Stormstroller
Our intrepid reporter and the Challenge of the Monsoon
Latest Post
7pm July 12th
Well.... it's been quite a while since my last post and the main reason for that is .... the success of my waterproof mac, as suggested by Lorraine right from the start! I've been out about seeing the country at its greenest, the rain has been lashing me continously and what do I have to report? The sound of raindrops drumming furiously against my hood, streams of water cascading down the outside of my lovely mac while the inside remains unviolated. I travel about as if inside my own mobile rainproof fortress, sublimely unworried by severity of the weather outside. Nothing really exciting to write about!
So .... now I have only a few days left before I move to a drier climate, what have we learned? First of all, a pure cotton trenchcoat and bucket hat, however expensive, will not get you through here. The pre-monsoon showers maybe you can battle for a while, but when the true monsoon arrives, such a mac is helpless. I've coined the term 'water transparent' to give an idea what happened! Maybe a big umbrella might help, but maybe not, you meet plenty of strong winds.
So the advice was right all along. If you aim to come here, go for something waterproof. I'm sure Lorraine will be able to help you out!
This will be final post of this series, as work is beckoning. However I do have the wetter season in Queensland to look forward to and maybe some leave next July to come back to this lovely place and renew some friendships.
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
Goa, India
July 2010
Dear Stormstroller
That's a fantastic series of blogs, thank you so much!
I feel such a Druid to have been right... I just sit here in front of a screen, and you go out there and actually find something out first-hand. It's you who deserve to have been right!
You are science and I am Scholastic.
The future lies with you, your open mind and your fearlessly experimental approach!
All the very best for your new job. Crossing our fingers so the white shows that you will have time to write again.
With many many thanks
Lorraine
Previously ...
Panaji, Goa
Wednesday, June 02, 2010 9:40 PM
Hi Lorraine
I actually arrived yesterday!
Hard to sort out the timezone difference because I'm still a bit jet lagged! Let me know if this gets through to you as Internet/power supply situation is a bit unreliable!
So far so good - arrived at the airport after a flight with quite a bit of turbulance owing to storm activity and actually landed during a spell of thunder showers. After clearing customs and such I had to go outside to find the transfer bus from Dabolim airport to Panaji where I'm staying. And yes, it was absolutely lashing down! It made me think a bit about that film with Michael Douglas (Romancing the Stone?) when Joannie gets the wrong bus and finishes up trekking through a Columbian storm and experencing massive mac' failure in short order.
Anyway, as lightning lit up the sky, and encumbered with all my luggage I struggled in the crowd of umbrella wielding locals to find the right bus. After about ten minutes, in which the deluge never let up, I eventually managed it!
I'm pleased to say the fabsil re-inforced mac' did hold out well, and when I checked it later at the hotel nothing seemed to have come inside. It looked a bit water stained on the shoulders and bucket rain hat but soon dried off. So that's the "you'll be wet through to the skin in five minutes" bogey laid to rest! We did drip rather excessively all over the floor in the hotel reception, but the staff seemed used to it. They do tell me though that this is only the pre-monsoon hiccup and the real thing may well break here on Friday or Saturday. I'm looking forward to taking that on!
I hope this is the sort of thing you can use for your web pages? Another report in a day or two, assuming you get this one.
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Panaji, Goa
Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:10 PM
Hi Lorraine
Well an interesting afternoon, but in the end a bit thin on exciting storm news. I'm told the 'true monsoon' is being held up by a cyclone rampaging through the Arabian sea and due to come onshore somewhere near Karachi. Apparently we will be in the regime of 'pre monsoon showers' for a few days yet.
However, as the clouds were bubbling up in the early afternoon I decided to walk down into the town centre and look over the markets. Within five minutes I was caught by the first shower of the afternoon, quite heavy, but it only lasted a few minutes and my mac shrugged it off quite easily. Interesting how it brought the temperature down quite a bit.
The markets were fascinating though. Lots of goods showcasing Indian culture, and yes, they had lots of rainwear. Mostly plastic or rubber, and there was even a stall selling what appeared to be waterproof macs similar to the 'Maidan' which Lakeland Elements makes available in the UK. Oh and millions of umbrellas.
