Rain in the Pilbara

When the average rainfall for a month is listed as something ridiculous like '2mm' you know you are likely to have a lot of dry times.

During our five years in the Pilbara we have seen great Summers - always a couple of cyclones and rain events to keep the hills green and the wildflowers coming.

This year however, has not been the case.

One measly cyclone that went up north and had no impact here, and a few measley sprinkles of rain and that's it.

I've never longed for rain for so long in my life.

You just...want it....to rain.

And I'm not even a farmer or station owner. I'm a town person, just wanting to do the Karratha rain dance, splash in a few puddles and use the windscreen wipers for a change.

You get so used to it not raining though, that you just go and do anything and you never listen to the forecast.

One weekend in March, we went on a road trip to find a waterhole we had heard of but never visited called Cliff Springs on Karratha Station.

We found the waterhole and luckily it still had water in it, although you could tell that it too was suffering in the dry. Levels were low and it was kind of like swimming in a bath...

...but then lo and behold a short spurt of thunder and rain whipped up!

There is not a feeling like it. Longing for rain for so long and all of a sudden, the wind whips up and you can feel it rolling in on the breeze. Thunder claps and sends dutchmen running for cover (literally) and for no reason at all you just start laughing.

If you're me you run around like a mad pregnant woman and take photos of clouds because clouds are so rare.

And then you jump in the car to escape the lightning and the rain starts. Big old fat rain. The windscreen wipers get a gurnsey but you end up rolling down the windows to enjoy the sensation of water falling from the sky and the smell of wet spinafex.

There is nothing like wet spinafex - it's like freshly cut grass only less manicured and more earthy. It's the smell of the Pilbara.

But the thunderstorm doesn't last long. After 15 minutes it has passed on.

Driving back into town, they clearly didn't even have a whiff of rain. Still dry as anything.

Hopefully there are wildflowers this year.

Cliff Springs with rain clouds rolling in...