During the trip planning, I felt obligated to check the weather we could expect in Australia. Initially, the travel plan involved spending a month in Victoria and then another month in Tasmania. Victoria and the entire main island seemed vast, so we were unsure what to do there 😉. That’s when I found an apartment at Tink Taylor in Tasmania and fell in love with it. After showing it to Marianna, the deal was done. She noticed a jacuzzi in the photos and we immediately booked our stay for as long as possible 😊. That way we landed in Tasmania for over 6 weeks, completely giving up on staying in Victoria.

I glanced at the map and carefully checked where exactly Tasmania is. I estimated it to be roughly at the same latitude as Italy. Therefore, I expected it to be very pleasant, sunny, and warm. I set up a weather app on my phone to show me the forecast for Launceston. It looked great; it was sunny all week with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, and it was only October, the beginning of spring in the southern hemisphere. I thought to myself that it is going to be even better in December, as summer was approaching. I also checked the number of sunny days per year, and the statistics looked positive for Launceston too. I felt like I had done my homework well, and in December, we would have a beautiful, sunny summer with temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius in Tasmania.

I couldn’t have been more wrong…

Upon landing in Launceston, it was indeed over 20 degrees Celsius and sunny. The next morning, the first thing I did was chop wood for the fireplace. The weather forecast for the entire week was cloudy, with an average temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius and a cold wind. As we later found out, Launceston has its own microclimate; being in a valley, temperatures can be 5-7 degrees Celsius higher than in the rest of the island.

December 13th is a day we will long remember – there were practically storms all day long. It poured, and it was dark. Our neighbours, who have been living in Tasmania for years, had never experienced such a day before. Here’s the view from our window.

Photo: Downpour and storms in Tasmania

At our next stay, this time in Port Arthur, we experienced similar weather – this time without storms, but with hail, and the temperature dropped to about 12 degrees Celsius. We spent the entire day indoors, sitting by the fireplace, and playing board games. Surprisingly, the next day, we were sunbathing and swimming at Stewart Beach.

Photo: Hailstorm in Tasmania

December 2023 in Tasmania, in our opinion, was cold and windy, with most days being cloudy. Hoodies and jackets were essential. Sometimes, temperatures even dropped to 7 degrees Celsius during the day in Cradle Mountain. Tasmanian summer is more akin to the English one. If someone is looking for tropics and cloudless skies, Tasmania is not the place to go to. Sometimes such days happen, but usually not.

The main conclusion is that the weather here in December varies significantly from day to day and week to week. Essentially, you can experience all seasons from a sunny, warm summer, through a windy and wet autumn, to variable weather in spring, and even winter in Cradle Mountains. January, February, and March are the months with the most sun, and warmest days.

The poster below shows the weather we experienced in Tasmania. It hung on our apartment at Tink Taylor.

Photo: Cool Off in Tasmania