Lake Eyre is one of those iconic places in
Australian fokelore that commands attention. When you mention to other
travellers you are heading there next you either receive a knowing nod and a
sparkle in the eye from those who have seen it, or envy from those who
have not yet made the journey. The southern tip is the start of some very
remote tracks. Marree is the hub of the Birdsville, Strezlecki and Oonadatta
tracks.
The first question always is, “Is there any
water in it?” The answer as of April 2013 is currently no. In 1974 both Lake Eyre North and
South both filled with water however in 2010/11 it did not in fact reach Lake Eyre
south. There is water however in Lake Harry which is to the southeast of Lake
Eyre South as it is fed by a natural spring and still has an abundance of
birdlife which we would soon discover.
The drive from Copley to Marree is
interesting as you follow the old Ghan railway line. Ruined stations and tracks dot the landscape along the old line. We stopped in at the ruins of Farina. A
town finally abandoned in 1980 by it’s last remaining resident. For a brief
period it was a major location on the line. Again reading about the lives
people led was truly fascinating. Bathing occurred once a week. It was
children, then women then the men, all in the same water! There is a fairly eccentric character called Talc Alf who although not there we were visited, has some very unique sculptures carved out of talc stone.
Talc Alf's Republic
Old Hospital
We setup camp at the local caravan park as
we needed power for a very important event. Gracie’s 9th birthday.
Mum was making a cake in the thermomick to be ready for her birthday. As the
sun set Maria and I were enjoying a cold beer when the caretaker came over and
asked if we were interested in a flight over Lake Eyre. As we were seriously
considering doing one, but not until William Creek we said that we were. A
quick conversation on the phone with the boss and a nice rate was agreed. A 5 seater would be flown down in the morning
for us to leave about 7.30am. What swayed us was the fact that we would see
water in Lake Harry with flocks of Black Swans which you wouldn’t normally see
when flying out of William Creek further to the north.
We were all obviously very excited,
particularly Grace who would now be flying over Lake Eyre on her birthday. The
day dawned cool and clear and not very windy which are the best conditions for
a flight over the lake. We arrived at the airstrip a little early only to find
not a soul around. We were starting to get a little worried when the sound of
an airplane in the distance eased our concerns. Our pilot Shane was a
Queenslander from Redlands, so we struck up an instant rapport. After compulsory
safety checks we hopped into the plane. Dad in front, mum and Grace next, with
Lachie and Caitlin in the rear. Shane was asking us to check our headsets and
to make sure all worked when Lachlan proceeded to burp massively into his
microphone. Shane without a hint of a smile went, “Lachie’s is working –
check”. We all then of course got the giggles and off we went. We leveled out
at 1000 feet, which is quite low and flew over Lake Harry up along the
Birdsville track. There were many different species of birds but the highlight
for me was the black swans, which even from the height we were, looked massive.
We then flew on to Lake Eyre South, then up to Lake Eyre North before heading
back along the Oodnadatta track to Marree. I’m probably going to say this a lot
but words are failing me on just how beautiful it is. White as far as the eye
can see. Gracie coined it best I think. It was a partly cloudy day so to Grace
it seemed like we were flying both under and over clouds. The high cloud above
us caused ripple effects on the lake surface like a shimmering swimming pool
does on a wall. Our flight lasted a little over an hour and will be forever
etched in our memories.
The birthday girl wired for sound!
All set.
Lake Harry
We arrived back at camp for a quick breakfast
and packup. The next part of Graces birthday would be at Coward Springs, which
is home to a little camp ground about halfway between Marree and William Creek.
We popped into the Marree General Store on our way out, which I have to say is
the best stocked store we have come a cross to date. It has everything you
could want. The lady serving was very helpful and even came out to us as we
were leaving with some candles for Graces cake. Gracie was thrilled of course.
Lake Eyre from the ground overlooking Lake Eyre North.
