The myth of the inland sea lured 19th-century European explorers to the heart of Australia. But where they found only desert, it is flooded this year and water levels in Kati Tanda Lake Eyre are now the best some locals have ever seen.
In parts of central Australia, it was one of the wettest years on record.
The rains flooded stations and populated areas, cut roads and sometimes left people stranded.
But after years of drought, the rain brought welcome relief to many.
And it helps organize one of the biggest spectacles in the outback.
Australia’s largest lake, Kati Tanda Lake Eyre, is its fullest in decades.
This is the second year in a row that water from North America and Queensland has reached the lake, but this year it was also flooded by local rains.()
Central Australia has partially turned into colorful pink and blue.()
Norse floodwaters have flowed into the lake for the second year in a row, but this time they are accompanied by record local rainfall.
Conditions are reminiscent of 1974, when the lake last reached full capacity.
Due to the lake’s vastness, keeping track of water levels can be challenging and locals such as Trevor Wright regularly provide information on where the water is.
Pilot and unofficial “mayor” of William Creek estimated that the lake was about 80 percent full.
In just four months, the weather station closest to the lake recorded more than 400 mm of precipitation, more than four times the average.()
He said water levels were already much higher than last year when floodwaters from south-west Queensland and north-east South Australia reached the lake.
“This has to be the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Mr Wright said.
“I don’t think you’ll see this again for several decades.”
Trevor Wright believes the unique environment of Katy Tanda Lake Eyre is what attracts people to the area.() The town of William Creek is an oasis in the remote outback.() Often in William Creek the airfield is busier than the main street.() Trevor Wright says this year was the first time he had to use a lawnmower to trim a runway.()
The Kati-Tanda-Lake Eyre basin is fed by a network of inland streams and river systems covering an area of 1.2 million square kilometers.
Katie Tanda-Lake Air from the air. ()
Rivers such as the Georgina, Diamantina and Thomson Cooper carry floodwaters from Queensland and the Northern Territory to the lake.
The Kati Tanda-Lake Eyre basin is fed by a network of inland streams and river systems.() Flocks of Australian pelicans spotted over the Simpson Desert.()
The latest floodwaters from Queensland are still reaching Kati Tanda-Lake Eyre, with Cooper Creek nearly 5 meters deep in places and the Diamantina River at Birdsville at just under 2 metres.
As the water flows through the channels towards the pool, it leaves behind a lush hinterland.
Pilot Henry Reed-Spinks expects this season could be “one of the biggest in history.”()
“All of a sudden it all came to life,” said William Creek pilot Henry Reed-Spinks.
“All the flooding in the north combined with the 240-350mm of rain we’ve had here in William Creek and the pastoral regions, it’s just incredible.”
The Simpson Desert, nestled between sand dunes, is surrounded by bodies of water bordering a lake, and camels contrast with the bright green vegetation.
Australian wild camels graze on green shoots from local rain.() The lake is teeming with life, including these pelicans.() Kati Tanda-Lake Eyre fills with years of rain.()
“You’re in the middle of what should be the dead, dry heart of Australia and suddenly all this water appears,” Mr Reed-Spinks said.
Rivers flow through what was once burnt terrain.()
Yankunytjatjara man Bobby Hunter said Kati Thanda was a “quite mystical” place.
“In winter, it is wonderful to see the sunrise early in the morning. It kind of shimmers on the waves of water,” he said.
“It looks like a giant seashell. You can hear the silence.”
Bobby Hunter describes Kati Tanda as a “quite mystical” place.() Channels and islands have formed, but the water depth reaches only 1-2 meters.() Yankunitytjara, man Bobby Hunter.()
Mr Hunter was 18 years old the last time the lake reached full capacity in 1974.
“Water has flooded some of these streams for 20 kilometers or more. I was at one dam, about 14 kilometers up, and camped there one winter night, and you could hear the waves lapping on the shore,” he said.
“It was a good sound and I never heard it again.
“But maybe next year… Anything is possible.”
Birds flock to Kati-Tanda-Lake Eyre.()
Some say it is too early to tell whether the lake will fill, while others believe it will take another year of rain in South Australia and Queensland to achieve that result.
Either way, the outback is enjoying the change that rain can bring.
“Before the rain there was little food for the cattle,” Mr Hunter said.
“They probably ate dust and lived by imagination.”
Cattleman Ellen Litchfield says it’s “great to see things recovering from the dry spell.”)
Wilpurinna station, about 50km from Murree, has received about 330 millimeters of rain this year, 120 of which fell on the same day.
“(It was) the largest rainfall we’ve ever recorded, although our annual average is usually around 150,” cattle rancher Ellen Litchfield told ABC News.
After depleting their stock last year due to a devastating drought, the stations are returning cattle back to the land.
“It’s great to see everything recovering from the dry spell,” Ms Litchfield said.
“The wildlife is amazing: in front of our house there are these magnificent big jumping frogs that are walled in clay and just run wild from the rain.
“It’s very, very rare that it looks this good.”
Locals say this is a “very rare” event.()
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Reporting: Isabella Kelly and Leah McLennan
Photo: This is Chorley