Olga may have fizzled AS a cyclone, but she sure has a messy tail. There are huge thunderstorms over Gulf of Carpentaria, in the SE corner in particular. It looks like she's heading inland following a monsoonal low, and will end up somewhere in the middle of WA where no one but miners and dingos live. It's a very big system as far as monsoonal lows go. There's about 4cm/2 ins or more of water around and under my van so it's Japanese gumboots (thongs, jandals, flip flops) for me. The ground here is oh so waterlogged, so if anyone out there would like some fresh, sweet rainwater, come and get it. You ain't seen the tropics until you've been through a wet season. The photo is this park last year. HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY EVERYONE!

-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Tuesday 26th of January 2010 09:32:19 AM

Good fun the wet seasons hey, we were bought up in Mackay and spent all our married life in Townsville so we know what real rain is like, the wets fizzled out for a while but the last few years they have been in force again. We left Townsville in sept. '06 and they have had a couple of good wets since. We start heading back in a couple of weeks i wonder how it will be this year, anyway if it looks too wet we just stay where we are.

Hope it starts to ease off a little for you Granny.
But then again it is a little cooler with the rain - isn't it?

Yes Barb and Daz, it is a bit cooler, but the air is heavy with humidity at 80%+. It has settled down a bit this arvo, but it's quite spectacular watching the water cascade out of the rainforest up the hills. Everything is waterlogged, but I did get the washing dry in the annexe. That's very important you know. I only had to wash them to get out old sweat to make room for fresh sweat - and it's clean sweat. When travelling in the tropics always keep one ear to the radio, preferably ABC to get the most up-to-date reports on conditions all over the region. The ABC Radio carries all emergency information in storms, floods fires or any other natural disasters. Don't take foolish risks, because that will only confirm what your rescuers think of you - you're a fool. Safe travel to you all.

Did the curlews survive???

The curlews are loving it Jim. The 2 chicks are 3 weeks old today. So sweet and cute. The teenagers were kicked out of home just before the chicks hatched but they still hang around the camp. They seem to camp in the playground under the platforms. The sand doesn't get soggy like the rest of the park. They're pretty smart for a bird. I've learnt a lot from watching the couple hatch 6 chicks, and mourn the loss of one which had its legs broken. The adults howled for 2 days. I just had a look at the BOM weather site and the national radar shows where all the rain is at the moment. There's more coming this way. Another site, "weather zone radar and storms" shows where all the thunderstorms are. Olga is a big girl. She covers half of the NT and the northern 2/3 of Qld. There's another system approaching from the east, just of the SE of PNG at the moment. I might have to batten down again.

Thanks for the Cairns weather report and link Cruising Granny, good to hear from someone who is on the spot. Nice forum, hope to join in a bit more when I have more time.

Welcome to the Grey Nomads Forum, and thank you for your comments. More weather? We had a long and aggressive thunder storm over here last night which dumped another 3 inches (75ml). It's been calmer and no rain today, but I think that's about to change again. The weather pattern has changed from Olga's tail which sent the weather around from the NE on its clock-wise journey. She's building up again, and could head SE from the southern coast of the Gulf. Very tricky these cyclones. They used to be named after women only, but in order to be sexually correct they introduced blokes to the tropical cyclone naming file. Heh, heh, heh, heh!!!!!! You see it's not just the women who are perceived to be temperamental and unreliable. Ain't that the truth, eh girls? So it looks like my Japanese gumboots will be the footwear of fashion for another week.

Thanks Cruising Granny, hope you get a bit of a dry spell soon.