Lake Eyre received significant water from major rain events early in 2019. Since this only happens a few times every century, it was time to drive out to Birdsville in Western Queensland and organise a flight over the lake.
The Georgina River/Eyre Creek and Diamantina River catchment is around 200,000 sq km and flows into the Goyder Lagoon flood plain which ia around 100 km long. The Goyder slowly drains into the Warburton Creek for its 300 km journey to the lake. The entry into Lake Eyre is via the Warburton Groove, a channel which flows south to the deeper parts of the lake in Belt Bay and Madigan Gulf.
Since I know little about geography, here's some more information about this particular weather event from the BoM and an explanation about why Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre is what it is.
Our flight with Arid Air, who were excellent hosts, was in a Cesna 210 6 seater aircraft. We all had a window and a clear, wide view. We flew at ~800 feet for most of the flight,climbing to 3,500 feet at the Southern part of the lake for a wider perspective. There was a stop at Etadunna Station on Cooper Creek, for a cuppu at about half time in the 4.5 hour adventure.
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| Birdsville on the Diamantina River, viewed looking west towards Big Red and the Simpson Desert. The 2019 flood levels are clear. |
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| The Simpson Desert north to south sand dunes |
The Simpson Desert is characterised by longitudinal sand dunes caused by the prevailing westerly winds. The movement of the dunes is very slow, apparently because of stabilisation by the vegetation consisting of forbes and small shrubs.
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| Big Red Sand Dune |
Big Red, ~35 km west of Birdsville, hosts a number of events throughout the year. At 40 meters high, it is the most popular with 4WD vehicles out of the 1,100 dunes of the Simpson.
The gibber plains of the desert are hard stony materials weathered by the winds. The stones are often coated with 'Desert Veneer' a silica iron/manganese rich material which becomes polished by the dusty winds.
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| Gibber plain - very hot in the summer |
Getting back to Lake Eyre - the Diamantina River and the Georgina/Eyre Creek flow in to the vast channels of the Goyder Lagoon.
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| Diamantina River just upstream of the Goyder Lagoon |
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| Goyder Lagoon |
The Goyder Lagoon is a vast 2,500 sq km swamp of channels fed by the Diamantina and Gorgina/Eyre Creek catchments. It is 27 meters above sea level with a very low gradient, hence, much of the water that flows in is retained in the lagoon. It is an important bird breeding area when flooded.
Lake Eyre received significant water from major rain events early in 2019. Since this only happens a few times every century, it was time to drive out to Birdsville in Western Queensland and organise a flight over the lake.
The Georgina River/Eyre Creek and Diamantina River catchment is around 200,000 sq km and flows into the Goyder Lagoon flood plain which ia around 100 km long. The Goyder slowly drains into the Warburton Creek for its 300 km journey to the lake. The entry into Lake Eyre is via the Warburton Groove, a channel which flows south to the deeper parts of the lake in Belt Bay and Madigan Gulf. 
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