Well I'll venture my opinion lubes... for what it's worth.
First of all, to put it out there - my understanding/definition of a dry canyon is one on which a wetsuit is
not required - ie. does not contain swims, or at least they are not expected!
The 'dry' canyons that I have done are, of course, not
completely dry - wet feet are still common and the odd wade might be encountered.
Wet canyoning for me usually continues into March, occasionally April. I vividly remember the first time I canyoned at Newnes - Easter in April, 2004 (brrr!).
I guess you can build a sense for it, but basically each year I just take into account how warm the summer has been and the very recent weather.
Dry canyons? Don't think I could put a number on it, but find yourself a copy of Rick Jamieson's Canyons Near Sydney - the index indicates the ones that the author has classified as dry.
Some of my 'dry' suggestions - Long Gully, Spiral, Heart Attack, Surefire (nearly), Penrose, Windows, Tiger Snake, Galah (nearly).
Aegist, when you read this mate - maybe in time a worthy page for the TDMSKP guidebook would be one that lists the dry or wet canyons separately? Perhaps a canyon index page where you can sort by categories such as: region, grade, abseil (y/n), rock climb (y/n), dry/wet, length (eg. <1 day or >1 day). Just a thought.
Timmy
