Lake Eyre Flight and The Breakaways

Wednesday 6^th June

Our Lake Eyre flight was re-scheduled from 10 am to 8 am so I was out of bed earlier than I have been all year and in time to see the sunrise. Our flight was excellent- very calm and clear, but with clear skies you miss out on the wonderful reflections the clouds can create. There isn’t a lot of water in Lake Eyre but enough to make it interesting. The salt forms wonderful patterns as it dries – a bit like the patterns of an outgoing tide only better. There are different coloured sediments deposited by the many rivers in its enormous catchment area. We flew over Cooper Creek, currently dry, but it would be a massive river in flood.

Views of Lake Eyre, above and below

Longitudinal sand dunes

William Creek, just before we landed

After the flight we set off for Coober Pedy, 170 km west. Apparently the State of Origin is on so we have changed our plans to locate a television. The drive from William Creek to Coober Pedy was quite uninteresting, but the town seems to have quite a bit to offer. We decided to stay at Riba’s Caravan Park which also has its own mine. It offers underground camping – a bit different, but not for vehicles. I’m sitting typing this in their TV room which is totally unheated, but is a constant 23 degrees. That’s why so many people live underground.

This afternoon we took a trip out of town to some interesting desert-type formations called The Breakaways. They showed magnificent colours in the late afternoon sunlight.

The two dogs

Late afternoon colour at the Breakaways

They are also quite close to a section of the Dog Fence, the longest fence in the world, designed to keep dingoes out and protect the sheep and wool industry. It is 5 300 km long and creates an unbroken barrier across South Australia, NSW and Queensland.

Today is Oliver’s 4^th birthday. Happy birthday Oliver! Unfortunately Craig was the bearer of bad news. The State of Origin is not on this week. And who knows where we will be next week when it’s really on. Perhaps we’ll be in Queensland by then and things will be really bad.