if the rains predicted come will ctp be broke?, page-20

Thanks robjb5. I did not expect the reality of the 'new wet season reality' to be met with a vote of confidence in my pointing out the realities.
However, no point burying our head in the sands. The Wet season has already started in a weird fashion, with Darwin getting it's total November 'normal' downpour in the first 3 weeks and Cairns (the wet tropics) getting the highest October rainfall for many decades but then virtually nothing - although, it is raining today, as the rain from WA and the Central Australia downpour reaches the QLd Coast.

A couple of not so minor details I should have mentioned in the last email:
1. If it were to rain in say, the headwaters of the Georgina River (which flows south) but NOT around the South Georgina, that does NOT mean the South Georgina Basin will not end up under water - it can take weeks or months for the water that falls hundreds of kilometres away, to reach the true desert areas. As most will probably know, this is why the magnificent sights of a flooded Lake Eyre, that never had rain actually fall on it, can turn into an inland sea a few months after the rain fell in northern Australia.
That's why I mentioned the bit about studying which directions the rivers run, as this will determine this particular phenomenon. (as Lake Eyre proves).

The other, more obvious point to make, is that the red dust of the outback of the NT/ NW Qld can be fairly harmless most of the time (unless, like so many Asian and European drivers in the outback and not used to the different conditions, you pull off the road at speed, with two wheels in the red bull dust and two wheels still on the bitumen - result will be, in old vehicles in particular, a rollover at speed. Ask any outback hospital nurse unit and they will confirm this is one of the most common reasons for admissions to an ED or ICU Dept of any outback hospital).
However, when it rains, this red dust can turn to the something that resembles red supper glue! Best of luck if you get stuck in that, even in a Landcruiser or Patrol.
The only thing worse is probably the black soil plains of western Qld.

The points I am trying to make in these postings, is that this is NOT the bitumened, heavily trafficked and populated areas of the Aussie outback - the true Aussie outback.
You cannot rely on luck or bull $#@t to get you by out here.
If you get stuck, or worse still have an accident, it may be hours to days before anyone even knows, let alone rescues you.

Finally, I highly recommend the DVD of "Licence to Drill' which should be at your local ABC shop in the documentaries section. ALthough this is about drilling for gas in the Northern parts of British Columbia and the actual Artic circle of Northern Canada, if you were to imagine minus 40 degrees and winter, being instead plus 40 degrees and the wet season in the outback - the results will be pretty much the same! Four and half hours of invaluable viewing for those who are not working in the industry (that's me folks).