Winter

The day after the swim winter really arrived with heavy snow showers, although there were sunny intervals between them. It was quite strange to see the beach and dunes at Surf Bay covered in snow!
Blizzards continued throughout the week and, combined with some hard frosts at night, made for some very slippery conditions.
There are designated 'ice routes' through town, but even these received only minimal salting, gritting and clearing so were still tricky to travel on. All the steep hills in town were closed to traffic but appreciated by the children for sledging on.Many people said it was the most snow they had had for several years. As I had just started working as a district nurse it made getting around particularly challenging.
A thaw set in after a week and most of the snow disappeared quite quickly although there are still a few patches where it had drifted deeply.

At the anglican cathedral there was a midwinter fair, a fire-work display (I was working but Simon thoroughly enjoyed it) and a christdingle service. There were also coloured lights switched on all along the main street in town, making it feel like Christmas!