Lake Eyre Sightseeing

Bruce Tuncks · May 26, 2019

I'm thinking that Lake Eyre would be quite a sight for the next few weeks.

There is an accommodation homestead with an airstrip about 50km north of Marree.

Has anybody done this trip? I would be grateful for any information.

spacesailor · May 26, 2019

Could it be Williams Creek,

There is an airfield & sight-seeing flights from there,

BUT That's 500 klms from Marree,

then Marree Station about 10 klms north.

spacesailor

onetrack · May 26, 2019

Bruce, I haven't done Lake Eyre myself, but the Mungerannie Hotel is reportedly quite good, and Phil the barefoot publican will pick you up, if you book accommodation and arrange to be picked up by him.

[/url]https://www.google.com/travel/hotels/Marree/entity/CgsIsNSb7Irn2_KmARAB?ap=SAEqKAoSCa65k4xS_D3AEdT9gggQJGFAEhIJFy-vHw73O8AR1P2CCExvYUAwAlp6CgUIrAIQACIDQVVEKhYKBwjjDxAGGAYSBwjjDxAGGAcYASgAsAEAWAGKASgKEgkyTyrgOXU-wBHU_YKIICphQBISCcmOtoZccjzAEdT9gohcdWFAmgEIEgZNYXJyZWWiARMKCS9tLzAydzBnYhIGTWFycmVlkgECIAE&g2lb=4207876%2C4208993%2C4220293%2C4223281%2C4242898%2C4253230%2C4254308%2C4256748%2C4258168%2C4258962%2C4260006%2C4263347%2C4266711%2C4250437%2C4251518%2C4264651&hl=en&gl=au&un=1&q=accommodation%20marree&rp=OAJAAEgC&ictx=1&ved=0CBkQqOACKAFqFwoTCPjng6-rueICFQAAAAAdAAAAABB-&hrf=CgUIrAIQACIDQVVEKhYKBwjjDxAGGAYSBwjjDxAGGAcYASgAsAEAWAGKASgKEgmuuZOMUvw9wBHU_YIIECRhQBISCRcvrx8O9zvAEdT9gghMb2FAmgEIEgZNYXJyZWWiARMKCS9tLzAydzBnYhIGTWFycmVlkgECIAE&tcfs=Ei0KCS9tLzAydzBnYhIGTWFycmVlGhgKCjIwMTktMDYtMDYSCjIwMTktMDYtMDdSAA

[MEDIA=flickr]4FSkFD[/MEDIA]

Lake Eyre is reportedly starting to look quite spectacular, Wrightsair is reportedly doing a roaring trade with air tours. The word is, keep a sharp eye out for aircraft on tour in the Lake region, and monitor the airwaves.

Exploroz website is quite good for ground-level info, and detailed mapping for the four-wheel-drivers, and there's a few discussions on the forum with regard to the Lake filling.

Ask questions on the forum about ground level conditions and facilities, and someone with current knowledge will reply fairly promptly, with current information.

https://www.exploroz.com/forum/138335/lake-eyre?p=%2fforum%3fpn%3d2

The ABC did an article on the Lake earlier this month.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-09/lake-eyre-is-a-wild-river-system-left-to-run-its-course/11035506

Jaba-who · May 26, 2019

I have done lake eyre sightseeing on three occasions but all were in the 20 to 8 years ago period. Did them all on safaris “while we were passing”. Even landed on the edge in an R44 on one trip. ( wouldn’t land on the lake bed though! Thin crust of salt/sand with a black sludge underneath. But I frequently see items on various Facebook pages and on the news and it seems it probably has gotten busier.

What I can tell you though is that there is a lot of traffic over the lake when there’s water in it.

Also there can be lots of birds - Pelicans are pretty big and could make a hell of a mess if you had one end up in the cockpit with you!

Birds often congregate in particular areas but move around so having conversations with the pilots of the tour operators is useful to keep aware of where they might be.

There’s a local CTAF frequency and its worth talking to the pilots while you are in the area. Also worthwhile making a few phone calls to the local operators to find out where they are operating and what times. They often just do fairly fixed times and routes so you will then know where to avoid etc.

Kununurra · May 27, 2019

Hi Bruce,

I did Lake Eyre last year on my way to the Birdsville Races.

It was dry then so no comparison to what it would look like know.

We stayed a William Creek which is a great one stop shop, fuel food and accommodation.

The staff were all great and were very helpful.

It is a good bitumen strip with a dirt cross strip that does not show in ERSA as it does meet standards. But I telephoned ahead to check strip condition/fuel availability and winds and were given a very accurate report.

The only downside to that part of the world is communication, unless you have Optus as that is the only coverage there apart from sat. Phones.

Wrightsair will happily assist you but I preferred to download NAIPS myself so I had to buy a SIM card with Optus. Not expensive I think it was only $10 and I was up and communicating again.

