The wet is here
Near Millaa Millaa, 29th December 2020.
The countryside up the Tablelands is now very green again and the rain is coming in heavier and heavier as we move into January.
Near Sunset, 40 Mile Scrub, January the 1st.
Those epic colourful Tablelands sunsets have been replaced with beautiful dark cloud structures that the sun battles to shine through.
Fires visible from Kennedy Highway near Atherton November 2020.
It was not so long ago that everything was dry and much of the National Park land up the Tablelands was being controlled burnt by Parks.
Burnt bush growing back at Snubby Creek, Ravenshoe
Out at Ravenshoe along the Millstream River much of the bush there has been burnt. I am not sure if these were Parks burns or naturally started fires.
Burnt trees at 40 Mile Scrub, January 2021.
Either way it appears that fire does not bother much of our bush as I look at the way the tall trees at 40 Mile Scrub appear to take it all in their stride. Add a bit of rain and green starts to appear very quickly.
My wife at a favourite hillside lookout near Millaa Millaa.
With all that rain comes a lot more fog and you soon realise why they call much of that area between Millaa Millaa and Ravenshoe the Misty Mountains.
Brolgas over the Swamps early December.
With the start of the wet the Brolgas have departed to nest in wetlands up in the Northern Territory I believe. From thousands being present a few weeks ago on the Tablelands I only saw the odd couple on my most recent visit a couple of days ago.
Tracks to the swamps now too wet for the car.
The rain brings colour to the bush but it also means that places I used to be able to drive my car to I will now have to walk into. Something that does not really bother me.
The Swamps filling back up - 29th December 2020.
The rain will soon fill the Swamps back up and the Waterlilies start to cover the surface. Different types of birdlife will also start to arrive.
Wurruma Swamp - 27th December 2020.
Even before the heavy rain of the last couple of days the Swamps were already getting colour back in them but you could see the rain coming.
One thing that has not changed with the rain is the fact that we live in a hot area. The humidity is through the roof and when the sun does get a chance to hit those rain cover roads steam is the result.