Lake Eyre to Birdsville by air

posted in: Other, Photography, Travel | 4

lake EyreIt’s day three of our journey to see Lake Eyre in flood. If you missed day 1 you’ll find it here, and day 2 is here. Today we leave Marree and travel along the Oodnadatta track to William Creek, where we’ll catch a plane.

We’re really in the outback now, surrounded by barren plains with maybe a range of low hills on the horizon. It’s dry out here. Marree’s average annual rainfall is 160mm (6.3″). The vegetation is tough. There’s a lot of salt bush, and plants with leathery, greyish leaves. But there’s water, if you know where to look. Australia is host to the largest artesian basin in the world, and the road we’re following is there because it follows the water. Many towns up here have ‘wet’ words like creek or well in their names, places where water can be found. We stop in a particularly desolate area to look at the mound springs – places where the mineral-filled water bubbles up to the surface. Over thousands of years the minerals were deposited and the mounds built up. You can see from the pictures that around such springs the ground is lush with plant life. These springs have had to be protected from cattle, which trample the edges and muddy the flow.

Maybe they need to be protected from people, too. The settlers didn’t understand this country. Read the story on the information board and you’ll see what I mean. The aboriginal people called these places home, and they looked after them. Water, after all, is life.

This barren country is where you find mound springs
This barren country is where you find mound springs
That's a mound spring. It's a long way to the top
That’s a mound spring. It’s a long way to the top
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This spring is known as the bubbler. You can see why.
Read the story on the left next to the blue map
Read the story on the left next to the blue map

But it’s not just humans who need water. We crossed a creek full with recent rain. It teemed with little fingerlings all fighting for a chance to get to lake Eyre. And surrounding this crossing were hundreds of silver gulls. The nearest coast is at Port Augusta, around 450km away. How the gulls knew the water and the fish were here is a mystery.

Silver gulls in the desert. There's a little fish stair to help the fingerlings cross the road.
Silver gulls in the desert. There’s a little fish stair to help the fingerlings cross the road.
The tranquility of water in the desert. Soon it will be a dry bed again.
The tranquility of water in the desert. Soon it will be a dry bed again.

We arrived at William Creek (population 12) just before lunch, served (of course) in the pub. The owner, Trevor Wright, basically owns the town but he doesn’t like to be called king. He reckons he’s more of a benevolent dictator. He’s a big man with a shock of white hair and he operates the planes we’ll use over Lake Eyre. He likes to talk, too. One of his pilots came in to give him a hurry up call. The planes and the pilots were waiting.

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William Creek
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All you need to know about William Creek

5V3A4771Six of us (including the pilot) crammed into a Cessna 210. I was in the last of 3 rows of seats and I won’t pretend it was comfy. The outside temperature was in the late 30’s and the cabin wasn’t air conditioned. We took along bottled water and frozen wet towels to keep us cool. I found the best way to avoid dwelling on discomfort was to watch what was going on below. It’s 450km as the crow flies from William Creek to Birdsville – and a bit more when you’re sight seeing. The journey took about two and a half hours and I don’t mind admitting I was pleased to stagger out of the plane at the other end.

The following day we did it all again, flying from Birdsville back to Marree, where our driver picked us up. There’s a lot to say about Birdsville, but I’ll do that in another post. For now, let’s take a look at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

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Heading towards Lake Eyre
The sky reflected in shallow, calm water
The sky reflected in shallow, calm water
More reflections
More reflections
Flocks of pelicans. That's why we're up at 500ft. If we hit one of them we'd end up being permanent residents
Flocks of pelicans. That’s why we’re up at 500ft. If we hit one of them we’d end up being permanent residents
Pelicans floating on the water. Nobody knows how they know the lake is full
Pelicans floating on the water. Nobody knows how they know the lake is full
The Diamantina flows into the lake
The Diamantina flows into the lake
Trevor said he'd never seen the desert so green. This is the Diamantina
Trevor said he’d never seen the desert so green. This is the Diamantina
The desert. It doesn't look like the Sahara - but there are sand dunes
The desert. It doesn’t look like the Sahara – but there are sand dunes
It looks like fabric, or an aboriginal painting
It looks like fabric, or an aboriginal painting
Red sand of the Simpson desert
Red sand of the Simpson desert
This is 'Big Red' a sand dune 30m high.
This is ‘Big Red’ a sand dune 30m high.
Coming in to land. That's the plane's shadow on the ground
Coming in to land. That’s the plane’s shadow on the ground in the middle of the picture

4 Responses

  1. Decima

    Wonderful landscape ! I agree, looks like aboriginal paintings. And that sand dune !

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