When it rains, it pours...

Literarily, yes. But that is Australia in a nutshell, isn’t it. The weather here doesn’t do anything half-hearted. When it’s hot, it’s hot, 40 plus, you feel like a piece of bacon, sizzling away. When it’s dry, it’s dry, the ground full of cracks, Spinifex on the horizon, water restrictions and dead cattle. When it storms, it storms, roofs flying off right, left and centre, cars in the trees and waves the size of 12 storey buildings. And when it rains it pours. None of that Swedish drizzle I used to grow up with. The one where you weren’t sure if it was wet fog or light drizzle.

But when the rain gets cracking in Oz, the weather makes sure we know about it. Did I say 72 hours straight? Well, yes, that was just the warm-up, I’ve since lost count. Everything gets waterlogged, the garden, the car, the house, the shoes, the kids and the cat. Rows and rows of weeping double brick houses that just can’t deflect any more moisture. Let it rise, let it come down from above, damp walls have never been so damp. In this water world, I keep thinking Tretorn. And why I didn’t get any on my last visit to Sweden. For the non-informed, Tretorn is the most reliable gumboots manufacturers in Swedish gumboot history. This is the gumboot for the real weather people, none of the fashion statement Kate-Moss-on-her-way-to-a-rock-festival-kind-of-over-rated-type of gumboot. Tretorn is like the Volvo of gumboots, perhaps not fighting for a spot on the catwalk, but delivers on the promise of dry feet and a comfort.

The gumboot is a bit like travel insurance, you feel slightly annoyed that you keep paying the premium and never ending up needing it. The gumboots fall in the same category. 99% of the time those boots will stand there in the wardrobe looking at you, all shiny and unused. You feel it was a bit indulgent to buy them, waste of money and all that. But then comes that golden moment when the skies open up and let the torrents of water flood our streets. Those boots then get a chance to shine, in more than one way. They keep you dry, they keep you protected and they will continue to do so wear after wear. And you thank your lucky star that you wisely invested in a pair of gumboots.