May 11, 2019
During the afternoon of our layover day in Marree some of the group loaded themselves into the bus for a trip out to Lake Eyre. Lake Eyre is a geological event that may happen only rarely in a person’s lifetime. Between the Simpson and Tirari Deserts is a below sea level salt plane that for most of the time is dry. However, when there are multiple cyclones in the northeast, floodwaters slowly flow to the southwest and create Australia’s largest lake. It is slow process with the lake taking months to fill only to slowly lose this water through evaporation and absorption over time until it is once again dry salt flats. During these rare wet intervals birds, fish and other wildlife flourish in the basin as well as wildflowers and other flora in the many water channels and flood planes that feed it. It also plays havoc with the limited system of roads in the area closing them and isolating many small settlements. More about this later.
Along the way to Lake Eyre is a large open sky exhibition by a artist reported to live nearby but possibly too modest to post his or her name. These desert sculptures loom large and appear to be constructed of bits and pieces of discarded objects. We happened by just as the sun was setting, giving the works a somewhat surreal appearance.
