Autumn Break in the Tropics
Being from the Rose City, I thought I knew rain. Growing up, every Halloween outfit had to fit under a Columbia sportswear jacket. I've always scoffed at umbrellas as being for wimps (Californians), and the old family photos are set against a grey backdrop of cloud cover, a testament to having grown up in nearly continuous rain.
But this Autumn Break, it rained. A lot.
All Portlanders have a fairly nuanced vocabulary to describe rain. Supposedly, the Inuit have 52 words for snow, and one Portland writer came up with 52 words that Portlanders regularly use in place of "rain." Nonetheless, I'm unable to describe how much rained this Autumn Break. In the North of Australia, it rained the same in four days as it rains in Portland in an entire year! To say it came down in sheets implies being able to differentiate between different sheets; it really came down in one solid sheet of water. It was even near impossible to make out rain drops, as if God collected all the rain on the planet in one jug, which he poured continuously in an unbroken river of water on the Shay family. We experienced the wet season that shattered all previous precipitation records, which is impressive because we were in already in a rainforest. Once in right in front of the hotel, my mom waded up to her waist in water as she forded the sidewalk.
Fazed but refusing to be defeated by rain, we went to a rainforest in the cyclone. The village lost power during lunch. After coming back, all the roads leading from the town were flooded. Isolated in a lovely tourist village, all we could do is read, eat, and go to the pub. I guess rain creates the Portland lifestyle even in the tropics. But on the last day, the weather improved and we went scuba diving and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. I saw a couple sharks up close, but sadly, I couldn't find Nemo. The entire trip was terrific!
But this Autumn Break, it rained. A lot.
All Portlanders have a fairly nuanced vocabulary to describe rain. Supposedly, the Inuit have 52 words for snow, and one Portland writer came up with 52 words that Portlanders regularly use in place of "rain." Nonetheless, I'm unable to describe how much rained this Autumn Break. In the North of Australia, it rained the same in four days as it rains in Portland in an entire year! To say it came down in sheets implies being able to differentiate between different sheets; it really came down in one solid sheet of water. It was even near impossible to make out rain drops, as if God collected all the rain on the planet in one jug, which he poured continuously in an unbroken river of water on the Shay family. We experienced the wet season that shattered all previous precipitation records, which is impressive because we were in already in a rainforest. Once in right in front of the hotel, my mom waded up to her waist in water as she forded the sidewalk.
Fazed but refusing to be defeated by rain, we went to a rainforest in the cyclone. The village lost power during lunch. After coming back, all the roads leading from the town were flooded. Isolated in a lovely tourist village, all we could do is read, eat, and go to the pub. I guess rain creates the Portland lifestyle even in the tropics. But on the last day, the weather improved and we went scuba diving and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. I saw a couple sharks up close, but sadly, I couldn't find Nemo. The entire trip was terrific!