Wyn Drabble: Downpour Rain was in tents

I cannot hammer on this keyboard hard enough to drown out the pounding of the rain.

Summer rain. Driving, drenching and detestably inconvenient for campers and holiday makers in general.

I admit to being somewhat of a water baby but I have had only one swim so far this season. Granted, my criteria (air temperature, water temperature, temperature of the beer for afters) are set pretty high but, in a normal year, they would have been met at least a dozen times by now.

Thanks, I suspect, to global warming, conditions have simply been too cool and damp for summer activities.

But mustn't grumble, as they say. Let's look at the positives. I'm sure they will come to me, given time.

This pounding on the roof will surely dislodge some little gems of positivity hidden away in a corner of this brain of mine.

So, as the rhythm on the roof continues, let's just dwell on the negatives for a while.

Let's start with mud. You can't have heavy rain without mud. Slippery, squelchy, sucky mud. Just ask anyone who went to major New Year's Eve festivals, Coromandel Gold and Rhythm and Vines, about mud.

Mud was the main feature of their celebratory environment. Mud to slip in, slide in, sink in.

And let's spare a thought for holiday campers.

Those who didn't just pack up and go home were left sitting in tents and playing cards, then Scrabble.

Soon it would be time to fix a camp meal, perhaps enjoy a refreshing beverage or two, then it would be back to the cards and Scrabble.

Spare a thought, too, for those whose living depends on offering holiday services: a pleasant harbour cruise, perhaps. Or paddleboat hire for fun in the sun. Or sunscreen.

Vendor: "Can I interest you in a tube of 30+ sunscreen? It's waterproof."

Holidaymaker: "No thanks. Have you got any umbrellas or gumboots?"

Important Announcement: We apologise to readers for the ongoing negative nature of today's content but we would like to reassure you that there is something positive on its way.

Times have been tough too for the nation's young cricketers. Backyard cricket, that breeding ground of international sporting stardom, has had to be moved indoors. Bowling speeds have been low and glazier bills have been high. Parents have been unimpressed.

Even if they could play their cricket outside, the kids would have to wait for the lawn to be mowed because the growth has been phenomenal with all this rain.

Trouble is, it's too wet to mow.

I'm afraid the outlook is bleak, too.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) has released a three-month climate outlook which predicts above-normal rainfall in the North Island.

"It's more of the same," confirmed senior climate scientist Dr Brett Mullan.

A moderate La Nina in the tropical Pacific is expected to persist into early autumn.

But wait. What's this? I knew it would happen. I've thought of a positive.

Life has been a whole lot easier for weather forecasters lately.

Under normal circumstances they need to do a lot of background work then use difficult words and phrases such as "meteorology", "anti-cyclonic", "barometric pressure" and "Winston Peters". That has all changed and things have been very straightforward. Listen: "Good evening and here is the weather forecast. Rain." Thank you.

Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, public speaker and musician.