“Brrr,” Mia said, shivering dramatically. “It’s so cold here, Leo. I can’t feel my toes. Tell me something warm.”

Whale Watching: Winter is peak migration season. You can spot Humpback and Southern Right whales along the coast.

While much of the world enjoys warm sunshine between June and August, Australia enters its winter season. Because it sits in the Southern Hemisphere, its seasons are the exact opposite of those in the Northern Hemisphere.

It was the middle of July, and thirteen-year-old Mia was video-calling her cousin, Leo, who lived in Melbourne, Australia. Mia was in Toronto, Canada, wrapped in a thick fleece blanket, a mug of hot chocolate steaming in her hands. Outside her window, snow was falling heavily, piling up on the cars and sidewalks.