The Wet - The Whitsundays

One of the sadder things I see is visitors to The Whitsundays who spent a lot of money to have their dream holiday here sailing the beautiful postcard-blue waters. And it rained!  So there we have our intrepid adventurers.  Maybe a family of four or more, or perhaps a honeymoon couple.  Cramped like sardines into their forty foot luxury yacht.  Watching videos and trying to keep out of each others' way.

It's the tropics!  It rains!  It doesn't rain as much as it did in the good old days, when North Queensland had two seasons each year.  Back then we had 'the dry' and 'the big wet'.  The big wet really was.  The Bruce Highway would be cut for days at a time, occasionally for weeks.  The single railway line that joined the coastal towns would disappear in places.

The thing to remember is that there is a reason it is called tropical 'rain' forest.  For the tourist it brings a whole new perspective to our islands.  Climate change means that since about 1990 there have been shorter and more gentle wet seasons.  Instead of months of variable flooding rain with creeks along the coast rising and falling over a week or so, we seem to get one concentrated disastrous flood at a time.  Even with those changes, when the wet season rain hits the islands it transforms them into a wonderland.

This waterfall is in Cid Harbour.  It can be seen
from the main anchorage when it rains and there are
another half a dozen you can get to by dinghy,
without having to tramp through the rainforest.

Overnight, after wet season rain, there are waterfalls around the anchorages. Cid Harbour and Nara Inlet are the best places to enjoy these transformations.  At night whenever it stops raining you can hear the water rushing down the creeks and across the beaches.  In the mornings there are whole new places to explore that on a previous day may have appeared boring.  Fresh water showers under overhanging cliffs.  Bathing in fresh water pools.  Careful hiking along the banks of what were dry rocky gullies, but are now pretty miniature rivers brings a new view of plants and wild life.  The view through the trees to the water and to your yacht are different, somehow vibrant.

In these days of climate change we do get rain in winter but the traditional wet season is summer.  When it is hot and steamy and your skin should be peeling because of the sun, the water from the sky, while it makes one sweaty, can be a wonderful relief.  Tropical downpours are not icy.  It can be very pleasant to wander around in the rainforest, soaked to the skin.  having the sweat washed from your body.  Feeling clean and smelling the freshness.

The Whitsunday Islands in the rain are beautiful.  Even Whitehaven Beach on a rainy day has plenty to offer.  Enjoy the wonderland...

RossD.