There was even a three-storey department store. Visiting that was like a step back in time. Rather than being on display most of the goods were shelved and you had to get an assistant to get them down and show you them. I stuck to window shopping today as I'm here for quite a while!
There'd been a couple more showers during my browse in the markets but nothing of much account, however, outside the store I found the heavy cloud building overhead and a very humid feel to the air. My walk back to the hotel was going to more of an adventure. The whole sky to the west had darkened and there was thunder in the air, confirmed by brilliant electric blue flash from right overhead followed almost instantly by a tooth-jarring crash!
Rain began to splash down, turning heavier by the minute. I could feel my rain-hat beginning to vibrate in a response to the huge drops pounding it. I almost felt as if the hat was being squeezed down on my head as water began to stream from its protective brim. More water was cascading down my mac, and I began to feel that sense of elation and excitement I always have during battle with a storm. And then, amazingly, the rain stopped! Just as if someone had turned off a tap. The cloud was still there, the thunder was still grumbling but the rain had stopped entirely after about ten minutes. I took off my mac and examined it. Nothing on the inside at all, though once again the hat, storm flaps and shoulders were water stained.
As I made my way back to the hotel, mac unbuttoned and unbelted, the clouds began to dissolve, and 15 minutes later the sun started to peep through. Incredible.
Now I'm back in my hotel room and my mac is hanging up to dry, the hat is sitting on a chair. It's very humid, this rather grand but old fashioned hotel doesn't have air conditioning, and the outside of the mac is no drier than it was two hours ago. Thats another problem I was warned about, once something gets throughly wetted it never completely dries out in this season here. Still, two days of being under the monsoon ( or pre-monsoon!) and I'm doing OK. Perhaps not everyone's idea of a holiday, but as I can indulge my hobby and have someone else do the cooking and cleaning it will do me fine!
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
Panaji, Goa
06 June 2010 10:13
Hi Lorraine
Well .... after two days when 50+ suncream was the order of the day, I finally have something to report. Not much though, as the Monsoon still hasn't arrived in Goa. There are signs though, that it may be on the way from the South but here we are still in the 'pre-monsoon' phase. Not a problem for me at the moment as I rolled my accumulated leave in with my moving /disruption leave and my seaborn container won't even make it to Oz until the beginning of August.
As this is an old Portugese colony, lots of the people here are Catholic, as am I, and as a result, a lot of the town closes down on Sundays, I thought the best thing to do for today was to attend mass. I'd noticed that one of the receptionists, Mia, wore a gold crucifix, so I decided to ask her about where I could go, and we got to chatting. The upshot was that I received an invite to attend mass with her at 9 am on Sunday morning. I was delighted to accept as I've always found that going to church in a foreign country is a really good way of 'getting under its skin' so to speak.
Unlike the last two days, this morning was much more cloudy and a continuous drizzle was falling. Sort of like a wet day in Accrington, but much warmer, 27 C. I arrived at the square in front of the Church at about half past eight and stood there enjoying the drizzle for about 20 minutes until Mia turned up full of apologies for keeping me waiting in the rain!
To my considerable interest, she was wearing a new full length blue 'Maidan' as supplied to 'Lakeland Elements' customers. It looked neat and tidy on her and very waterproof! But she didn't buy it from England, I asked her about it and she told me her Aunt had obtained it for her in Mumbai. Then she looked wryly at my trenchcoat and said she could get me one if the monsoon proved too much for me! So that's now three of you now, including two Goan natives, who reckon have I no chance when the storms arrive! Having said that, she was very complementary about the trenchcoat style and said how it suited me. She liked my rain-boots as well. Said I'd need them with the size of the puddles which they get here.
We walked over to the Church, which looked very like the sort of Spanish period building you get in the American South West, and Mia introduced me to some of her friends, who were all very friendly and pleased to see a guest in their congregation.
The most interesting thing about the service was the sermon. I hadn't realised how desperate the locals are for the monsoon to come. 60% of the population in India still rely on farming and the monsoon controls the sowing and harvesting cycle. So special prayers were offered for an early and strong monsoon, an invocation with which I heartily agree!
After the service, Mia was kind enough to invite me back to her house where she lives with her mother and sister. It involved a 30 minute walk through the drizzle, a walk Mia makes every morning and evening to get to and from work, hence the need for the 'Maidan'! And afterwards a 30 minute walk back to the hotel where she was due on shift at 12 noon.
