Wet Season – what to look out for!

Wet season – what do you mean wet season? We thought the sun would shine 365 days in Australia???

You wouldn’t believe the amount of phones calls or disappointed faces we see each year – too often travellers underestimate the wet season in Australia and its challenges (mainly flooded roads) – it is normal and very common for Australia and NO, it does not mean you won’t enjoy your road trip – you will still have an awesome time ;-) So here are a few of our tips to enjoy your trip:

LOCATIONS & SEASONS

In general, you need to look out for the weather in the Northern Territory as well as the Northern part of Western Australia (Broome onwards) as well as Northern Queensland – Cairns – but also quite common is the area all the way down to Brisbane. The NT & WA is normally very wet between middle of December up to the middle of March (plus/minus a few weeks). Queensland often doesn’t get wet until January and over the last few years the majority of heavy rain fall was from the middle of January until the end of February. Northern Queensland can also be wet up to middle of March – every year is quite different so it is all about being prepared!

STAY UP-TO-DATE

Talk to the locals, listen to the radio and stay online. An excellent source to use is the official site of the Australian Government – Bureau of Meteorology – https://www.bom.gov.au/! Our own team is using this website on a regular basis; some other websites even allow you to register your mobile number/email address so that you can receive an automated update should any wet weather head your way!

FLEXIBILITY

A big point is definitely to be flexible – we wouldn’t recommend to pre-book all activities upfront. Due to the weather some might get cancelled anyway or you might be stuck for a day due to the floods. Due to weather changes you might decide to travel quicker to your destination or to stay longer at your current location to avoid the rain. Keep up-to-date and be flexible – we definitely do not recommend to have a full-on schedule that won’t allow for any flexibility. It might also not be the best idea to get your diving certificate – with all the rain often the view isn’t great! The good thing about traveling in a campervan is that you enjoy this flexibilty. Having booked yourself into hostels and pre-planned all activities from overseas will definitely deteriorate the chance of postponing events and activities so keep your plans a bit loose and room for change.

INDOOR ACTIVITIES

Yes, we know – you came all the way to Australia so you don’t want to be inside….often though it is the best alternative on a rainy day. Get a few board games, go to the movies, go bowling, do some shopping, check out the local coffee shops with free WIFI and mingle with the locals or goto  the museum – there is always plenty to do on a rainy day and be ensured, the sun will be back soon!

It is very common that heavy rainfall only lasts for a few hours followed by beautiful sunshine so don’t let the weather upset you! Without the rain, the vast variety of plants and flowers here in Australia would have no chance to grow, so see the bright side of things :o)