It has been so dry here in Mackay. Well maybe that’s not the right way to put it. I’ve mentioned in some comments about how humid it is here – it’s usually about 30 degrees Celsius by 9am and sits at between 70 and 75% humidity. There’s a breeze off the ocean, but it’s a hot one, like a fan-forced oven. And it’s still 26 and higher when you go to bed at night. It really is the tropics. And yet it hasn’t rained here properly for such a long time. It’s very unusual to have such a dry Christmas, usually it rains and storms. But this year, we have not had such luck.
I grew up not far from here (just in a smaller town, about 40km to the south). I’ve been to the beaches here before in my childhood but it all looks so different now, such a different time we live in. Now, there are so many cars, so much traffic, so many rules and signs. But the sand is just the same, the water hasn’t changed. It’s such a strange and yet familiar feeling to stand in the ocean while a rainstorm rolls in at sunset – the light has faded, the tide has gone out, the beach mostly empty, but the water is warm, the breeze is hot and the humidity is high. It looks like it should feel cold, but it’s balmy and tropical and sticky. We spent the day hoping for some rain out of the little tropical low developing up north and at about 11pm we got our wish, it started to rain, it’s raining right now – I have my window open as I type this and I can smell the rain and best of all I can hear it on the roof of the house nextdoor, such a soothing sound.
Tomorrow, we head to the beaches around my hometown – the rains from the low are well and truly here now, but hopefully we can still see the beach.
I hope you are enjoying your holidays if you are lucky enough to have them.
x desleyjane
Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist 
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