After arriving back from an awesome holiday overseas the company that I do Whale Watching Tours and days trips to the Great Barrier Reef with“Seair”, asked me to do a few trips out to Lake Eyre. My answer of course was “Let’s go”.
Lake Eyre only floods once every 15 years on average so to me this was an opportunity of a life time.
On each tour there were 10 guests, the pilot and myself, as their informative tour guide. The only problem being that I had never been West of Brisbane before, and as all the guests were over 60 years old and born and bred in Queensland they knew everything about the numerous towns we flew over and landed at. When they asked me questions about the area below all I could do was consult my notes, the map that the pilot gave me, or ask the pilot Kieran as he had already done the trip a few times. They were all very tolerant and within a few hours we all got to know each other well and by the time we arrived in Birdsville we were all the best of mates. As the 14 seat Cessna Caravan that we were in can only carry a limited amount of fuel we stopped at Charleville which is approximately two and a half hour flying time form Brisbane to refuel then another two and a half hours to Birdsville. After checking into our accommodation it was off for some curried camel pies and a trip to Big Red a large sand dune in the Simpson Desert for champagne at sunset. Unbelievable!
The next day it was up early and then a scenic flight over the Channel Country with numerous creeks and rivers that had flooded into the parched desert on their way to Lake Eyre which is 15 metres below sea level and when full is larger than Holland. To see this dry scrubby land that seemed to have nothing growing on it, spring into life after the floodwaters recede is amazing. Flocks of pelicans abounded and the wild flowers had just begun to bloom changing this extremely arid landscape into a colourful oasis.
Up ahead we could see the almost endless salt flats of Lake Eyre North still with 2 metres of water remaining. This is where Don Campbell broke the land speed record 45 years ago at over 700km an hour. Hard to believe but fact. Then we saw our next destination, the bustling town of William Creek, South Australia, population 6. What a place! Red dusty runway, red dusty main street and red dusty town. After a lovely lunch in the pub come service station($1.86 a litre) where half the population worked, it was off for another scenic flight over Lake Eyre North and South, Innamincka the town where Burke and Wills died near, and then on to the infamous Dig Tree to meet “Bomber” the local guide to the tree. Fascinating bloke with a million stories to tell. To see the Dig Tree really made you think back to what life must have been like for the party of men that had stayed there for 18 weeks whilst waiting for Burke and Wills to return from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Unfortunately the party waiting for their return left 5 hours before Burke and Wills returned. After heading West Burke and Wills ended up dying of vitamin deficiency along the Cooper Creek just out of Innamincka. Such a hot and desolate place.
Then we were off again for a hot natural Artesian Spa and some opal fossicking at Quilpie. What a cute, well organized town this is, with the only free public swimming pool left in Australia. This town is so nice we stayed the night and had a few wines around the caravan park fire, whilst listening to bush poets and some guest singers. The one hour guided tour around town the next day was excellent and included the Golf Course which has no greens, the opal studded alter of the Finbar Church, the landing place of Amy Johnson, the famous lady pilot who landed at Quilpie in 1930, and various other places of interest.
Finally at 12 noon we took off for our return trip to Charleville to re-fuel and the last two and a half hour flight to Brisbane. The guests were very happy with the whole trip, and even though my knowledge of all the places we visited was very limited they still seemed happy with Kieran and I as their guides.
A few days later I went for my second and final trip with another group of 10 of which the majority of them were in the medical field and with Cameron as our pilot. This time the confidence oozed out of me as I knew exactly where we were going and who we would be meeting. The only thing that changed on this trip was that I had a rabbit pie instead of camel.
If ever Lake Eyre floods again I really recommend anyone to visit this fascinating area and even if it doesn’t flood it’s definitely worth going out there just to meet all the characters that live in these outback areas.
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