So there we are. A fascinating morning for me, but rather a disappointing one for the raincoat enthusiast. No lashing rain, just three outings into a steady drizzle which didn't challenge my mac much at all. Perhaps I'll have something more exciting to report in the next post!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Hi there!
Thanks for your news... The tension is beginning to get unbearable!
Praying for rain may not have been altogether wise. What will he think if you have to get back to him asking for it to stop?
Give Mia our love, won't you. Such a warm welcome she gave you. And we're all with her: looks are not everything, Burberry or not, you could need that Maidan!
Lorraine
08 June 2010 16:33
Hi Lorraine
Well this is getting quite frustrating!
Another dry day, though did see a couple of showers prowling about in the middle distance. I spent the day exploring the city of Vasco da Gama, which is near the airport and the rail hub for this area. I checked out the railway station with a view to roaming a bit further afield later in my stay. I took my mac with me just in case of a shower but never had to put it on for the entire day. The locals are getting a bit edgy with the non arrival of the monsoon, but the Indian Met Office reckons it's on the way! I've spent much wetter weeks in the English lake district than the last few days here! But later this week is more promising.
Not really to sort of post I wanted to send, but there you go!
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
09 June 2010 15:32
Dear Lorraine
I think It's finally beginning to happen! Indian Met office say the true monsoon could burst on Goa at any moment, and the cloudscape out to sea confirms that. I've just reached shelter at my hotel after walking back from sightseeing down at one the beach towns and being caught in a horrendous thunderstorm. There'd been lots of sheet lightning and three heavy showers while I was near the beach. I didn't have any problems with those, the showers eased after a few minutes and there was a breeze off the sea in between them.
The last one though, which caught me as I was just about to leave the the town centre, was a different beast altogether. Much heavier rain which almost seemed to 'crackle' as it beat against my mac with a relentless sort of hostility which began to cause me anxiety. There were also a couple of short lived bursts of extra heavy rain which didn't do much for my state of mind as I finally reached the sanctuary at the hotel.
Mia was on the desk and, seeing how rain-lashed I looked, handed over my room key with a grin! "It'll be bad tommorow as well," she said!
I hurried upstairs to examine my raincoat, where my fears were realised. The whole of the mac's outside was one giant water stain. The inside lining was wetted in three places, both shoulders and another very wet patch I found in the centre of the back, just above the belt and below the storm yoke. For good measure the water had broken into the bucket rain hat near the crown as well.
It's been quite a big knock to my confidence in our ability to get through this unscathed, as a weather forecast pinned to the notice board in reception suggests that there could be as much as 300mm of rain in the next nine days, and todays experience suggests that my mac could be in for a hard time, fabsil gold reinforced or not. It only took 15 minutes to walk from town to hotel, yet my mac couldn't cope with the storm.
Perhaps, as you suggest in your last reply, looks aren't everything and I might be needing that 'Maidan'!
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
Hi Stormstroller
If this was just a taster, I begin to wonder if even a Maidan could offer secure ongoing protection ... Something like the Abha with the integral hood and Raj's double-rubbered SlickR may turn out to de rigueur in the end.
Don't be proud. Just say the word.
I'm not sure though that you won't need to be just a touch more rigorous in your trials - ? Won't it be a bit subjective if everything hangs on where you are the moment the heavens open? If you're indoors I take it, and as you say it's a good hotel, there is likely to be a roof and you are likely to stay pretty dry. But if you are caught on the beach with no shelter and a long walk ahead then it won't be really fair on your poor old Fabsil, will it?
I'm wondering if there's somewhere close by the hotel where you could stand for a fixed length of time when the real drenchings start? 30 minutes say, or perhaps an hour?
Lorraine
10 June 2010 07:33
Dear Lorraine
It seems yesterday was another false alarm according to the 'experts.' The 'True monsoon' is still hovering off the coast and it seems yesterday afternoons cloudburst was another 'pre monsoon thunder shower'. It was quite a shower though! This morning has been dry again! In touch with something more substantial if anything happens!
Kind regards
Stromstroller
11 June 2010 05:08
Dear Lorraine
These storms are really starting to wind themselves up now. But they have been mostly short lived, usually dying away after 15 minutes or so. The one I was under on the way back from town was the heaviest I have been in - ever! At times it was difficult see across the road for rain. Certainly heavier than the one which crushed my gaberdine back in England years ago, though much less long lasting.
