The Wonderful Wet Season

The wet season is upon us and for many, it’s a love/hate relationship.  The rain clouds roll in every afternoon and we have high hopes of a shower of rain and … after waiting for what seems like hours and hours … we get nothing …. the temperature rises (it’s over 41 degrees every day this week!) and we all await the much-anticipated relief that the rain can bring.

The ‘love’ part is because the rain freshens up the country side that has long been without water, our rivers begin to flow, Lake Argyle gets a top-up and if we are lucky and have enough rain, our waterfalls will start to trickle and then turn into thumping wet season falls.  It truly is a lovely time of year.  The countryside comes alive and our reddish brown and beige landscape begins to go green.

For those that ‘hate’ this time of year, that too is an understandable statement – it is an oppressive heat, it can take your breath away, humidity can be extreme and the waiting for the rain to cool the place down can be unbearable.  It’s a time of year when many businesses close for 1-2 months, our visitor numbers drop, and the town of Kununurra really does quieten down.  Thank goodness for air conditioning!

For those of us that live here year-round, we do so for a reason – it draws you in.  We enjoy the chaos that is the busy season (the dry) and the quiet time over the wet.  We get waterholes to ourselves and spend countless hours out on the water either in Lake Kununurra or on Lake Argyle.  Fishing is also at its peak in the ‘wet’.  What’s not to love?  If there is enough rain and waterfalls abound, what better way to spend a day than to go exploring either by land or by boat.  Clambouring over rocks, through the pandanus or the cane grass for that waterfall oasis – getting there is all part of the adventure and what better place is there to have an extraordinary wet season adventure than Kununurra?

So, love or hate it, the ‘wet’ season is here and if you’ve not been here during December to March, you really should try it … the wet season storms are spectacular!