First Day of Spring

It will come as a surprise to those in Europe that today marks the first day of spring Down Under. Europeans sensibly base their change of seasons on the equinoxes so change seasons around 21st  day of the month.  Australians ignore these geographical markers and change seasons regardless on 1st.
It has been a very dry winter this year, the second driest on record.  Although spring has started cold and wet, I'm glad really as we need the water.  Mind you "cold" is relative.  It was a chilly must wear a jumper and trousers 18 degrees.  Back in Paris that would have been a lovely warm day.  Why does 18 degrees feel so much colder on the other side of the planet?
It was a fun day.  Luke Simpkins MP came to award a silver Duke of Edinburgh award ( I'm the Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator) so it was very exciting for me to see it all happen after two years of effort. Also I got to announce the winner of our school competition.  Students had to design a poster to demonstrate our school Mission Statement.  First prize was an i-pod touch.  When I came to doing the judging in the July holidays there were so many other worthy entries that we decided to give away lots of itunes vouchers to the highly commended entries too. I really enjoyed calling the parents to come and see their children get prizes and asking them to keep it a secret until the big announcement. I'd love to work for the Lotteries commission and have the fun of handing out prizes all day :) Ah well dreaming is free.
Madame Griff