During these unpredicaable 'pre monsoon showers' I've just gone about being an ordinary tourist, as you can't guarantee where they will fall. If they fell on me all well and good. But as the true monsoon begins to bite we can perhaps be more systematic.
I agree that a trial of an hour would be 'interesting' if the opportunity occurs. There is an open bus stop about a quarter of a mile from the hotel where the bus to the airport calls once an hour. I think I could contrive to arrive at the stop just after the departure of the bus if conditions are suitable.
I think you are scenting blood here though! Some water breaking into my mac after only 15 minutes does not bode well for exposure to an hour of that sort of treatment! I'll let you know what happens!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Dear Stormstroller
I said at the outset you might be our 'intrepid reporter' without really meaning 'fearless, daring, bold'! But now, preparing to stand to attention in your trenchcoat for an hour as the monsoon does its worst - wow! - 'intrepid' doesn't quite cover it! Your devotion to science, impermeaphilia and members of the rainwear Club, reading about your every move, is courageous indeed!
We are thinking of you!
Lorraine
12 June 2010 13:16
Dear Lorraine
'Fearless, daring, bold'! These are my middle names. Unfortunately didn't have the right kind of storm today. Perhaps tomorrow after attending Church with Mia.
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
16 June 2010 10:23
Dear Lorraine
Well ..... sorry for the break in communication, the true monsoon has finally arrived. I've been testing my mac to destruction I think, and need to spend today inside for reasons which will become apparent.
On Sunday I walked down to the church again to meet Mia. Rain was lashing down on me as I walked, though without any thunder and lightning to begin with. I was hoping it would ease off a bit until later as I was wearing my best clothes for the service, including a lightweight purple jacket to cover my arms and also a superlight white tropical silk blousewhich I am very attached to. Of course it didn't ease off at all, and by the time Mia arrived with the rain bouncing off her 'Maidan', my mac was beginning to give way again. I had to stand in the church with wet hair and big damp patches on my jacket in the middle of the back and over the shoulders, the object of some sympathy from my new friends, who all appeared to be wearing plastic, SBR or nylon macs and usually carrying big umbrellas.
Afterwards Mia invited me again over to her house but outside the rain had turned even heavier and she queried whether I'd rather go back to the hotel than make the 30 minute walk to her place then go back to the hotel, another 30 minutes, the walk she makes every day. Naturally, being 'your intrepid reporter' I opted to go with her.
The storm continued as we walked. Although it appeared to be having no effect at all Mia's blue 'Maidan', before long the monsoon rain was ripping through my raincoat as though it was made of paper rather than tightly woven pure cotton! There was the delicious 'moment of breakthrough' we spoke of earlier! Mia kept asking me if I was all right. I kept saying I was, though by the time we reached the house it felt as if as much water was flowing down the inside of my mac as the outside! When we arrived, the truth was out! My mac was totally saturated, every inch of the lining was sopping, so was my purple jacket, and the the purple dye had run so the silk blouse was streaked with purple, ruined beyond the efforts of any cleaner in this town. There were also faint purple stains inside my mac's checked lining, and looking further, 'all over' your intrepid reporter'. Mia's mum was great and lent me a towel and some old clothes to try and dry out in and offered tea and biscuits!
And then .... we had to walk back to the hotel in time for Mia's shift. Now there was lightning and intense rainbursts. I kept my blouse and jacket in a bag to avoid further damage from the dye, (and shhh... don't tell anyone, they have laws here!) walked back with my mac over just my underclothes! It's hard to describe the experience. It felt as if as if I wasn't wearing the mac at all, so easily did the water flow through it. The rainwater is warmer here than in the UK so I couldn't say it was wholly unpleasant!
Monday was the day I planned to stand under the monsoon for an hour, however in the end it was hardly a fair test as the humidity was so high my mac hadn't dried out much at all so I decided to wait until evening and go watch a game of football being held nearby. They must be football crazy here because the game went ahead despite the sodden state of the pitch and a decent crowd turned up all enthusiastically waving umbrellas! And by the end of the game I was even more sodden than the pitch. Lightly pressing my thumb agains the fabric of my mac caused water to sqeeze back to the surface, and again I could feel streams of water running down inside. I began to feel that my hopes to be able to face the monsoon stylishly for at least a reasonable period weren't exactly working out.
