Having lived for several years in other Aussie capital cities -- Sydney most recently -- I often think about how Perth differs from them. Windiness is certainly one of the major points of difference. Perth is easily the windiest city in Australia, and is reputed to rank number 3 globally for this factor.

And that's been very obvious lately. We've had several wet, wild and windy days lately. It's been so bad, my pilot light for the gas heater has been blown out once again. (The first time this occurred was at about the same time last year.) And I thought I had it well covered.

You sometimes get these really awful days with showers and really strong gusts of wind. At these times you'll be battling to stop your umbrella from being pulled inside out. If it's not super sturdy you'll often need a new one after a couple of similar days.

Another annoying thing about the wind here is how it really sneaks up on you. It can be almost completely still and then bang, you're hit by this enormously powerful gust. I do a lot of walking, and I wear a sun cap. In the last couple of weeks it's just blown right off my head at least sick or seven times. I think that only happened once or twice the whole time I was in Sydney.