Lake Eyre filling quickly!

[Krazy]

Anyone been out to the Lake lately? I might have the chance to fly out that way in about 10 days time and just wondering whether it is still worthwhile? (nothing that I was there in January when there was no water). Is there still water in it? Much wildlife?

TIA.

[PLovett]

Still has some water (Belt Bay and Jackboot Bay and to the north as far as Dulhunty Island) but going fast due to evaporation. There are also some birds on the lake but they are going fast too as the salinity level in the lake rises.

Best place to see birds is along the Warburton Creek to the north of the lake. You can also see all the dead camels they shot yesterday as part of the culling programme up that way as well as the one that was stranded in the mud near Dulhunty Island.

[mostlytossas]

Was up there last weekend and agree with the above post about where the water is etc. It seems to be evaporating rapidly now to the point of asking yourself if it is worth the expense of the trip, as there is much more dry lake to lake under water. The tour operators would disagree no doubt but then they want to wring every last cent out of it.
William creek is always a welcome watering hole and still quite busy.

[PlankBlender]

Just got back from a superb tour to the Rock and the lake, we were amazed by the size and especially the colours.. had to fly half way down the lake from the north to get to the water, but the excursion was well worth it. With the viewing angle, the water/lake/ground changes colour from a deep blue to purple to almost bright red, and some of the shore/dune bits where the water has receded from have very picturesque red borders one them. Will post some pictures here once I've had a chance of sorting the wheat from the chaff.. still plenty of water, at 500 feet you're hard pressed to see the far shore, the thing is positively massive!

Route was Archerfield-Roma-Charleville-Birdsville-Alice Springs-Ayers Rock-Oodnadatta-Lake Eyre-Birdsville-Charleville-Archerfield, we cursed a 20-30 westerly on the way out and enjoyed the 130-140 knots ground speed on the way back.

I can totally recommend the trip, awesome scenery, great hospitality (love the Birdsville Hotel bar), fantastic night skies, the list is endless!

Also had a million to one chance encounter on the way back yesterday with what looked like a low flying PC-12 or a Navajo/Chieftain in the middle of nowhere.. in between Birdsville and Charleville, right in the middle of fecking nowhere, my passenger suddenly went 'woooooow' and when I looked up I saw for a second a fast mid-sized plane going left to right around 400-500 feet above us, around half a mile to a mile in front of us. Don't ask me why I can't put my finger on the type more accurately, I think I was a bit stunned there for a second to suddenly see another aeroplane up close in that spot, I think I saw the turbine exhaust of the PC-12 glistening in the sun and thought I recognised the general shape of the type but could be mistaken.. odd for one of those to be at 10000, we were at 9500..

That little 'airprox' brought home the importance of regular broadcasts on area and 126.7, even when in over 25 hours of flying we ever only physically saw this one aeroplane in the sky (heard a few on the radio obviously), and that wasn't for lack of looking out either, we had on average four eyeballs looking out at all times...

I wonder if the other pilot had me sighted or on TCAS if he/she had one?!

[The Green Goblin]

So does all this flooding in QLD equal a good filling in the near future?

[Pilotette]

Apparently there has already been a bit of a top-up happening so its looking like it could be another good year for the Lake, hopefully not too much at the expense of the surrounding towns though! Heard the Birdsville Pub was under a bit of water yesterday

[Allan L]

And I thought the pub was one of the high points (and highlights) of the town

[Worrals in the wilds]

It is! No doubt everyone sat on the bar or the roof and kept on drinking .

Any word on how the airport held up? The news said the school was being pumped out, and its not very far along from the pub/airport.

I remember a relative who worked out there saying that the reason Birdsville has never expanded much (still only one motel, even with the influx of tourists) is that most of the available land floods at the drop of a hat, so despite the apparent wide open spaces there's not actually a lot of room to build.

[Desert Flower]

I am going to stick my neck out here & say that the lake will definitely get water in it again this year, & that it will be better than last year!
Meanwhile, spare a thought for C185Skywagon up there in Charleville. Stay safe buddy!

