Weather-wise, the contrast between the first week of 2020 and the first week of 2021 couldn't be more pronounced.
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Last January the region was in the midst of its worst drought on record and still shrouded in smoke following the most catastrophic bushfire season in living memory.
This January a day has yet to pass without rainfall.
Nabiac and Wootton have received the most across the Great Lakes, both recording just under 100mm in the first six days of 2021.
Consistent falls have also been experienced at Krambach and Bungwahl, while Tuncurry recorded 42mm in the 24 hours up to 9am Tuesday, January 5.
In the Manning, Mooral Creek has by far had the most rain in the region, recording a total of 302mm since January 1, including 151mm on New Year's Day alone.
Last year, just 2mm of rain fell across the Great Lakes in the first week of January, while in the Manning none fell whatsoever.
MidCoast Council's infrastructure and engineering services director, Rob Scott, who was responsible for coordinating council's response to last year's unprecedented drought, said conditions were pretty much the exact opposite of what they were last year.
"This time last year the river wasn't even flowing - there were about 70-odd days of no flow at this time last year," he said.
"They were the most serious conditions we'd ever seen."
By comparison, Mr Scott said council's water supply couldn't be in better shape this summer.
"From a water supply perspective it's been a great outcome this year; our treatment plants are all running really well, we're able to keep up with demand, we've replenished the borefield really well, our dam is operationally 100 per cent full and the river is absolutely roaring," he said.
Mr Scott said there had been some downfalls associated with the persistent rain, most notably widespread damage to the region's road network, but he believed it was still preferable to last summer's drought.
The wet weather has also kept local SES units busy throughout December and January.
Forster Pacific Palms SES unit commander Greg Dodd says they were lucky to get four days reprieve over Christmas before the jobs started flowing in again.
Since then, he and his fellow members have been attending fallen trees, leaking roofs, and homes and driveways that have needed sandbagging across the length and breadth of the Great Lakes.
There have also been flooded roads around Dyers Crossing and Krambach, but thankfully the water has abated fairly quickly.
Mr Dodd says it's the wettest start to the year he has seen since 2012.
"It's usually not until around March-April that the storms start coming in," he said.
"There's a lot of water laying around."
With a La Nina climate cycle declared across Australia by the Bureau of Meteorology back in September, Mr Dodd isn't expecting the wet conditions to ease up any time soon either.
"They reckon we're going to get more of the same," he said.
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