Caravan parks and campsites have been busier than ever this year and that’s persuaded many grey nomads to travel ‘off season’.
The upside of travelling in the tropics at this time of the year, of course, is there’s a lot fewer people about.
The downside to most is the climate.
There’s the humidity, the torrential rain, and then there’s the heat!
Adventurers in several parts of northern Western Australia have been sweating their way through an extreme heatwave this week.
The Pilbara and the Kimberley have seen temperatures up to and above 45 degrees Celsius.
And several towns in the north, including Marble Bar, Paraburdoo, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra and Wyndham, were expected to see temperatures above 40C every day this week.
Bureau of Meteorology Duty forecaster Bob Tarr told the ABC that Marble Bar could be the hottest place in the world this week.
“Marble Bar in December is often the hottest place in the country, and even the world, because a lot of places in the northern hemisphere that tend to get hot are obviously in winter,” he said. “For Marble Bar the average maximum for December is 41.9C and the average minimum temperature is 26C.”
The heatwave over the Kimberley is forecast to break on Sunday or Monday.
As always, travellers and locals are advised to take extreme caution in the scorching temperatures.
WA Country Health Service principal health officer Helen Van Gessel said people should do sensible things like drink lots of fluid, avoid caffeinated drinks and alcohol, and try to find cool places.
“Particularly older people, young children and also some of our animals are much more prone to being affected by the heat, so think ahead for those things you can do to prevent harm from the heat,” she said. “Avoid physical activity and exercise in the hottest part of the day.”
And Dr Van Gessel had a specific warning for visitors.
“Most people who live in the Pilbara are pretty sensible about these things,” she said. “It’s more commonly people who aren’t used to the heat and don’t plan ahead for it.”
I flew up to Darwin for Xmas one year hoping to experience the wet, but it didn’t rain and we were there during the build up. It was very hot a and humid of course, we enjoyed ourselves but we spent a lot of time cooling in the hostel pool and in air-conditioning especiallyat night. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it on a road trip as I sleep in my car