A low of 10C and a thunderstorm wasn’t how many expected summer to begin, but in Melbourne, that’s how it was in December 2025.
“People were saying, ‘What's the go with this?’” Clancy Lester, an ecologist and environmental educator, told the National Account. “We're in summer, it's meant to be sunny, and then we'll say, this is the time of Garawang.”
Lester, who has an online following of over 42,000 people, said Indigenous seasons provide a more accurate way of working out the weather.
In Wurundjeri country, he said, Garrawang (December) is a time of unpredictable weather and the ripening of kangaroo apples, small edible fruits native to South East Australia and New Zealand.
“This is when you see the thunderstorms and the turbulent weather. This is not summer.”
Lester released a documentary on the seven Wurundjeri seasons late last year.
The self-described “bee nerd” also encourages Australians to ditch their lawns and nature strips for native flowers and grasses.
He said comparing the maintenance costs of traditional lawns, which are water and fertiliser intensive, with native plants that have adapted to the Australian climate, made the switch a “no-brainer”.
“So if the everyday Aussie can do something to replace their lawn with natives, and if our local councils and government can also take note, that would just be one of the simplest but best ways to transform our landscapes into biodiverse little pollinator patches.”
Watch the full interview below:
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