plaît beaucoup. Ambiance digne d'un roman de Emily Bronte.

Sally said...

A friend of mine from England (who grew up in a terrace in Liverpool with virtually no heating!) stayed with me one winter and nearly died of cold - even though I think our house is quite warm. We heat the main living areas - with fan-forced electric heaters, but NEVER the bedrooms. Even when we lived in England with central heating, i couldn't stand heated bedrooms - always made me feel claustrophobic somehow. Much prefer to snuggle down under the doona!

I suppose a lot more people now have reverse cycle aircon - makes sense rather than just heating I suppose. But when you DO have a colder winter like this one, you really do feel it in Sydney, that's for sure!

Maxime said...

La lumière d'hiver est-elle toujours aussi belle en Australie, ou bien tu as choisi ton jour ?
La composition de bleus et d'ocres est magnifique sur la photo du littoral, mais j'aime beaucoup aussi l'arbre dans la brume...

travelphilippines said...

wow nice beach i would recommend this to my friend whos going to sydney in a few hours.

Anonymous said...

Hum ca me rafraichit bien ces petits cristaux de glace... Ici on degouline, la chaleur est ecrasante... Je ne sais pas encore comment sera l'hiver mais il sera sans aucuns doute moins beau que votre hiver austral... Bonne glisse

Zannnie said...

wish you keep warm and i love that waves photo in this post! ;)

the heat in Budapest to me is too much! and i am craving for some refreshing sight instead of terrible heat everywhere here now...

Peter said...

Have been "off" for a while, but I now checked your latest posts. Impressed by all these for me so "different" winter photos!

Bobby D. said...

I had to come back and look again! It is so BROILING hot here, I feel like a kebob on the grill when I go outside.


snow...beautiful snow...when I see it again I will take a zillion photos...

Z said...

The last photo of the beach is gorgeous. I love rocky, rough beaches, though this does seem to have a lot of sand too.

Glad you liked the summer photos over in Villigen!

Gregory Sey said...

Mais? Il est passé ou mon commentaire?

GMG said...

One below? Incredible! But at least that gave oportunity for such great shots. The sea storm is terrific!

Anonymous said...

Imparfait present, je n'ai effacé aucun commentaire, et surtout pas de toi, dont j'apprécie toujours la visite !!!

Anonymous said...

Nathalie - these are again stunning photos. I remember the chill winds in September in Sydney - westerlies, straight off the snow! M.B finally posted one of our snow photos on ADP!

Ann (MobayDP) said...

I am tempted to wish for some of that cold weather here in Jamaica! But I won't because I hate being cold and our homes are very poorly insulated.

Stay warm & Meilleurs voeux !

Ann (MobayDP) said...

I am tempted to wish for some of that cold weather here in Jamaica! But I won't because I hate being cold and our homes are very poorly insulated.

Stay warm & Meilleurs voeux !

Gregory Sey said...

je disais que tes photos sont maginifiques!

Pod said...

love that top pic madame!

sonia a. mascaro said...

Wonderful photo!

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Good job!