The Landscape Comes Alive

A once-dry landscape, upturned towards the sun, flushed with life brought by storms and showers. This summer, with the onset of rain and the fluctuating waves of heat, the country has come alive. Rain gifts sustenance to the landscape of Central Australia, infusing it with beauty and freshness, creating new beginnings.  

The birdlife and wildflowers flourish. The red rocks are iced with green, and shrubs carpet the West MacDonnell Ranges of the Red Centre. Their peaks, visible from the town of Alice Springs, are interspersed with vegetation instead of only the red that has become a bit too dry and a bit too dusty.

When the heat is intense, all over town, people mention the word 'Rain' with longing. Like deflating a balloon, its onset relieves the heat and rubs away the tiredness of the country. The sound of it methodically drumming on the roof is like music and the mist it brings with it laces the ranges.

Water after the rain in Emily Gap, east of Alice Springs

The dry leaves of the trees receive the droplets, and the pebbly sand of empty waterholes is blotted out by deep pools that invite swimming. Laughter echoes as children dive-bomb off rocks, and the tension of life in the hot centre of Australia eases. All summer long, locals scan the weather reports and radars, searching in hope for a blot of blue that signals an oncoming deluge. 

Central Australia would not be who it is without the scorching temperatures and the ochre earth. It would lose its flavor without the flora and fauna that have adjusted to one of the most severe climates on earth. But just as these elements are pivotal in its identity, so too are the thunder and lightning storms. The freshness of intense downpours cleanses and, in a remote landscape, the change from dry to wet signals a rebirth. It brings hope that maybe, we can get through summer after all.