"Close your eyes," Leo said.

He drove her an hour south, past Wollongong, to a stretch of coast she’d never seen. They walked through dark sand dunes until they reached a cliff overlooking the Pacific. The sun was low, a pale winter orb. The wind cut through Maya’s jacket.

"Kind of," Maya admitted. "My mum just sent a photo. There’s a foot of snow on the driveway back home."

"Winter in Australia," she said slowly, tasting the words. "It's not when the world freezes. It's when the world breathes out."

Winter in Australia officially begins on and ends on August 31st . Because Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are reversed relative to the Northern Hemisphere.