Winters in Far North Queensland tend to be rather gentle affairs. peak temperatures drop to around 25 (C) and minimums to a pleasant 18 ~ 19 (C). Most winters do not require much in the way of blankets and life is pretty pleasant.
This year however we are suffering from a climatic event that has been christened "The Antarctic Vortex" which has seen temperatures struggle to get above 22 ~23 during the day, it was 9 degrees last night and the less said about that the better, three "summer weight" blankets and we were still shivering, eventually we broke out the sleeping bags and slept in those.
Not having wintered in a cold place for a decade or so and then being suddenly faced by cold makes you realize that you have discarded or no longer fit in your winter outfits. This morning I rode the XT to work because my motorcycling jackets are about the warmest jackets I own and I wanted to wear one at work until the air-conditioning warmed the place up, I thought I might look a bit silly in my jacket and boots if I didn't actually have a motorcycle downstairs.
Tonight is going to be a warmer 11 degrees, but according tothe news service there is a second wave coming and we are looking at having at least another week of extraordinary cold. I briefly entertained th enotion of goign downstairs and taking photos of the KLE re-assembled but after poking my nose outside, I changed my mind.
