Although it is 32c here in Weipa at the moment the weather man is saying suck it up while you can, because from tomorrow until at least next wed/.day rain and thunderstorms are predicted. So we are heading out of here early in the morning., before we get locked in.First over nighter should be at Coen all going well. You can kind of feel the calm before the storm here at the moment. The weather pattern around Oz has changed for ever I am thinking.A lot of travellers have been locked in up in the Kimberly to the heaviest rain up that way for this time of year.
Rain spells in the Kimberley and parts north at this time of year happen fairly regularly. On our very first trip up that way, I confidently told the driver "it never rains up this way in winter". That was just before (a) we spent 5 days at Marble Bar, cut off by closed roads. (b) spent 5 days in totally rainy Broome - didn't even get to see Cable Beach, or anything else except rain (c) had to wait days in Derby for Gibb River Road to be opened - and then negotiate a very churned up road, where drivers who shouldn't have been on closed roads had cut it to pieces. My credentials as a weather forecaster never recovered after that trip! It was May/June.
On our most recent trip - 2007 - June/July - over a week of solid rain had all the dirt roads in the NW closed for a while. Supplies were airlifted to people stranded in the Bungles and up on the Mitchell Plateau. We were lucky and got into a CP in Kununurra at the start of the wet spell. 24 hours later, couldn't get any accommodation of any sort in the town. Took a couple of weeks after the rain for the key roads to reopen and the backlog to clear.
Rain spells in the Kimberley and parts north at this time of year happen fairly regularly. On our very first trip up that way, I confidently told the driver "it never rains up this way in winter". That was just before (a) we spent 5 days at Marble Bar, cut off by closed roads. (b) spent 5 days in totally rainy Broome - didn't even get to see Cable Beach, or anything else except rain (c) had to wait days in Derby for Gibb River Road to be opened - and then negotiate a very churned up road, where drivers who shouldn't have been on closed roads had cut it to pieces. My credentials as a weather forecaster never recovered after that trip! It was May/June.
On our most recent trip - 2007 - June/July - over a week of solid rain had all the dirt roads in the NW closed for a while. Supplies were airlifted to people stranded in the Bungles and up on the Mitchell Plateau. We were lucky and got into a CP in Kununurra at the start of the wet spell. 24 hours later, couldn't get any accommodation of any sort in the town. Took a couple of weeks after the rain for the key roads to reopen and the backlog to clear.
It all makes for exciting travel stories ,the weather is a major topic at happy hrs.But they really need rain in north QLD at the moment,but I think this rain that is predicted for up this far will not reach the poor cattle farmers who need it most.So may I suggest get your act together and head up to north QLD ,and maybe you will bring the rain so badly needed.
