Thread: Wet tropics

From where I live on a Tableland high up in the mountains close to the coast I can drive through 3 different climates in the matter of hours.
I live 865M (2600ft) above sea level & about 50Kms (30miles) from the coast in the wet tropics. In the wet season, our place looks like Ireland, green rolling hills & drizzle.
In the dry season it looks like Tuscany without the castles.
Because we are so high, it is always cool, got to 26°C the day before yesterday for the first time in almost 2 weeks.
One hour to the east is very hot, humid & wet lowland coastal tropics, one hour to the west is hot, dry higher inland tropics but not desert.
We are very lucky.

Originally Posted by woden

Bit OT but I was reading this thread and it has touched on something I've always wondered about - just how tropical are the tropical parts of Australia? I know that sounds like a dumb question but when I think of the tropics I think of jungles in South America like the Amazon rainforest with wet and dry seasons, is northernmost Australia like this too? Is it all jungles and rainforest like in the Amazon? Which if it is would be really amazing.

The image a lot of people have in Ireland is that outside of the cities Austrialia is a dusty, hot and sort of dried up country. What with Ayers rock and all. And yet over the last few years, I dunno whether it's an attempt at rebranding and getting away from the Crockodile Dundee stereotype, there's been a load of adverts showing off holidays in this tropical paradise which happens to be, no not Acapulco... but, er... Australia. Quite a contrast with the image most people have.

You guys must have an amazing diversity of climates all in the one country. Tasmania, which is supposed to be a bit like northern Europe; Perth, where apparently there's a sort of Mediterranean climate and right up in the North you have the tropics. And then everything in between. Lucky sods.

I live at the base of one of Australias ski resorts. Although temps never fall to the levels of Scandanavia or Canada it can get to minus 6 celcius in winter and 42 celcius in summer. Rainfall here is 750 mm averages but up the mountain an hours drive away it reaches 2000mm.

yes we do know how lucky we are (Australia - the lucky country is a slogan) but the concept of going to a whole nother country only a days drive or ferry trip away with a different langauge and culture that stretches back hundred of years is completly foriegn and almost astounding to me.

The north of Australia does indeed experience wet seasons and dry seasons. And parts of northern costal Australia could be compared to some Sth American rainforest type areas. But its not, Its OZ and we love it!