Visit Lake Eyre Basin and the Outback

The Lake Eyre Basin covers almost one-sixth of Australia and is one of the world’s largest internally draining river systems and is designated in the center of the Australian outback. Lake Eyre is Australia’s largest salt lake and the world’s 13th largest lake. You don’t want to miss the exciting moments from exploring this location with a caravan. The best season to visit is from autumn to spring, it is warm during the summer in Lake Eyre Basin best for warm weather travelers. The summer is usually parked with tourists who visit the Lake Eyre Basin. During spring from September through November, tourism is the slowest during these months due to the weather. Most tourist’s attractions and activities include Landscape Photography, Scenic Flights, Aboriginal Culture Tours, Walking Tours, Bush Camping, and Bird Watching.

Caravan Parks around Lake Eyre National Park:

Drovers Run Tourist Park: the drovers run tourist park is a desirable stopover for tourists caravanning around the national park. Service offered includes auto repair, accommodations in the form of self-contained, cabins, shower, kitchen, and toilet facilities.

Coward Springs Campground: Tourists who take the Oodnadatta track can find this to be convenient. The Coward Springs Campground has a rare combination of attractions and facilities small like museums, camel rides, bird watching, and spa. Service offered includes campsites, shower, and toilet.

Marree’s Oasis Caravan Park and Cabins: this is the best out of both options, offering a better comfort and offers a complete set of facilities. The Marree Oasis Caravan Park and Cabins offer both powered and unpowered sites. A great option for tourists looking for more comfort.

Exploring Lake Eyre Basin in Australia and the Australian outback with a caravan

Travelling on outback roads with a caravan can be very stressful and at worst get unbearable with many problems on the way. But that’s what I can adventure, with an adequate preparation and be well equipped for your journey, you can have an enjoyable stressful and worry-free trip in the Australian outback. The first thing you should keep in mind before in back on a road trip to the outback is having an extensive knowledge of your caravan both its limitations and having a little bit mechanical skill. Things you should keep in mind before your travel to the Australian outback with a caravan:

Choose Small Caravan over Large Caravan: overweight will might cause some problems on your trip because of the marshy or moldy areas. Small caravans can move freely in strong winds better than large caravans which may upset your movement during such circumstances. Caravan search is a great place to start researching if you are thinking about more caravan holidays.

Consider your speed: speeding on the rough road will be a very bad idea when it comes to a caravan. Maybe if you are traveling in an SUV, you can speed up sometimes but speeding in a caravan is inadvisable because caravan cannot handle bumps. You don’t want to get in trouble in the middle of nowhere, go slow and watch out for big bumps.

Tyres: invest in good tires because your journey is not on a smooth highway. If larger tires fit well with you caravan then is a good choice and also remember to have a second spare for your caravan. Don’t forget your jack at home. Also invest in good mud flaps and stone guard, very important for the protection of your caravan.

Not all vans are suitable for the outback, make sure your caravan is recommended for outback before you choose one for your trip, otherwise you’ll find yourself looking for interstate removalists Sydney or wherever it may be. Also pack carefully, only pack things that very essential for your journey, with less packed caravan makes your journey comfortable. Find tips on your next caravan trip here.

Australia’s Natural Wonder

Lake Eyre basin is a vast area that equates to 17% of Australia, with coverage of 1.2 million square kilometres and its span over several states including Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales.  The basin is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and is considered to have the lowest annual runoff compared to other internal drainage basins across the world.

The region consists of several river basins including the Georgina, Diamantina, Thomson and Barcoo rivers that form Cooper Creek flow from western Queensland into South Australia, whilst the Finke, Todd and Hale rivers flow from Northern Territory; making their  way to Lake Eyre.  None of these interconnected water systems within the basin flow continuously due to the predominant low gradient within the area causing natural diversions across the landscape.  As the volume of water increases, the rate of flow decreases downstream as water is gradually dispersed through waterholes, wetlands and floodplains.  For the rainwater that do travel the distance to Lake Eyre, it drains internally through evaporation and ground seepage and contributes to the large salt lake.

Lake Eyre was named after European explorer Edward John Eyre who first discovered it in 1840, however it is understood that Aborigines have lived in the area before the discovery and remains an important site for the traditional owners Arabana and other Aboriginal people for several thousand years.  In 2012, the Arabana won native title over 70.000 square kilometres of South Australia’s far north, including Lake Eyre, including a decision by the South Australia Geographical Names Board to officially recognise the lake by the dual names Khati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

Khati Thanda-Lake Eyre is normally dry, however it experiences a small 1.5 metre flood every 3 years, a large 4 metre flood every 10 years and fills an average of only four times each century.  It receives a significant amount of water every 8 years to transform into an oasis for thousands of waterbirds, wildlife and fauna.