Swap Summer for Winter? Are You Crazy?
It is often said that when living in Chicago, you onlyget three good weather months - June, July and August. So when I had the opportunity to travel down to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in June, I kind of hoped I could delay my trip until November. Why would I want to lose out on my limited outdoor time in the U.S. to travel to a country that was about to go into their few cold months? But alas, I begrudgingly made my way to the airport for my long-haul flight.
Arriving into Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, I expected rain, humidity and general cyclone-like weather. After all, this part of world is in the tropics and that's the weather one expects in June and July! But traveling to the Southern Hemisphere means you flip their season and Cairns was in the middle of their dry, winter season. Bright, blue skies, 80 degree temperatures, low humidity. True paradise!
So here are a handful of reasons why it’s not crazy to swap summer for winter:
- Calm waters, less wind at the Great Barrier Reef as opposed to the wet season’s rough waters
- Less rain, consistently sunny
- Perfect beach day, every day
- You’ll be surrounded by a lot more locals than international tourists
- You can take the family: U.S. kids are out of school
- Fewer Aussie students around as they are in school
There are a few disadvantages, of course. Great places like Byron Bay, an ideal surfing beach town south of Brisbane, Palm Cove, which boasts one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and Port Douglas, a true Aussie getaway vacation town smack dab in the middle of the Daintree and Cairns, are busy with locals and, of course, it’s tough to break away from the summer in the U.S. But those are minor to say the least.
So, is it crazy to swap summer for winter? Yes, it’s crazy good. Just pack your light pants, jeans, a sweater for the evenings and, of course, your swimmers and you’re ready to spend winter at the Reef.
Call us to plan your “summer getaway!”
Arriving into Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, I expected rain, humidity and general cyclone-like weather. After all, this part of world is in the tropics and that's the weather one expects in June and July! But traveling to the Southern Hemisphere means you flip their season and Cairns was in the middle of their dry, winter season. Bright, blue skies, 80 degree temperatures, low humidity. True paradise!
So here are a handful of reasons why it’s not crazy to swap summer for winter:
- Calm waters, less wind at the Great Barrier Reef as opposed to the wet season’s rough waters
- Less rain, consistently sunny
- Perfect beach day, every day
- You’ll be surrounded by a lot more locals than international tourists
- You can take the family: U.S. kids are out of school
- Fewer Aussie students around as they are in school
There are a few disadvantages, of course. Great places like Byron Bay, an ideal surfing beach town south of Brisbane, Palm Cove, which boasts one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and Port Douglas, a true Aussie getaway vacation town smack dab in the middle of the Daintree and Cairns, are busy with locals and, of course, it’s tough to break away from the summer in the U.S. But those are minor to say the least.
So, is it crazy to swap summer for winter? Yes, it’s crazy good. Just pack your light pants, jeans, a sweater for the evenings and, of course, your swimmers and you’re ready to spend winter at the Reef.
Call us to plan your “summer getaway!”
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