With the southern winter having officially started on June 1, the skiing season Down Under is nearly here.

There haven't been reports of sufficient snowfalls in the alpine regions and it is expected snow making machines will be working overtime to get the slopes ready for the influx of skiers.

Coronet Peak just outside Queenstown is reported as ready for the June 5 opening of the New Zealand ski season. Australian ski resorts are expected to be open when the holiday crowds — June 12 to 14 is the Queen's Birthday long weekend — trek up the mountains.

• Skiing in New South Wales
  
• Skiing in Victoria
  
• Skiing in Tasmania
  
• Skiing in New Zealand
  
• Skiing at Mount Cook
  
• New Zealand's Snow Parks
  
• Glaciers of the West Coast

Photo: Skiers at Tasmania's Ben Lomond National Park, courtesy Tourism Tasmania and Ray Joyce

In a country where Christmas takes place in the summer, it seemed only a matter of time before people started enjoying the spirit and the trappings of Christmas in the middle of the Australian year — which is when it's winter in Australia...

Yes, it's Yulefest in the Blue Mountains and Christmas fare is on the table. It has now become traditional to celebrate Yulelfest in the Blue Mountains not in December in the heat of the Australian summer but in the winter months of June, July and August, reaching its climax in Christmas in July celebrations.

Celebrations do not take place in Katoomba and nearby areas alone but also at Jenolan Caves where you can enjoy Christmas fare at Caves House and explore the underworld of caves as well.

• The Blue Mountains: The High Blue Yonder
• Yulefest in the Blue Mountains
• Jenolan Caves: Striking Limestone Formations
• Where to Stay in the Blue Mountains

Photo: Chisholms Grand Dining Room, Caves House, Jenolan Valley, courtesy Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust

We'd been having cool days and nights and now June 1 sees the first official day of winter. There had been some really chilly nights when I'd shivered with the cold, and this was in late autumn in Sydney.

Now winter begins, so of course, it should — and will — be cold. Except for snow flurries and in the upper slopes, the snow hasn't quite fallen yet in the Snowy Mountains but you know it's coming, and the Snowy Mountains resorts are gearing up for the opening of the ski season on June 6, the first day of the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

For those who like escaping from the cold, there's always tropical northern Australia such as the holiday resort regions of the Queensland Gold Coast, Noosa and other points north.

• Australia in June
• Is Winter the Best Time to Visit Sydney?
• Canberra in the Winter
• Yulefest in the Blue Mountains
• Where to Ski in Australia and New Zealand

Photo: Cross-country skiing in Kosciuszko National Park © Australian Tourist Commission

Sydney has gone Vivid with the opening of this year's Vivid Sydney Festival. Vivid Sydney continues until June 21.

Vivid Sydney is a festival of light, music and ideas that includes large-scale light installations and projections through to music performances, ideas, creative summits.

It's a pity that poor Sydney weather the past few days — rain, wind and chilly late-autumn temperatures — have kept many people indoors instead of enjoying the festive colors and and images projected on the walls of Sydney's iconic buildings, from Sydney Opera House to St Mary's Cathedral.

No doubt the weather will improve. In any case, there are as well a variety of indoor festival events.

Vivid Sydney events take place at various venues which include Macquarie St, Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Rocks.

Visit the Vivid Sydney website for information on festival events.

Photo: Brian Eno artwork projected onto the Opera House for Vivid Sydney Festival 2009 © Hamilton Lund / Tourism New South Wales