DF.

[185skywagon]

Birdsville is rationing avgas. It may not get a load for another month.
phone pub for details.

[Pilotette]

Desert Flower...I suspect you may be right about that! The photos I have seen of the area from last week are quite spectacular...there is a lot of water around!

Does anyone have any updates about Mungerannie? Has the strip been opened to the public since last year?

[PLovett]

It is looking like Cooper Creek will flow this year unlike last.

However, I haven't heard any info on whether the Diamantina or Georgina will flow. If they will then it will be bigger than last year.

That should keep Trev happy, especially if they get the resealing work done in time for the happy campers.

[Torres]

Birdsville photos on Sky show the water a few inches lower than the pub floor. From memory that may mean the airport is flooded. Don't even think of coming out this way - roads are closed everywhere and accommodation is impossible, pubs are either flooded or full of local evacuees.

Sections of the Warrego Highway are now even devoid of the small pieces of bitumen that previously held the pot holes together.

[Dark Knight]

See the Todd in The Alice has had a good clean out however, is the Finke River running at all?

If memory serves me correctly it runs into the North West corner of the lake?

Great to a see a really good Wet right through out the North of the continent.

DK

[load it, launch it]

Birdsville

I believe that the airstrip went under at some stage and the fuel supplies have been contaminated. So there may be more than rationing happening....

[Pilotette]

Hey Pete! Yeah Trev will be one happy camper...Heard he's putting in a pool too

[Desert Flower]

Calling Paul Alfred!

I believe that the airstrip went under at some stage and the fuel supplies have been contaminated.

Hey PA - confirm or deny?!

DF.

[Paul Alfred]

Hey DF...OK, I'll lay some points to rest....there will be limited fuel available at Birdsville...it will take at least 4 weeks as stated to get road access...no way in or out at the moment...NO, the fuel is not contaminated....amazing scenes, more water around there from the local 9 inches than ever seen before.

Bedourie also had 8 inches and with another flood push 10kms north, plenty for the Georgina System and Eyre Creek will once again look spectacular flowing eventually down to Goyders and into the Warburton.

The Cooper is winding its way and currently at the back of Mungerannie Station...Innaminka is definately worth a visit at the moment, the Cooper water was 8.5 metres over the causeway last week....not sure how long to get to the lake because this system hasn't run like this since 91....when it crosses the Track, it could be closed in sections from 12-24 months according to previous floods....Apparently The Hwys Dept have an old barge/ferry they use to get ppl across...I was told the cattle dont enjoy it that much

Mungerannie Airstrip is still only available to the RFDS and Mail Plane and will continue this way. Cowrie maybe an option as it was last year.

A plane from Wilpena flew out to the lake last week and said it was about 5% from the recent local rains.

Apologies if I have some facts wrong but thats about all I know at the moment. The lake needs the Cooper to get to 100%, and if the Finke comes down then its a shoe in.

I'll keep the thred posted with the water progress as best I can even though my route dosent go that far west to even see the lake Oh well, at least I get to hear all the radio calls again this year

Cheers guys, safe flying.

PA

[PLovett]

Thanks for the update PA. I was told last year that the Cooper had to be 27' over the causeway at Innaminka to flow through to the lake which is ..... pretty close to .... 8.5 metres so it looks as though the Cooper will reach the lake this year.

That combined with the Diamantina and possibly the Finke could cause the biggest fill since the 90s' or even the 70s'.

Pilotette, I heard that there are two pools now. One is the old railway inspection pit which has been tiled and a boardwalk built around it and the other is up at the top house. I hope he put a ladder on the old inspection pit as it was about 3 metres deep.

[Pilotette]

Thanks for filling us in PA, sounds very promising! Do you know if the Cowrie strip has been improved since last year? Had a bit of fun trying to resist becoming airborne multiple times on the takeoff run there toward the end of last year!

PLovett, yeah I heard the inspection pit has had a makeover too..not too sure how enticing that would be! Beats running through the sprinkler & the plastic tarp we improvised as a slip n dip though!