Hope this is of some help let me know if I can provide anything else to assist.

Cheers

Kununurra · May 27, 2019

At the back of the hangar in William Creek as it was very windy.

Ironpot · May 27, 2019

I was there two days ago. The lake has a lot more water in it than previously but the Warburton Groove is not as spectacular as I’ve seen it before. Hardly any birds except near the Warburton Inlet and a slow flight at 500’ was no drama.

William Creek is dead busy - make sure you book a table for dinner when you arrive! The accommodation is adequate when you consider just where you are, and everybody is super friendly.

We flew to Birdsville over the the Simpson and that is just spectacular at the moment.

Thruster88 · May 28, 2019

Just got back, did Broken Hill, Maree, William creek, Birdsville, Cameron's corner, Tilpa. The northern end of the flinders range and lake eyre were good but the Diamentina river up to Birdsville was amazing.

Pic taken at 3500ft river about 30ks wide

Bruce Tuncks · May 28, 2019

Wow thruster, was that pic north or south of Birdsville? And was that only a few days ago?

Thruster88 · May 28, 2019

Wow thruster, was that pic north or south of Birdsville? And was that only a few days ago?

Sunday 26-5-19 about 50 miles south of birdsville

red750 · May 29, 2019

Bruce, check out this relevant post.

cscotthendry · May 30, 2019

Hi Bruce: we did Lake Eyre a couple of years ago and it had water in it then. We stayed at the William Creek pub. It's a short hop from the pub to the southern end of the lake and the pub has avgas AND the young cuties come out and pump it for you! William Creek has a sealed all weather runway so if there has been rain in the area you can still land and take off there.

onetrack · May 31, 2019

The Lake Eyre Yacht provides regular updates on the Lake conditions.

[/url]http://www.lakeeyreyc.com/Status/latest.html#bottom

The bloke in the Instagram link below, has provided a great photo of the Lake commencing to fill on April 8th this year. It appears he took the photo from one of the Wrightsair Skylanes.

[MEDIA=instagram]Bv_CW8rJjz_[/MEDIA]

Cyrano · June 1, 2019

[/url]https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/rural-news/2019-05-30/lake-eyre-floods-cause-pub-problems/11156588

Cyrano · June 1, 2019

Guy s · June 1, 2019

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I'm thinking that Lake Eyre would be quite a sight for the next few weeks.

There is an accommodation homestead with an airstrip about 50km north of Marree.

Has anybody done this trip? I would be grateful for any information.

Hi Bruce, we flew out to Lake Ayre 2 years ago and did the trip in July to coincid with the Marree camel races which was interesting. The town swelled up with caravaners coming down from the Big red bash. You have to book ahead to get accomodation in Marree for that time of the year and 3nights was the minimum nights we could book but with a day spent at the races and another day flying out to William creek for lunch and looking at the Marree man plus of cause looking over the lake. We found Innaminka a fascinating place to stay with I think it was the coopers crk there that runs into L Ayre.

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Kiter · June 3, 2019

I hitched a ride up from MB between Christmas and New Year in 1988.

We stayed at the Maree pub...amazing to see all that water.

I’m tempted to fly myself up in a month.

Thruster88 · June 3, 2019

I’m tempted to fly myself up in a month.

Do it, there may never be a better opportunity.

onetrack · June 4, 2019

The NASA Worldview Satellite Imagery site is worth a look at.

The NASA link is below - however, NASA do not provide high resolution imagery on this site - the high resolution imagery is reserved for paying customers and the military.

Select all "Corrected Reflectance Bands" and "True Colors", by clicking the eyeball icon on the LHS menu, to get a view that corresponds with what our eyeball might see.

Add layers by clicking on the "Add Layers" button. Select "All" from the new pop-up menu, then scroll down to select whatever layer you wish to add.

"Reference Map" is available, outlining roads and places - but be aware, the map is extremely basic, and lacks detail.

Activate the layer by clicking on the eyeball icon on the far left of the layer list.

Hide the layer by clicking on the eyeball again.

If you zoom in too close, the imaging becomes blurry, and a yellow exclamation mark appears next to the eyeball.

Holding your mouse cursor on this yellow exclamation mark tells you, "Layer is overzoomed by 1x times its maximum zoom level".

Thruster88 · June 4, 2019

That is great, it looks like water in lake Frome but it is dry atm.

Kiter · July 11, 2019

Starting to plan this trip from YTDN for late this month.

Does anyone have a contact for the Maree ALA (YMRE)?

onetrack · July 11, 2019

Kiter - The link below should provide what you need.

https://www.crc.id.au/xplane/charts/ERSA-2019-MAY-23/Marree (YMRE) FAC.pdf

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Lake Eyre Sightseeing

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