My head knows that the seasons here in Tasmania are back to front from my UK background. So I’m posting this monthly series to record the changing seasons and to encourage my mind to grasp this southern hemisphere reality.

December is summer.

It’s been a month of flowers, some familiar, lavender and hydrangea but also some unusual and beautiful natives such as “kangaroo paw”. You can see how the name originated from the shape of the buds before the delicate flower opens.

It has been a month of fresh local fruit at road side stalls and farmer’s markets. Cherries and raspberries and stoned fruit are simply delicious. They have so much flavour compared to the imported fruit we used to see in UK supermarkets throughout the whole year. Orchards are heavy with fruit waiting to be picked.

December has been hot days searching out the shade, relaxed evenings, pastel sunsets, showers and rainbows.

It’s been Christmas decorations in shops and on some buses. My favourite shop window was the local wool shop “We wish ewe a merry Christmas”.

And of course it has been a month of yachts, with the Sydney to Hobart race.