Down Under: Winter in Australia

While here in Northeast Ohio we are enjoying summer with barbecues, graduation parties and baseball games, we can't forget that our partners in the Southern Hemisphere are in their winter season.  Since many of our Southern Hemisphere partners come from Australia, and since I have never been there myself, I felt the need to do a bit of research (by the way, Australia's official tourism website, www.australia.com, is fantastic).   5 Things I Learned About Winter in Australia     Hiking and exploring are favorite winter-time activities since temperatures are normally mild. In Queensland and the Northern Territory the weather remains warm and dry, making these locations ideal for a vacation during school holiday. If skiing or snowboarding is a winter necessity, Victoria and New South Wales offer plenty of locations for downhill adventures.  Avid skiers also head to New Zealand for some fun on the slopes. Over 12,000 species of wildflowers bloom in Western Australia from June through September. Between May and November humpback whales travel north along the west and east coasts of Australia—a prime time for whale-watching! Since Christmas occurs in the Australian summer, holiday festivities are plentiful during the winter.  Yulefest in the Blue Mountains and the Fireside Festival in Canberra are perfect opportunities to get a taste of the holidays. To read about hiking trails in Australia, check out Walks in Nature: Sydney and Walks in Nature: Melbourne—the maps are color-coded according to season! For additional information about whale-watching and holiday festivals (and to learn more about traveling in Australia) consider purchasing Lonely Planet's Australia or Discover Australia.   If you're in Australia and looking to engage your users this winter, why not start a Digital Book Club, or encourage your users to explore a new language, catch up on the classics, and read (or re-read!) the Harry Potter series? Our newly updated Marketing Kit has a plethora of resources for any of these winter-reading initiatives.   Do you live in Australia? What are you doing this winter to promote your digital library? In my opinion, winter in Australia sounds great—what other note-worthy winter events did my internet sleuthing not uncover?   Karen Jakubczak is an Account Specialist at OverDrive

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