Heavy summer rainfall across parts of western and north-west Queensland is simultaneously lifting the spirits of graziers, while further isolating remote communities.
For Scott Hays from Cliffdale Station, west of Doomadgee, the downpour was unlike anything he has seen in the seven years he has owned the property.
"In the past 23 days, we've had about five days of sunshine," Mr Hays said.
"It's been raining since December 19, which has been absolutely unbelievable — probably the best start we've had in 10 years.
"Talking to the locals who have been here their whole lives, they're saying this is the best start they've ever seen."
Widespread flooding on the low-lying land of the station meant livestock had headed for higher ground.
"I went for a fly the other day. These cows are obviously pretty lucky; they know where they're going. They've been here most of their lives, but there are only certain areas within this country that they can get away from that water," Mr Hays said.
"Most people say they're bred up here with webbed feet, but they actually know where they're going and we open a fair bit of country up for them.
"I wish I could get around a bit more, but this country, you bog a duck in it pretty quick."
Gulf residents cut off but relish the rain
The gulf community of Normanton was completely cut off by floodwater after 264mm of rain fell in the first week of January.
"We haven't had rain in four or five days, but there is still a large amount of water around the region at the moment," Normanton resident Johnty O'Brien said.
While local rivers remained in flood, the Flinders Highway from Normanton to Cloncurry had reopened.
"For a few days recently we were completely cut off but, now the road has just opened, supplies can get back in and the shelves on our local shops have just started to stock up, which is nice," Mr O'Brien said.
The neighbouring community of Karumba was also isolated.
"If we need to, we can resupply the Karumba community via a barge that usually services Sweers Island and Mornington Island," Carpentaria Shire Council chief executive Mark Crawley said.
Despite the flooding and isolation, Mr Crawley said many locals welcomed the wet weather.
"It has been dry. We had a pretty lean year in 2022," he said.
"We now have green grass where we had no green grass before."
Mr O'Brien said community members were enjoying the drenched landscape.
"For many of us, it's our favourite time of year, the wet season," he said.
"It's very green and very fantastic."
Off to a good start
The first four months of last year were brutal for Navarra Station, as drought conditions forced the farm to destock considerably.
But life-saving rain on Anzac Day turned things around on the property that sits between Yaraka and Jundah, in the heart of central Queensland.
Owner Andrew Pegler said the property had more than 400mm of rain over 43 wet days for 2022, exceeding the farm's yearly average rainfall.
"Stock have been fat right through. It's been a great year for lambings, and cattle have done exceptionally well," Mr Pegler said.
"We can't really complain about 2022, after a rough start."
Now, a swift drenching of sweet summer rain has dropped 110mm on the property in just 24 hours this week.
"This sort of rain is fairly unusual for us for one day; you'd have to go back quite a lot of years to get this sort of fall," Mr Pegler said.
"Rain at this time of year should be good for germinating grass seed, providing the soil can be damp for enough days continuously."
More rain to come
With the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting more wet weather to come for the outback, meteorologist Shane Kennedy said there was the potential for flash flooding.
"Certainly there's the risk that we could see some severe thunderstorm warnings over the next several days, becoming a bit more likely on Friday and Saturday," Mr Kennedy said.
"Some of the focus will shift more to the north-east coast over the weekend, but still likely to be several wet days coming up.
"There is the potential we could see a flood watch issued over the next couple of days, but that's likely going to be focused over the far north rather than central or western Queensland."
