26-05-2025
Air crew makes exciting 'once-in-a-lifetime' discovery in Aussie outback
An Australian pilot and tour guide has captured what she describes as a "once-in-a-lifetime" natural event — watching the headwaters of Cooper Creek slowly snake through the Strzelecki Desert on their way to Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, transforming one of the driest corners of the continent into a temporary oasis.
"It's just such a rare sight, only the people who book these air tours can see it. It's an extremely remote area of extremely dry conditions," Talia, an outback pilot who operates air tours from Birdsville in Queensland, said.
"They call it a 'dry flood' because there's been no local rainfall in that area at all... so to see this lifeblood of water descending, trickling through the desert and knowing what it's going to leave behind — the greenery along the floodplain — it's just a once-in-a-lifetime, spectacular opportunity.
"You feel very privileged to see the rare sight that it is."
The footage, taken from 1,000 feet above, shows the creeping edge of water making its slow, deliberate way through country that hasn't seen a flow like this in more than a decade. "The Cooper Creek has been able to enter Lake Eyre [before], but that doesn't happen very often at all," she said. "This is the most significant time, certainly in the last 15 years."
Located in South Australia's arid heart, Lake Eyre is the lowest natural point on the Australian continent. Most of the time, it's a white salt flat. But when enough water reaches it, fed by distant rivers like Cooper Creek, the Diamantina, and Georgina, the basin transforms into Australia's largest lake, drawing birds, wildlife and awe-struck visitors.
"The lake will be close to 100 per cent [surface] coverage, which we've not seen since probably 2010–11," Talia, from Birdsville Aviation, said. "But this year, it's set to be even deeper than it was then. So it's super exciting."
The water currently making its way through Cooper Creek originated hundreds of kilometres away in Queensland towns such as Winton, Longreach, and even Mount Isa.
"So all the water has come from the northeastern reaches of the catchment area... It's fanned in this big arc through the whole top of all those catchments," she explained. "The Lake Eyre Basin catchment area — it takes up one sixth of Australia — it's massive. It's 1.1 million square kilometres."
Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre is filling for just the fourth time in the past 160 years. This year's flood is the result of a record-breaking convergence of rainfall across all three of the Lake Eyre Basin's major catchments — something not seen since 2010–11, and possibly longer. "All three of them have been concurrently in a record-breaking flood," she said.
"The Cooper Creek has broken records at Durham Downs Station. In 1974, the flood record was 4.4 metres high, and this year it was 4.75 metres. So that is a significant rise on record," Talia said. Flying from Birdsville to Innamincka and across the floodplain, following the water's path, felt like an act of discovery, she said.
"Even with modern technology and satellite imagery, you can't get a clear enough picture... so you feel like you're almost pioneering, tracing the length of the river to find that water," she said.
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For ecologists and landowners alike, the significance of this event cannot be overstated. "For station owners… they really rely on fresh inflows through the Channel Country," she said. "Cattle stations only really survive in these areas when there are these occasional floods. For the people situated on the banks of these floodplains, it just means they can sustain their livelihood."
"And for ecologists, it's also extremely important," she added. "Birdlife comes out and are able to rebuild their populations again… which they don't do in drought years. So it's really important for the whole ecosystem."
Talia said the conditions have never been better for visitors. "We're all open and showing lots of tourists through," she said. "The roads are in incredible condition… and it's the best year for coming out and visiting these areas. It looks just spectacular."
Reflecting on the moment she flew above, Talia said it was the inaccessibility of the landscape that struck her most. "You know that creek bed hasn't seen water for 15 years — how incredible to see it trickling through."
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