Brisbane is a subtropical city which means that we get most of our rain in the summer. The last few years have been pretty dry but this year has been very wet - a couple of weeks ago we had over 90mm fall in just under an hour! The rain has been pretty persistent over the last few days and it's all been a bit miserable really, but all that water combined with balmy temperatures (no cooler than 20 degrees even at night) makes the area beautifully green & lush.
Australians have a funny relationship with rain. In such a dry country rain is a welcome event and the weather forecasters will say things like 'the good news is that the rain will continue for the next 3 days' or 'if we're lucky we'll get some more downpours before the weekend'. Despite that after no more than 2 or 3 days of rain the locals start to get twitchy. They wouldn't last a week in a Manchester winter.
Mountain biking is also badly affected by the wet. The local guidelines say 'don't ride if you're leaving a tyremark' as there's so little leaf litter in the bush that the soil takes years to regenerate. This means that you shouldn't ride in conditions that we'd view as relatively dry in the U.K. So if you want to ride responsibly and sustainably you also avoid getting muddy, which is a win-win in my book. I know - I wouldn't last a week in a Manchester winter.
Australians have a funny relationship with rain. In such a dry country rain is a welcome event and the weather forecasters will say things like 'the good news is that the rain will continue for the next 3 days' or 'if we're lucky we'll get some more downpours before the weekend'. Despite that after no more than 2 or 3 days of rain the locals start to get twitchy. They wouldn't last a week in a Manchester winter.
Mountain biking is also badly affected by the wet. The local guidelines say 'don't ride if you're leaving a tyremark' as there's so little leaf litter in the bush that the soil takes years to regenerate. This means that you shouldn't ride in conditions that we'd view as relatively dry in the U.K. So if you want to ride responsibly and sustainably you also avoid getting muddy, which is a win-win in my book. I know - I wouldn't last a week in a Manchester winter.
We have sun here just now but, as you know, back in the home country, sun is what happens between rain showers. I also spied a primrose this morning. Spring is well and truly on its way. Which, of course, means marginally warmer weather, and more rain. At least the flowers look pretties.
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