If I had a bucket list I would certainly have been ticking things off it recently:
- Great Ocean Road
- Oombulgurri Track
- KATI THANDA-LAKE EYRE IN FLOOD!!!
I’ve camped at Kati Thanda twice before. Once on a full moon night when the lake was dry and the moon made the salt glow bright white. Once on a moonless night when there was water flowing into the lake but not enough to reach Halligan Bay.
And now, when there’s water at Halligan Bay. And with no moon, and no ambient light the sky is a mass of stars. Sadly the milky way is too high in the sky for a good photo, and the stars don’t actually reflect in the water. I did try taking night sky photos but there were too many stars!!!
The first two times I also did a flight over the lake, but this time, probably due to the number of people who are coming up just to fly over and see the great expanse of water, there were no flights to be had. Oh well, I wanted to see the water from the ground anyway.
After camping at Marree I drove up the Oodnadatta Track, and took the side track down to Halligan Bay. The track had just been graded so the drive in was excellent.
I remember the awe I felt the first time I drove that track. You drive through red dirt, sand, and stony country, then as you get closer to the lake, you crest a hill and the scenery suddenly changes. It becomes like a lunar landscape and you get your first glimpse of the lake.
This time I actually squealed at the sight of the water. I kept stopping just to take it all in.
I’m not sure I would have been quite so awestruck if I hadn’t already experienced the lake when it was dry. The change from my previous trips was phenomenal. Not just seeing water, but the life all around. Birds, lizards, insects, more birds. And, nice surprise, very few flies.
Last time I was here there were so many flies it was like walking surrounded by a buzzing black cloud. I couldn’t focus the camera to take a photo because of the number of flies around the lens. This time I didn’t even get out my fly screen hat. And even though the lake was full, there were still no mosquitos.
The camping area at Halligan Bay is by the lake, but in a bit of a hollow, so I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to see the lake from my campsite. But sitting on top of the car in a roof top tent I had a magnificent view all around. And at night I could lie in bed and look at the stars.
If you want to see the view from my tent, check out my Instagram.
You don’t get this experience unless you’re camping. There just aren’t enough superlatives to describe it.
Even the seagulls were fascinating. Not for what they were doing – they were behaving exactly as they do at the beach – but just because they were there.
The changes in the lake throughout the day were fascinating. First thing in the morning the colour of the water was a deep blue/grey. The birds were sitting along the shore and flying in close.
Then later on, in the middle of the day it changed completely. There was absolutely no delineation between the water of the lake and the sky. Zero. It was completely disorienting. Particularly as I’d seen the same thing when there was no water in the lake. The white salt blended into the blue sky so you couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. With water in the lake that effect was even stronger.
Looking through the binoculars you could see hundreds of birds on the lake, and they looked like they were floating in the sky. It was completely surreal. Meditative Birds.
Then later in the afternoon it changed again and the horizon was once again visible. At sunset it was stunningly beautiful. And of course, at night there were the stars. Millions of them.
Early in the morning it became windy. I was lying in my tent looking at the orange colour on the horizon trying to talk myself into getting up. It was windy, and early. I didn’t really want to get out of bed and I could see the sunrise from where I was. But I was only here for one morning, if I didn’t get up for this sunrise, I’d never seen the sunrise over water in Kati Thanda again.
So, of course, I got up and wandered down to the lake.
One of the young women I’d met the previous day was already there. We got talking. As it usually does, the conversation turned to why we were here. I said my 20 year relationship ended last year and so I was homeless and on the road.
“I’m sorry to hear that” she said, very sincerely.
“Don’t be. If we were still together I wouldn’t be here now.” I replied, just as sincerely.
Then we both laughed and she told me she was happy for me. As I am for myself.
Then it was time to sit by the lake with coffee and champagne and watch the changes as the sun rose in the sky. And celebrate life and adventure.