Tuesday was another similar day. I went over to the bus stop to carry out my timed monsoon, but again my mac was still wet from being at the football game. I had checked my watch and waited to see how long it could struggle on this time. The answer - 4 minutes and 30 seconds before I felt the wet break through to my back and shoulders again, and 9 minutes to a state of total saturation!
I'm stubborn in the cause though and remained there for the full 60 minutes. By the end I was starting to feel the weight of all the absorbed water I was carrying, and my bucket rain hat had lost its shape, collapsing against my hair with a sadly drooping brim.
Well.... that's it for now Lorraine, as its 2:30 pm local time and I'm back 'under the roof' with three days worth of wet clothes spread out all over my room. I fear my mac is in no condition to face the elements for some time, if indeed it hasn't suffered some irreversible damage. I hope not, but I think we both need a dry spell. Or a waterproof!
I'm glad the club readers are finding the account interesting. I Iooked over the web page you have made and I'm really impressed with how you've set it out. Love the pic of the girl in the trenchcoat looking over the sea and trying to dry out!? Don't hesitate to to send me any feedback, (critical as well complementary) which might improve the style of the reporting. I'm a bit concerned that this might turn into a procession of 'my mac was totally saturated again' pieces, but maybe they all being fully waterproof customers, that's what they want to hear!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Dear S
Oh dear, yes, I think you are probably all too right - speaking (a bit ashamed) for myself anyway...! Disasters are so much more interesting...
It had to come, the breakthrough, and you describe it so thrillingly! It has that completely weird, weird combination of being absolutely horrid and wonderfully lovely at exactly the same time! A sort of ghastly shiver of ... delight.
But there's no doubt though that we would love to compare and contrast...
There are two trials we would love you to consider. One is for you to test the Maidan idea to the limit. I know you say Mia's Miadan-type mackintosh serves her very well - but would it really pass the bus-stop test? I don't think the water would get through the seams - but even so with the force of water you are talking about wouldn't it find ways round? Bouncing up from the pavement? Squeezing its way somehow through the fastenings? Powering into the face and then down the neck? That would be the first trial.
But then there are Rajkumar's macs in double-rubbered Slickr - which certainly feel terrifically robust as you wear them in Bury. They give you the feeling of total impenetrability, if that's a word.
But I wonder ....
S, don't catch your death. We need you to survive and keep sending us your dispatches from the front.
Lorraine
20 June 2010 00:31
Dear Lorraine
I'm happy to say that two things have happened!
1. I've become converted to the idea of acquiring a waterproof after 5 successive days of being soaked through in my trench.
2. Mia and I have spent the day scouring the raincoat shops of Panaji and Vasco and we have found a Yogini. The only one they had in my size was in red/black, but I like red as you know.
The other good news is that I was able to secure this gem for less than the cost of postage & packing from the UK out to India. Paid approx £60. So from Sunday's church service onward I will be using and reporting on what you have been telling me to use all along! It does look as if anything can handle these conditions, it's this mac!
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
4:40 pm 21st June
Dear Lorraine
Perhaps rather than a novel approach, more a case of 'you couldn't make it up!' What's actually happened is that since the 'true' monsoon arrived in the state I just haven't been able to cope with it. The Indian Met Office, in the tradition of the British one, tend to understate things, and if they forecast a day of heavy rain in the state anything up 4 inches of rain might fall. And if they predict heavy thunderstorms, and I've been caught in some of those, you find yourself experiencing an inch of rain in 10 minutes! And sometimes you will get a thunder and lightning downburst breaking out in the middle of what seems to be an 'ordinary wet afternoon'. You do get dry days as well but you can easily have 3 or 4 succesive wet ones.
My original idea was I'd come here, and my mac would probably leak quite a bit in the severest weather, but I'd be able go about as I wished, taking the 'delicious moment of truth' when the rain broke in as a pleasure rather than a pain. But I hadn't anticipated that my cotton mac would collapse so quickly and completely once the true monsoon succeeded the pre monsoon showers - we did quite well in resisting those to begin with!.
