Somewhere in Switzerland I imagine it’s looking a little like this once again.

Meanwhile, it’s absolutely sweltering in Australia! I spend half the day daydreaming about this idyllic spot half way up Mt Pilatus in Luzern, where I was delightfully cold and saw snow for the first time, which resulted in me (and many others, I’ll add!) running over and scooping up a snowball, before realising that both my gloved hands and booted-up feet were so cold they were burning.

Now back home, I’m risking experiencing a whole other world of burning and I can tell you which I prefer! Not that I don’t love sunny Queensland, but it has its moments. As the hottest day since December 2001 today (they fried an egg in our city square, the cement of which reached 61 degrees celsius!), I was beyond jealous when a friend in Zurich posted a photo from his window, entrenched in inches of snow.

The perks of this weather, of course, is that post-work drinks were at a poolside bar and I didn’t think twice about freezing to death, so life’s not all that tough.

Back to Luzern. This is only halfway up Mt Pilatus, so we jumped up after the 2nd or 3rd stop on the cable car. It is basically a snowy plateau, with the above picture showing the view up to the left, with a great view over what was basically a snowy forest straight ahead, which a view ventured down into. Most were too involved in the snowball fight (after getting over the initial burn) to get much further, but it stopped shortly after one too many snowballs was found to contain a rock or two. Then the freeze really kicked in and I found myself with my hands and feet glued to the heater in a vain attempt to heat them up, wondering if I could have got frostbite in the time I was out there and whether I’d see my fingers and toes again.

Maybe I’ll be back one day soon…although my next winter trip will be Canada and NY!