Lake-Eyre

Lake Eyre, in Central Australia is a large salt-pan, about 9,000 square kilometres in area and surrounded by miles and miles of inhospitable country. The early explorers were hoping for an inland sea. What they found was a glaring white salt crust as far as the eye could see.

The lake is normally parched dry. It provides the long, level, hard surface where Donald Campbell and others attempted to break world speed records 60 years ago. The country for miles and miles around can best be described as desert. However, every twenty or thirty years the flooding tropical rain in North West Queensland is sufficient for the water to follow the dry inland rivers and channels all the way into Lake Eyre, and maybe two or three times a century the lake fills with water.

This year is one of those unusual years. The floods that covered the Gulf Country and much of North West Queensland earlier this year have slowly been making their way down the inland rivers and over the vast open plains of The Channel Country of Western Queensland. The waters are slowly making their way to Lake Eyre, right down in the northern part of South Australia.

Most times, the North Queensland floods, carried by the Diamantina, Georgina and other inland Rivers, dry up in the Channel Country, and there are many years when the water doesn't even get that far. This year the flooding rain broke an eight year drought. This year the water is flowing all the way into Lake Eyre and spreading out across the some 9,000 square kilometre salt pan, thanks to that flooding rain in Queensland. The arrival of the water is vital for the survival of birds, fish and invertebrates which thrive when it arrives.

It is said that the flood water travels at about 40 kilometres a day, down the rivers and through the Channel Country to reach the lake. With the spread of the water into numerous channels, billabongs and water-courses the Channel Country comes alive with grass and wild flowers which is a welcome sign of very good seasons for the cattle stations in that part of Queensland.

The variety and number of birds that make their way to the lake in times of flood is absolutely amazing. An estimated six million birds will make their way to the lake to breed on the islands that form as the lake fills. Pelicans, ducks, black swans, silver gulls, terns and many others, perhaps 60 species in all, will be counted at the lake. Some will travel thousands of miles. They will fly in to create in an incredible spectacle of massed bird life. The mystery is, how do the birds know that this year the lake is filling and that this is the year they should go there to breed?

The arrival of the birds and the transformation of lake is quite spectacular. Thousands of tourists from many parts of the world come to see and to take photographs of the amazing scenes of the wildlife and of the lake itself. For most, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture the event. It is a rare photographic event that might not occur again, to this extent, for many years.

When you visit Lake Eyre, be prepared for the amazing sights you will see and be sure to have your camera at the ready to capture some awesome scenes of the wildlife, the Lake and the stunning countryside.

Day trips by air to the lake can be arranged from capital cities, or those with time to spare can arrange overland tours. Either way you won't be disappointed. The lake from the bank or from a boat is amazing, but the best views of the lake and the extraordinary variety of wildlife must be seen from the air. Tours by light aircraft or helicopter can be arranged for those who want to see the spectacular bird life and amazing transformation of Lake Eyre in Central Australia.