The plane's path enters Lake Eyre above the mouth of the Warburton and flies down the Warburton Groove. In the top of photo above we can see the western shore of Lake Eyre stretching away into the distance; while in the bottom left hand corner is the flow of fresh muddy brown water down the Warburton Groove.
Lake Eyre is 144km long and 77km wide. At over 300km per hour and flying at under 300m altitude, we zoom around Lake Eyre like kids on Dodgem Cars at the show. All the time Graham keeps the facts and stories flowing like he has done all day...
Dalhunty Island named after John and Roma Dalhunty who spent several decades exploring and researching Lake Eyre. Roma wrote two books describing their adventures and work on and around Lake Eyre. We read her second book "The Rumbling Silence of Lake Eyre" that only heighten our resolve to do this trip...
The Hunt Peninsular and Jackboot Bay near where Sir Donald Campbell set the world land-speed record of 403.1 miles per hour (679.6 km per hour)in "Bluebird" in 17th July 1964...
The surface of the lake is 8,500 square kilometres. It is the 3rd largest salt lake in the world and is the 18th largest lake in the world. Its lowest point is 15.2m below sea level and it drains about 17% of the Australian continent.
Salt, salt, everywhere is salt...
And salty water; 7 times the concentration of sea water...
Across the whole Lake area there is little evidence of human activity. Here is a photo of a small Cessna plane that ditched in Lake Eyre a few years ago. Flying low over Lake Eyre is apparently a dangerous pastime, as you are below sea level; here in the bottom left corner of the photo is the evidence of that...
Lake Eyre may be dry most of the time, but it does have a Yacht club on its western shores. Although since a recent land claim it is now illegal ($10,000 fine) to sail on Lake Eyre...
The pilot cruises up and down, back and forth across the lake. The colours change in the blink of an eye...
Dry lake bed to rolling inland sea...
The salt encrusted mouth of a dry river....
Sand dunes meet salt dunes and river estuaries...
In some places the shore of the Lake blends into the flat landscape that extends beyond...
In other place the shores are formed by slowly eroding ancient cliffs that Dr. John Dalhunty found recording the filling of the Lake for millenia. His research showed Lake Eyre has a record of filling about every 500 years, 1974 was the last big filling. There have been 3 or 4 higher over the last 2000 years...
After about an hour of low slow flying over Lake Eyre it is just about time to start for home. We track up the eastern shore of Lake Eyre over the mouth of our old friend from earlier in the day, Cooper Creek...
Look close for any sign of flow out of the Cooper...
Despite all the rain than fell in the Cooper Creek catchment in Queensland this year, none of it is likely to make it into Lake Eyre...
As we prepare to leave Lake Eyre we get a good shot of the mouth of the Warburton River and the start of the Warburton Groove...
Here is a map of Lake Eyre designed by Graham and Deb from TravelWest to give us a better idea of what we are looking at...
So that it is eh! Sit back and relax; job done. Oh no, Graham doesn't let you off that easy, there is still much more to discover and learn; we haven't been to visit downtown Birdsville yet...
