by Rachel Power

Created on: November 29, 2010

Canberra to Lake Eyre with KIDS!

In February 2010 my husband and I watched a documentary on the amazing event that is Lake Eyre in flood.  Right then and there we decided that should it ever flood again we would be there to experience it.  Like the rest of Australia we watched the flooding in Queensland and Northern New South Wales in awe of the sheer amount of water that had devastated towns and homes in its path.  By May, we knew even some of this water would reach Lake Eyre and the Great Aussie Road Trip swung back into action!

This was the first trip for us with the newest member of our family, Edward (Teddy) turning 1 only days before we left.  We love travelling with our children as you never really see the world until you see it through your children’s eyes.  This is why the Great Aussie Road Trip exists, we can show you Australia through the eyes of Jasmine (7), Jemma (5), Teddy (when he is older) and the experiences in the journals of myself (Rachel, 31) and my husband Greg’s (36) professional images.  June 8th 2010 saw our family hit the road for 3 incredible weeks.

With the girls excited to be back on the road again and Teddy just loving the attention, we drove 3 days (roughly 1,700kms) from Canberra to Lake Eyre in convoy with my brother in law Dave and his two children Aysha ( 11) and Jake (5). 

With our trusty 3Dog Camper in tow we set up camp at Halligan Bay and walked over the dune to be greeted by an awesome sight, Lake Eyre.  Out there you can’t tell where the sky stops and the water starts!  Being forewarned, we resisted the urge to paddle our feet in the water that is saltier than the sea.  Instead we walked along the sandy banks intrigued by the well preserved array of fish, insects, animals and more that lined the water’s edge.  It really was something that we were in awe of and feel very lucky to have experienced.

The kids, while the magnitude of this opportunity was a little lost on them, had a fantastic time playing around the salt bushes and just being kids!  It was so flat that they could run as far as they liked and we could still see them, none of us had a worry in the world at that time.

After a few days at Halligan Bay we decided to fly over the lake to get an idea of the vast Lake.  One of the best ideas ever!  You really have an understanding of why Lake Eyre in flood is such an event, while we were there the Lake was at about 75% surface

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