Lake Eyre

No matter which way you approach it - to get to Lake Eyre you have to drive downhill. The track weaves through gibber table lands and sandhills, slowly getting lower and lower. The reason is that Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia. It sits 15 metres below sea level in South Australia's far north - William Creek an hour away is the nearest settlement. It acts like a giant sump if you like - almost twenty percent of the continent's water drains into the Lake. A catchment area the size of South Australia known as the Lake Eyre Basin. Despite this it's only been full three times in the past 150 years. And if you ever needed confirmation of the enormity of South Australia compared to a human then this is the place. In 1840, four years after the settling of Adelaide, Edward John Eyre came across the Lake. He wrote "with bitter feelings of disappointment I turned from the dreary and cheerless scene around me." The salt lake had dashed his hopes of a route North - however he had only found the Southern part of the lake. The Northern part, which is at least five times larger, was mapped 19 years later by John McDouall Stuart on his way to the Top End. The two lakes are joined by a thin channel and between them cover an area roughly the size of Yorke Peninsula.

"Lake Eyre is the driest part of South Australia, but it doesn't always want for water. It is recorded in 1974 that because of particularly heavy rains in Queensland, there was up to ten metres of water sitting here at Lake Eyre and it changes the entire environment here, because with the fresh water comes fish and plankton and with them comes birds." These pictures were taken in April 1990 when thousands and thousands of pelicans came to the lake from their traditional breeding areas in the Coorong - about 800 kilometres away as the pelican flies. "But it doesn't stay that way for long remember this is the lowest point in Australia and therefore there is nowhere for the water to drain out. Eventually it sits here on the surface slowly absorbing the salt until the water becomes incredibly saline - far more salty than the ocean - eventually after that it starts to evaporate and this can take two to three years until all the water is gone and all that is left again is a salty, hard crust."

Despite these extremes, mulga, canegrass and acacias grow and hold together the soft sandhills that ring the lake. There are two ways into Lake Eyre - one is a track south of William Creek and the other is North from Maree. Because the National Park is difficult to get to and the conditions unpredictable, you need a four wheel drive plus reserves of fuel, water and food. You also need a permit for the Desert Parks. These cost $50 and cover four Outback National Parks including Lake Eyre. It also includes information, guides, maps and tips and there is a toll free number for information 1800 816 078 or for more information email info@postcards.sa.com.au