I've been going out in the past few days and finding myself soaked through in minutes, and if I stay out or go anywhere my mac is reduced to what I now think of as 'water transparent' rather than water resistant! My clothes all become saturated and because of the high humidity everything, including my mac, remains wet the next morning.
So I had a pretty stark choice. Stay in the hotel for the next month or admit I was wrong and go fully waterproof! I spent an evening thinking about it and the following morning asked Mia if she would help me out on her day off to find something I could wear which could survive these conditions. She was kind enough to agree and we spent Saturday combing the rainwear outlets of two cities! It wasn't easy, as at this time of year there is a run on rainwear, but finally we ran something to earth in a stock cupboard where a box had been overlooked!
So I'm bringing the trenchcoat monsoon challenge to a close. The monsoon has beaten my mac with what was, to me, unbelievable ease, but I can't say I wasn't warned!
So now I have my smart new ankle length hooded red 'Yogini' along with a nice silk scarf to wrap around inside the throat flap to deal with any seepage there, and I'm looking forward to being able to attend the early Monsoon festivals during July.
So sorry folks, it doesn't look like any more tales of impermeaphile disaster in the style of my earlier reports, but I'm sure you'll want to know (as I do) how my new 'SlickR' mac handles the rest of my sabbatical out here, so rest assured I'll be in touch!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
23 June 8:15pm
Dear Lorraine
After a quiet 3 days during which I was itching to try out my new waterproof, things have livened up again. This from the local news!
PANJIM, JUNE 23
Heavy rains lashed the state on Wednesday, with Met department recording 2.5 inches of rainfall. The low laying areas in the city were inundated due to incessant showers. At few places like near Don Bosco high school the gutters became choked and unusual flooding occurred.
Like last year, Panaji city’s traditionally flooding areas like KTC bus stand, parts of 18 June road, market areas remained under water.
Meanwhile, Met department has warned of heavy to very heavy showers for the state in next 48 hours. Indian Meteorological Observatory in-charge K V Singh said that the monsoon currents have started to intensify at very fast pace after going through a weak phase, last week. “Some areas in the state are likely to get moderate to heavy rains for couple of days,” he said.
So, there I was at 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon, after having lunch out, on the far side of the city, on the wrong side of a flooded zone, under a jet black sky punctuated by occasional flashes of lightning and the rain falling in an absolute torrent. But this time I had my new SlickR mac and my rain boots. My rain boots, by the way have been an unqualified success as ankle deep water is common here and the boots have given no trouble at all.
Clearly buses were not an option and I began to make a circuitous way back to the hotel, a strong, gusty wind picking up and hurling waves of water over my head. Usually the locals ignore the rain as we would ignore a passing shower but this time the streets were far from crowded. The wind and rain tore at my mac in a frenzy, searching for any weakness, but pleasingly, it remained untroubled. What should have taken half an hour or so ended up taking two, torrential rain continuing the whole time, with a strong wind. Along with water streaming down from unguttered roofs, it was quite a walk!
But the ankle length SlickR withstood everything, material and seams holding out to the end, and probably could have carried on for ever.
I'm sure you'll have lots of satisfied clients with these!
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
How it started
18th April
Hello Lorraine
I haven't been in touch much recently because I've been concentrating on my career quite a bit and it hasn't left much time for writing.
However, I am in the throes of quite a big change in my life at the moment, because my company has a arranged a two year secondment over in Australia. I'm going to be based in Queensland from June ( ash clouds permitting!) and I've been told by my mentor that 'though the place is beautiful, you'll need to be prepared for some pretty rough weather at times!'
Sounds like my sort of place doesn't it? An excuse for another trenchcoat I think!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Hi!
Oh! How lovely to hear from you.
I'm sure I remember you writing last ages ago and me not replying! I didn't reply straightaway, then lost your email, then ... well, I'm very sorry.
Australia is the place to be just now I'm sure - you are lucky. But I guess you deserve the luck!
It's been all change here too - due to the recession, workshops closing, materials no longer made. But we have a very good partnership with an Indian firm now and this is producing some really nice things.
Let me know the moment you feel the need for more protection, but I must say my image of Queensland is hot and dry! Never been myself though, so I'm talking through my Sou'Wester.
Thanks so much for writing again.
