The Simpson Desert’s traditional winter tourist season has got off to an unusually slow start … with a lack of water in nearby Lake Eyre being blamed for the dramatic tourism downturn.
“When you have wet seasons, there are wildflowers right across the park,” said Don Rowlands, the ranger in charge of the Simpson Desert National Park. “Now we have a dry park and some sand storms, which certainly adds to the beauty of the Simpson desert.”
While Birdsville-based Mr Rowlands said tourism had come to a virtual standstill, he said the grey nomads were at least trying to hold up their end of the bargain.
“Up until now it’s mostly been older travellers,” he told the ABC. “Maybe the younger ones are staying at home at little more due to high cost of living, I don’t know.”
Mr Rowlands says local operators and residents are putting in extra effort to attract tourists because the dry conditions are part and parcel of the desert environment.
“With the lull in the traffic, we are doing all sorts of little extra bits, like tours ourselves, just to try and attract people to the Diamantina Shire but it is still pretty slow,” he said.
He told the ABC that tourists usually use Birdsville as a base to fly over northern South Australia and see water flowing into Lake Eyre but that the air traffic has gone to ‘zilch’.
Are you putting off a trip to the Simpson or Birdsville until there is water in Lake Eyre? Do you think a trip after a ‘dry spell’ is still a magical experience? Comment below.
Plan to do Birdsville this time next yr.
any one been down Birdsville-Windorah road recently? what condition is the road in?
We crossed the Simpson last August. It was a veritable traffic jam but it did turn out to be the week before the Birdsville races. The desert had a lot of vegetation after the earlier rains ans didn’t seem so much like a ‘desert’. The wattle was just coming into flower. Truly beautiful. The wildlife was also abundant. Absolutely amazing trip.!!!!