{"id":781927,"date":"2026-07-06T04:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T04:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/781927\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T04:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T04:31:17","slug":"kati-thanda-lake-eyre-flooding-rare-outback-event-creates-wildlife-spectacle-covers-desert-in-greenery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/781927\/","title":{"rendered":"Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre flooding: Rare outback event creates wildlife spectacle, covers desert in greenery"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Word is out in Australia\u2019s pelican community: Kata Thandi-Lake Eyre is in flood, the fish are jumping and love is in the air.<\/p>\n

On Dulhunty Island, at the end of the Warburton Groove that carves its way through the shimmering salt pan, rich floodwaters have attracted waterbirds in their thousands for an avian orgy, with a feathered baby boom predicted in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at below is Love Island for pelicans; single males throw sticks into the air to attract the lucky ladies, strutting around with their face pouches bright red,\u201d our Wrights Air pilot Luke says as he brings the Cessna 208 Caravan down to 500 metres over Australia\u2019s largest inland lake, at its fullest level for the first time in 50 years after massive outback flows.<\/p>\n

\u201cScientists still don\u2019t know how the pelicans communicate that the lake is full, but they\u2019ve flown from the coast in their thousands to feed and mate here \u2013 it\u2019s an amazing spectacle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

We have a lot to learn from our feathered friends, not least that this is a great time to visit outback Australia, now cloaked in olive green, its salt lakes full and brimming with life.<\/p>\n

This bird\u2019s-eye view of Lake Eyre is a highlight of APT Luxury Travel\u2019s Lake Eyre and Flinders Ranges tour of outback South Australia, a seven-day journey departing from Adelaide. But what is usually an exploration of the harsh red interior of the continent is this year revealing a very different side to desert life, with outback communities and wildlife alike celebrating the unusually lush conditions.<\/p>\n

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\"May,May, 2026: The outback is suddenly flush with greenery.Alex Coppel\"May,May, 2026: Birds and other wildlife flock to Wilpena Pound.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

\u201cGreen\u2019s not a colour we\u2019re used to seeing around here,\u201d one of only two permanent residents of the remote town that\u2019s home to the characterful William Creek Hotel, tells us. \u201cThis is definitely the year you want to be checking this area out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of our group of 11 have joined the tour for this very reason, to witness the transformation of the desert. As fuel prices are hitting independent travellers hard, an organised tour, with all expenses factored and with someone else doing the driving, is a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\"May,May, 2026: The William Creek Hotel.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

If any vehicle is equipped for the brutalities of corrugated, pitted outback roads, it\u2019s the one we\u2019re travelling in. The 26-seat coach, based on a Scania off-road truck, packs all the comforts needed for long-distance touring \u2013 bathroom, seats with ample legroom, phone charging, air-con and a television screen showing an unrestricted driver\u2019s view of the dusty road ahead.<\/p>\n

South Australia\u2019s outback starts at Port Augusta, a three-and-a-half-hour drive north of Adelaide at the head of Spencer Gulf. There, we visit the Wadlata Outback Centre museum to learn of the geological, spiritual and cultural formation of the Flinders Ranges and beyond, following the \u201ctunnel of time\u201d via the head of Megalania, a giant monitor lizard that roamed these parts in the Pleistocene epoch.<\/p>\n

\"May,May, 2026: Outback chats as the sun sets.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

We discover we\u2019ll follow the route of the original Central Australia Railway, built between 1878 and 1929 but dismantled in 1980 due to risk of floods.<\/p>\n

The train that plied this line was the original Ghan, named in recognition of the Afghan cameleers who transported goods before the railway was built and were crucial in the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line between Adelaide and Darwin.<\/p>\n

In Port Augusta, our overnight stay is at the c.1883 Standpipe Hotel, a beautifully restored example of the accommodation of the time. From there, we travel through the south-western Flinders Ranges, the undulating folds and grooves cushioned by plains of fragrant saltbush. Cutting through deep gorges, we then follow the tracks of the historic Pichi Richi Railway \u2013 now a popular tourist steam train attraction \u2013 to Quorn before pausing for morning tea break at nearby Kanyaka Station.<\/p>\n

\"May,May, 2026: A rare sight \u2026 floodwaters arrive at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

Here, the harsh reality of outback life is illustrated in the riverside ruins, abandoned after workers walked off the land during a severe drought in 1888. In today\u2019s lush conditions, it\u2019s easy to appreciate how farmers could be lulled into a false sense of security, expanding operations when stock feed was plentiful \u2026 until suddenly it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

