so.. we're off to Cairns this weekend for a friend's wedding so I was contemplating what to pack (pretty much a big packet of sunscreen, floppy hat and "flip-flops" I guess!), so I checked out the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's site to see the weather forecast... whilst I was there I thought I'd check the recent history of weather in this region (it's been pretty hot around here...)

For all you guys enjoying a white Christmas, here's an image of the recent top temperatures in Australia - yellow is around 30 degrees Celcius (86 F), and it just goes up from there... pink is quite warm, red reflects what your face looks like after about a half hour in the sun, and the brown... well that's just getting into the "stupid hot" territory (110+ F)!



In case you're not Aussie-Aware, Sydney is in the bottom right hand side about a quarter of the way up, and Cairns is in the top on the right hand side. Given the way the temperature has been it's going to be a hot ol' weekend in the Sushine State!


for more info - detailed australian temps for December 2005