A Canadian expat has complained about the freezing weather in Australia after moving Down Under from the ‘third coldest city in the world’.
Isabelle Mae has been living on the South Coast of New South Wales since the beginning of 2020 after relocating from Winnipeg, the capital city of the province of Manitoba.
According to AccuWeather, Winnipeg is one of the world’s coldest cities. The city has experienced some of the most ‘bone-chilling’ conditions imaginable, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 47°C (minus 54°F).
The average temperature of the coldest month is January, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 16.4°C (3°F), while the warmest month is July 19.7°C (67°F).
In a now-viral TikTok video, Isabelle filmed herself rugged up in a woollen coat with a hoodie as she sat on a sofa next to her dog Dutch inside their Australian home.
Canadian expat Isabelle Mae has complained about the freezing weather in Australia after moving Down Under from the ‘third coldest city in the world’
‘I moved from the third coldest city in the world in the middle of Canada to Australia. Why is it so cold? We’re so cold,’ she said.
‘Okay, it’s 10°C but the houses are not well insulated here.’
Her video has since been viewed more than 165,000 times, with many agreeing with her statement, saying homes in Australia are ‘not built for cold climates’.
‘My house is tiles, solid walls, high ceilings – it’s perfect for summer but a nightmare when it drops to freezing temperatures,’ one wrote.
Another Aussie said: ‘Australian homes – outside 10 degrees, insider minus two degrees. Summer nighttime, outside is 20 degrees, inside is 40 degrees.’
Isabelle said spent first year in Australia living in Cairns but admitted she preferred the country’s winter over summer
One woman added: ‘It’s winter and since it doesn’t snow in like 99 per cent of the country, our houses aren’t built to keep warmth in.’
While another explained: ‘Australian houses have surprisingly terrible insulation. And most houses don’t have double glazed windows.’
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Isabelle said she found it cold in Australia because the ‘level of insulation is vastly different’.
‘I find that houses here are sometimes colder inside than outside, and people tend to stay bundled up in their layers inside,’ she said.
‘Whereas in Canada, all buildings are kept at warm temperatures so you usually take off most of your layers when you’re inside. I don’t know why, but I really don’t like wearing socks when I’m not wearing shoes, but I think I’m going to have to learn.
‘It’s also a much wetter cold, Winnipeg is a very harsh dry cold, but once you’re inside you feel fine. The cold here tends to linger more.’
Isabelle said she initially came to Australian in 2015 where she spent one year living in Cairns in tropical Far North Queensland before moving back to Canada.
‘I found Cairns to be breathtakingly beautiful and there’s a lot about Cairns that I miss. However, I think I prefer the culture down here in on the South Coast and I’ll take the 5 to 10°C here over the 40°C there,’ she said.
Isabelle said she returned to the country at the beginning of 2020 – and has since been living in New South Wales.
‘I love Australia! I’m hoping to stay here for the rest of my life,’ she said.
In a second video, Isabelle responded to a group of people who criticised her for complaining about the cold weather in Australia.
‘I just wanted to take a second to say thank you to all the people who informed me that the reason it’s cold is because it’s currently winter in Australia and that I can be less cold by turning on the heater,’ she said in an amusing response.
‘I genuinely didn’t know about seasons or heaters [in Australia]. In Canada, we have one season, it’s winter and we all live in igloos so there’s no heaters.
‘Thank you so much, you’ve changed my life.’
Australia’s east coast shivered through the longest May cold streak in half a century, with temperatures plunging to single digits in major cities (stock image of a frosty paddock near a small country town of Tumut in New South Wales)
According to AccuWeather, Winnipeg is one of the world’s coldest cities. The city has experienced some of the most ‘bone-chilling’ conditions imaginable, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 47°C (minus 54°F) (stock image of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg)
Her video was viewed more than 7,800 times, with many quickly seeing the amusing side to her response.
‘You now have an Australian sense of humour,’ one wrote, while another said: ‘Love the sarcasm… Glad to see you have the Aussie sarcasm down pat.’
Her observation comes after millions of Australians weathered a record-breaking cold start to winter this year.
Australia’s east coast shivered through the longest May cold streak in half a century, with temperatures plunging to single digits in major cities.
The unseasonably cold snap was caused by icy polar air from Antarctica creeping its way over the Southern Ocean past Tasmania and Victoria and onto New South Wales, the ACT and Queensland.
In some areas the mercury plummeted well below freezing, reaching -7.5C at Glen Innes in Northern NSW and -9.5C at Perisher in the state’s Alpine region.