Weather is an interesting topic. Particularly of late. Perhaps its the way Sydney changes from Summer to Winter overnight (or as Evelyn says “extreme summer to summer”), or the fact that quite a few of our friends (us included) are making the big move to the Northern Half of this amazing blue planet. But the other night while having dinner with my cousin George, he said “I imagine Vancouver will be a nice place to live despite the weather” . I tried to explain to him that the temperate weather was one of the significant factors in moving in there. He couldn’t comprehend that people would live in a cooler climate by choice. He kept saying “all things being equal, you’d wanna live somewhere hot”, like stinking hot summers were everyone’s choice. Now he is biased, as he’s firmly in the “Australia is God’s country” corner. But people I know who have similar reservations to Australia as myself (John Howard is a dick, putting refugees in jail is a crime, invading Iraq was a big-ass mistake) enjoy the uber-hotness that is a Sydney summer. They also can’t understand our enjoyment of cooler weather.

I feel perhaps most of this is coming from a geniune misunderstanding of Vancouver weather. Its really not that cold in the winter. Sure it rains a lot, and its cool, but it hardly ever snows. Snow is so rare in Vancouver that when it does snow, none of the drivers know what to do. The province usually has 50% of car accidents on the few days its snows (apparently is advisable to ignore your brakes in the snow - but I wouldn’t know). And summer in Vancouver is warm. Nice mid-20s temperatures. Temperatures you can actually enjoy and do things in, rather than hiding in dark cold places like shopping centres and movie theatres. When I was home last it was so hot I had to buy mum a fan. It was a really hot day - it got up to 30! Vancouver’s not like Toronto. Vancouver is warm in the summer and cool in the winter: Toronto is stinking hot in summer and sub-artic in the winter.

But then again, there is the “grass is always greener” argument. But in this case its true. Did I mention that it rains a lot in Vancouver? A LOT. Its posted the record for most continuous days of rain last year (29). Lets see how long we like the wet weather - then again, after six years of drought here in Sydney, I’m looking forward to cool sea breezes.

But don’t take my word for it, from the Vancouver Airport Fact Sheet:

Known as Rain City, Vancouver has a very wet reputation. Yet, the city itself does not actually receive that much rain, most of it falling in the surrounding areas, such as North Vancouver. The climate is fair and consistent year-around, with generally more rain in the winter (end November to March) than summer months (July to September). Summer in Vancouver is spectacular, with the many accessible beaches and warm days, at times reaching above 30 degrees celsius. In winter, Vancouver rarely sees snow on the ground, yet the surrounding mountains on Vancouver ’s North Shore receive healthy doses of snow to keep the skiers and snowboarders happy.

Doesn’t that sound nice?