One outback family has weathered the vagaries of climate extremes, however. Ross and Jane Fargher are fourth-generation pastoralists and owners of the Prairie Hotel in Parachilna. After buying their \u201clocal\u201d in 1991, they transformed the former railway siding into an oasis, where the feel is convivial and the menu\u2019s emphasis is on native and feral ingredients. At lunch, our antipasto platters have emu pate, camel metwurst, roo pastrami and goat cheese, and it is one of the culinary highlights of our journey \u2013 rustic, tasty and an innovative nod to the bounty of the desert.<\/p>\n

\"May,May, 2026: Blooming desert.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

Continuing onto the junction of the Birdsville Track, we arrive in Marree as the sun is sinking, its deserted main street reminiscent of Russell Drysdale\u2019s surreal 1948 painting The Cricketers. Under a starry sky, we gather around a firepit (created by a prisoner at Port Augusta jail) in front of the hotel for \u201cfrothies\u201d, chewing the fat with fellow travellers, local pilots and hotel manager Simon, who recently took over after managing the pub \u201cfurther up the track\u201d at Oodnadatta.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the big smoke,\u201d he jokes, \u201cat least there\u2019s asphalt here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a memorial park in the town is a ramshackle lean-to, a reconstruction of Australia\u2019s first mosque, built in about 1861 for the Muslim workers who camped on the north side of town, segregated from the Europeans. There has never been a Christian church in Marree and the memorial to the cameleers is a poignant reminder of their unique contribution.<\/p>\n

For one of our group, 85-year-old Pete, our overnight stay at the Marree Hotel is a trip down memory lane as he recounts teenage visits to the region to visit relatives. He\u2019s seen Lake Eyre in flood, he tells us, but not from the air \u2013 so he\u2019s looking forward to tomorrow\u2019s flight, its destination the Birdsville Pub over the border in Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"May,May, 2026: Scenic flights give a bird\u2019s-eye view of Lake Eyre.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

From above, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is an eye-shadow palette of pastel blues, soft pinks and shimmering silver, grey clouds mirrored on its glassy surface. The Arabana people are the tradition owners of what is known as an endorheic lake \u2013 water in a closed basin that has no natural outlet.<\/p>\n

Beyond the lake, we fly over channel country, waterways created by still-travelling floodwaters appearing like swollen blood vessels. It\u2019s a mesmerising sight, a complex landscape in flux; transformative and life-bringing, if somewhat ephemeral.<\/p>\n

At Birdsville, we are whisked away for sundowners on Big Red, the tallest sand dune in the Simpson Desert. Since 2013, up to 13,000 visitors have camped below it for The Big Red Bash, the world\u2019s most remote music festival. This year, however, the stage area and campsite are under water; with the floods showing no sign of dissipating, the July event has been cancelled.<\/p>\n

After a low-flying journey back to Lake Eyre over Cooper Creek and the expansive wetlands of the Warburton River, we continue into the ancient landscape of Wilpena Pound in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park.<\/p>\n

From the comforts of the Discovery Resort, there is free time to hike into the natural amphitheatre, and some take to the sky again on a scenic early-morning flight, the sun illuminating the dramatic circular escarpment that plummets into a sea of native cypress.<\/p>\n

\"ChefChef Nicola Palmer of Watervale\u00a0Hotel prepping produce for the pub\u2019s wood-fired oven.\"RoastRoast carrot salad at the Watervale Hotel in the Clare Valley.Alex Coppel <\/p>\n

Our outback adventure concludes in the bucolic Clare Valley, where we tuck into tender home-baked organic chook, courtesy of award-winning South Australian chef Nicola Palmer, at the historic Watervale Hotel.<\/p>\n

In a converted 1868 jail where rowdy revellers were once interred, hotel owner and sommelier Warwick Duthy shares how the region\u2019s diverse geography \u2013 where arid ranges meet the productive Goyder\u2019s Line \u2013 has shaped its wine industry. Its exquisite, crisp riesling and full-bodied reds are expressions of its unique terroir.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Fourteen<\/a><\/p>\n

We toast our incredible journey, covering more than 3000 kilometres by road and air, Australia\u2019s outback a sight to behold in its current mantle of green. Like the pelicans, we\u2019ll return to life on the coast, curiosity sated, and our eyes now opened to the tribulations and delights of desert extremes.<\/p>\n

THE DETAILS<\/p>\n

TOUR
APT\u2019s seven-day Lake Eyre and Flinders Ranges tour runs until September. From $5995 a person. The tour includes guided 4WD transport, a scenic flight over Lake Eyre and all accommodation and meals, including post-tour city accommodation and a farewell dinner in Adelaide. See aptouring.com<\/a><\/p>\n

The writer was a guest of APT Luxury Travel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-781927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}