In the northern tropical regions, there are technically only two seasons :

Autumn follows from March to May. This is often considered the most pleasant time to visit the southern cities. The blistering heat of summer fades into mild, sunny days and crisp evenings. In places like Canberra and the Victorian high country, the foliage turns brilliant shades of orange and red, offering a spectacular visual display that rivals the northern autumns.

Australia is a land of dramatic contrasts, where the weather patterns are as diverse as the landscape itself. Because the continent is so vast, spanning from tropical rainforests in the north to snowy peaks in the south, there is no single "Australian climate." Instead, the country experiences a wide range of conditions that vary significantly by region and month.

The northern part of Australia, including the Top End of the Northern Territory and tropical Queensland, operates on a completely different calendar. This region experiences a tropical climate defined by two distinct seasons: the Wet and the Dry.

By December, she was in Cairns for (December to February). Her first thought was that she had accidentally walked into a sauna. The air was a thick, wet blanket. The heat wasn't a dry crackle like she'd expected; it was a moist, breathing presence. And then, every afternoon at 3 PM sharp, the sky would turn the colour of a bruise. The rain didn't fall—it announced itself. Monsoonal downpours that turned gutters into rivers and sent giant tree frogs onto her balcony. She learned to love the 3 PM siesta, napping through the thunder, then emerging to a world washed clean and steaming.

As her plane took off from Melbourne one last time (in September—which felt like spring, winter, and summer all at once), she smiled at the woman next to her, who was nervously clutching a parka.