IT WAS a case of right place, wrong time for camper Beverly Bryce. Leaving her home in the Central West three days ago, she was looking forward to several sunny weeks camping by Narrabeen's picturesque shores, but was instead greeted by one of the month's biggest downpours.
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''It's disappointing, but we need the rain,'' Ms Bryce said. ''My paddocks were a dust bowl and there has not been very much feed for the stock. So, it's been a godsend.''
Her home town of Bathurst received a drenching of 67 millimetres on Boxing Day, adding to the month's total of 102 millimetres, which Ms Bryce described as ''wonderful''.
She could not maintain her enthusiasm for Sydney's rainfall, however, as she and family friends were restricted to playing board games in their tents. ''We've got plenty of indoor games to play, books and the children have just opened some more Christmas presents,'' Ms Bryce said.
While the Bryces were crossing their fingers for fine weather, fellow camper and Blacktown resident Debbie Cooper welcomed the showers. ''You've got to take the good with the bad. You get a bit of everything: sometimes you get dry weather, sometimes you get wet weather when you're down here.''
With a number of friends and family surrounding their site, Mrs Cooper said there was always something to do. ''My sister has just camped over there, our good friends are behind us,'' she said. ''Everybody gets together to have a cup of tea, a few drinks or watch TV. Today we went kayaking, the boys were watching some DVDs before.''
Melburnians Fergus and Bronwyn Fleming also saw the positive side to their soaking campsite. ''It's still warm. I mean, the rain in Melbourne is pretty cold,'' Mr Fleming said.
