Australia has always been a land of ‘droughts and flooding rains’, but it sometimes seems as though the weather patterns are becoming ever more extreme … and that’s certainly keeping grey nomads on their toes.
In the last few days, for example, South Australia has been lashed by a deluge that threatened to break 1880s August rainfall records. The weather event caused significant infrastructure damage and massive disruption to travellers.
In Melrose, SES crews had to help a group of people who got bogged while camping.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says the low-pressure system has capped off an ‘unexpectedly wet winter’.
Pulling over! Rain can make for challenging camping – and driving – conditions.
For grey nomads wondering what comes next as they plan their travels, the Spring long-range forecast is showing temperatures are likely to be above average across most of Australia. And BOM says that, while rainfall is likely to be above average across much of the western half of the country, it will probably be below average across parts of southern and eastern Australia. It warns also that Spring is also a peak time for severe thunderstorms, especially along the east coast.
While the weather has always been and always will be pretty unpredictable, travelling in the right places in the right seasons has traditionally been the way grey nomads have minimised the risk of getting too wet, too hot, or too cold. However, the growing popularity of caravanning and camping has meant an increasing number of people are travelling off season in an effort to beat the crowds.
Experienced travellers Sue Stanley and partner Shane warn though that that is not always a good idea. Back in 2021, they were travelling in the rig they reserve for their more remote adventures … a 2018 LandCruiser Troop Carrier with a James Baroud rooftop tent … when they arrived at Expedition National Park up on the Great Dividing Range. On that first night, the temperature got down to -5 degrees, the coldest ever July morning in that region.
“When I tried to get water from the taps on the jerry cans for the billy, the taps were frozen solid, likewise the tap on the Troopy’s water tank was also stubbornly frozen,” said Sue.
Veteran grey nomad, Helen Parsons, is another who takes the weather conditions in her stride … and isn’t about to let a little drop of rain spoil her travels.
“We’re from Ingham, the flood capital of Queensland, so we’re used to heavy wet season rain and flooding,” she said. “We take it as it comes … we watch TV, read, and I do patchwork and embroidery and crochet!”
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