Best wishes
Lorraine
Hi again Lorraine,
Yes I certainly feel lucky to have got the chance. Who knows - I might even get an opportunity to stay! My mentor on this move is a Brisbane native who has just completed a similar secondment here in England. She tells me that the climate in Brisbane is indeed mostly sunny and very warm. However, there is a tropical influence that can produce 'frightful' (her word, not mine) summer storms, far more violent than we experience in the UK. I can't wait for one of those! She thinks I should buy a Driza-Bone!
Co-incidental that you should mention India. I have 3 weeks accumulated leave due before I take up my new job in Oz and I'm planning to go (volcano permitting) via Goa, arriving there in mid-June and eventualling moving on to Brisbane in time to start my new job later in July. By that time my stuff from UK might even have arrived! It won't have escaped your notice that the rains normally arrive in Goa in June and its been a long held ambition of mine to experience a monsoon at first hand! I'll be taking a netbook with me so hopefully if it all works out I'll be able to find time to write something for your site.
I've decided to take my pink Burberry trenchcoat and rain hat to India. It's the sort Kate Moss made quite famous. For some reason It has never ever been exposed to any serious rain and the proofing is in 'as new' condition. (My beige one, on the other hand, has been caught in so many cloudbursts over the past four years that it really is getting exhausted - amazingly, the colour is showing signs of fading over the yoke and shoulders and the water drops don't bead on the surface any more, they just water-stain straightaway!) Hopefully it should be up to the task and I won't need to drag around a 'heavy duty umbrella' as the tourist office advises!
Catch up with you later
Kind regards
'Stormstroller'
Hi
Not sure you could be more stylishly protected with those two burberries - if I read you correctly, the pink and the beige. If you went totally waterproof in Monsoon conditions it would have to be something rubberised I guess? - assuming (as I think for you?) plastic is out. But that would blow your luggage allowance I fear! Maybe I should send one out to you separately?
The thing is, surely even a top-notch brand new trenchcoat won't withstand serious exposure to the monsoon? Or are you looking for that awful overwhelming incredible moment when the wet finally breaks through? I know that is something quite special...
Will you let me put your letter up on the site? And yes, a follow up of your monsoon experiences would be absolutely wonderful ... "Our intrepid reporter ..."
But there's your new job to concentrate on! It must be easy to be distracted...
All the very best
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine
Plastic - not really my style at all! Actually I'm only planning on taking the Pink Burberry to India because the Beige one's waterproofing seems to have degraded quite a bit. I've worn it every single working day for the last 4 years. When it was new it was by far the best mac I've had for rain resistance but its been gradually beaten down and now, rather than the rain beading nicely on the outside it waterstains quite badly. So its going to Oz in a transport container along with the rest of my stuff. The Pink coat, on the other hand seems to be A1 condition and I'm hoping that the monsoon won't do any serious damage to it.
Of course I know its possible that exposure to serious monsoon rain will result in some wet getting inside, but to me that's always been part of the thrill. Going right back to that event I described wearing the Robert Hirst gaberdine, I've always enjoyed the experience of battling through a cloudburst with the uncertainty that we might not make it unscathed! That day, my friend Mary gave up half - way and took refuge in bus shelter, while I plodded on with the rain rebounding 4 or 5 inches from the pavement, and the raindrops roaring against my hood. It took me an hour and, as you suggest, I loved that 'overwhelmingly awful incredible moment when the wet breaks through' and I still had 40 minutes (with absolutely no let up - it was merciless) to walk to get home. That storm completely destroyed the 'Junette' as a usable mac in anything more than drizzle, but I'm hoping the Burberry and its matching Sou' wester style rain hat are made of sterner stuff.
You sent me a rather nice picture of the sort of mac you're tactfully advising me to wear. Thanks for the thought, I appreciate it, but I hope I'm geared up to face the worst the monsoon can throw over me !
Of course you can use this material on the site if you think its worthy. And as I'm taking a net book with me, and as the hotel promises net access, your 'intrepid reporter' will try to send you some news of how she gets on!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Hi
Oh, that would be wonderful, reports from the front!
I guess your old Burberry is not revived then with silicon? I've used it a bit and I thought it worked - but no sustained field trials really.
There is something quite special about Australia (and New Zealand) as far as we are concerned - quite a concentration of customers, as though real demand but nothing to meet it. Sending macs out there is disproportionatley expensive, and they wouldn't buy from us if their was a local source I'm sure.