On the way we stopped at Mound Springs,
which are naturally occurring artesian springs bubbling up from the Artesian
basin. They have created mounds of mineral deposits over thousands of years where the water flows out of the top
and then creates little oasis in the desert. The first one is called “The
bubbler” with the second Blanche Cup. In one direction you have marshes, tree
life, birds and in the other three barren sand, rock and scrub.
The Bubbler
We soon arrived at our destination and
quite literally hadn’t seen a vehicle all day in either direction, yet had to
give way to a car coming the other way to turn into the campground. Quite ironic
when you think about it. One word of warning about Coward Springs – there are
flies - millions of them. They are everywhere and thick. Without head nets we
would have gone insane so be warned if you are in this neck of the woods.
Coward Springs was also a station stop on the old Ghan and is now home to
another bubbling spring, which feeds a beautiful wetland, home to too many bird
species to mention. They have actually built, using old railway sleepers a “spa
bath” about 2 metres square. As there was no-one else around we stayed in there
for about 1.5 hrs. The great thing was, the flies stayed in the air and not on
us. Grace declared this was the best pool party she’d ever had. It was hard to
argue with her.
Coward Springs Pool Party!!
A couple of friendly flies offered to take this shot for us:-)
Coward Springs Sunset
That night we had her favourite dinner,
chicken tacos and of course chocolate happy birthday cake for dessert. What a
birthday for Grace! One I don’t think she’ll forget too soon.
Happy Birthday to Grace
We packed up early the next day, had a
quick dip in the spa and headed off for Coober Pedy. The roads were in
reasonably good shape so all up it took us about 3.5 hours to travel the 230km on dirt to get there. We arrived in the early afternoon and after some previous advice
from a couple at Arkaroola, stayed at the Stuart Range Caravan Park. For where
you are, it’s a great place to stop, with full amenities, big sites and has
recently had a full renovation. The showers and toilets were outstanding. The
best on the trip so far. After a trip to the information centre we decided to do
the 70km loop road out of town to the Breakaways. The Breakaways are large
hills, which have been eroded by wind and rain over millions of years to form
really impressive ochre and limestone structures. The aborigines have names for
all of them including the white and dark dogs, goanna and frilled lizard, it
was great to be there at sun set as it showed some wonderful colours.
The Breakways
White and Black Dogs
The Dog Fence
Coober Pedy is a bizarre looking place. It
is literally mounds of dirt everywhere. Some of these mounds are mines, some
are homes (or both) and some are churches. We visited underground churches
including the Serbian ‘Cathedral’ and Catholic Church where we met Father Paul
Bourke. He was a character and showed us around the church, where he lived, all
with a joke. He even asked Grace to take a couple of Taiwanese students on the little
tour we’d just done as he had a bad back. She did a great job. He then showed
us his garden of Sturt desert peas he has been growing.
The kids went ‘noodling’ in the free area
in the middle of town to try and find a rare opal but alas the trip will have
to be funded by mum and dad. Unfortunately the Big Miner was closed but we
visited a very informative free display in the Umoona Museum on the inland sea
and fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago. The Desert Cave hotel also
has a free museum self-guided tour of the history of Coober Pedy which is a
must see if you have an interest in the area. We also took a tour of Faye’s
Cottage for $15 for the family. The delightful caretakers Missy and Michael
showed us around her old home, how it was constructed and a little history on
Faye. She was quite a lady roughing it and making a success back in the early
70’s, which was some effort given it really was the wild west. For another $15,
Michael then took us on a tour of her old opal mine next to the house, which
still had streams of opal in it which you can really see under ultraviolet
light. Missy then gave the kids fossilized shells of mussels and snails which
was pretty cool.
Noodling for Opal
At the bar in Faye's House
Opal Mine
Coober Pedy is definitely somewhere you
should visit at least once, if anything to see the lengths people will go to and
endure, to ‘strike it rich’ in some of the toughest conditions in Australia. CB
marks the end of dirt roads and red dust for us for a while. Just quietly I
think we are all looking forward to seeing the ocean again. Next stop is Port
Augusta for supplies, water and an attempt to clean out some of the red dust!
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