While much of the world shivers under snow and gray skies, winter in Australia offers a different kind of magic. From June to August, the land down under trades sunburned summers for crisp, golden days and cool starlit nights.
However, Australian winter is rarely the brutal, life-threatening freeze found in Chicago or Stockholm. It is a gentler, more contemplative season. It is the time when the relentless Australian sun softens, the harsh light mutes into a moody gray, and the landscape takes a breath.
In a display of typical Australian irreverence for the elements, the Winter Solstice (June 21) is often celebrated by running into the freezing ocean. Events like the "Dark Mofo" festival in Hobart see thousands of brave souls strip down and plunge into the River Derwent at sunrise.