Looking forward to your first dispatch!! (Of course, don't worry, only if you have time.)
Best
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine
Actually, you might have a point about the silicone spray. I've used it succesfully on other coats in the past, and it might be a good idea and fit with another thought I've been having. The security angle. As I'm going to be on my own, maybe pink would be a bit conspicuous and might attract some unwelcome attention. So I was rethinking maybe going back to the beige instead. I hadn't used silicone spray on on a Burberry before because as they are quite (!) expensive I didn't want to risk putting permanent stain marks on the material, but as this one is now getting on for four and half years old that's maybe less of a concern. Another advantage would be that the hat which matches the beige is more of a sou wester style than the traditional bucket.
I've had some conversations with work colleagues who come from India and from what they tell me, if I venture out into, or get caught in the serious monsoon, my mac is going to be having a really desperate time. (One of my friends actually said "if you take that raincoat to Goa, the rains will kill it the first day! Get Plastic and an umbrella!") Surely not that quickly though?
So I plan on buying a couple of spray cans of fabsil gold this week and see if I can't toughen its resistance a bit. After all I plan on being there 3/4 weeks.
Many thanks for the advice so far
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Hi
Well, if we are talking real monsoon I'm afraid I do think the awful moment will come quite quickly with any Burberry-type raincoat (ie a matter of minutes). It doesn't advertise itself, does it, as strictly waterproof. Does it say 'weatherproof', something like that? Rubber, rubberised fabric, plastic of various kinds can claim to be waterproof, but not I think the woven cloths used in Burberrys, can, even though siliconed.
But this is good news, surely! That moment will come ... all the sooner.
Best
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine
Well ..... you're probably right there! The label does say 'weatherproof'. I had this fantasy of taking on the monsoon in my stylish mac, and holding out for maybe an hour? On the other hand, my friend Ayshea, who comes from those parts, thinks, as you do, that it's optimistic to expect more than a few minutes resistance if I really do get caught in what she calls 'a real pelting'. She also tells me that the deluge can go on for hours (or days!) at a time. Ashea also still recommends plastic macs and a big umbrella! So I am expecting failure at some point and as you surmise, I'm quite looking forward to it. But it would be nice to be able to last a bit longer than a matter of minutes before the onset of of the awful moment .... !
I've obtained some Fabsil Gold silicone spray, and I've settled on taking the Beige mac and its matching Sou'wester to go with my Indian luggage. Everything else is going in the container to Oz.
I'm back at work tomorrow until beginning of June and naturally have lots to do so might not have chance to email much again until just before I leave (fingers crossed ash permitting!)
So thanks again for acting as a sounding board for the trip - I very much enjoyed the e-chat, and I'll be in touch from Goa via netbook to let you know how I get on sometime from the 2nd week in June.
Kind Regards
Stormstroller
Hi
Lovely to talk to you. All the very best for the packing etc. Loking forward to your first despatch. (But only if and when you have time)
Best wishes
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine
Just thought I'd send a note of reassurance that I wasn't flying to India this week, given the tragic aircrash that happened earlier.
On Friday I signed off my work at this end and I'm a free agent for the next couple of months. My beige mac and hat are all heavily re-inforced with FabsilGold ready for the fray! Trouble is, its been so dry the last couple of weeks that I've had no chance to test them out! And according to the Indian Met office, this years monsoon could be a bit of a 'humdinger', something to do with reversal of El Nino or something.
All being well I fly out at the end of the coming week. (Obviously didn't choose BA!) I'm planning on making it a fairly relaxed holiday so, stable power supplies and internet connection permitting I anticipate letting you know how I make out from time to time. My pessimistic mate who comes from India reckons I'll have plenty of time sheltering in the hotel while my mac and the rest of my clothes are drying out but I'm confident we'll be able to fight it out for longer than the five minutes she reckons!
Kind regards
Stormstroller
Hi Stormstroller
Thanks for your update - sorry I'm so late in replying - machine probs.
I guess you may be under the monsoon as I write! Don't let it sweep you away! I can always dispatch an emergency fully waterproof trench if FabsilGold is a disappointment.
Do keep in touch if you can
Best
Lorraine
