Water levels in South Australia’s Lake Eyre may be falling but visitor numbers show no signs of drying up.
While this year’s flooding has not matched the high levels of previous years, grey nomads are still arriving in their droves to see water in the normally dry lake and to check out the flourishing wildlife. Lake Eyre north now has 15% surface coverage, down from 85% in March.
The southern lake area is about 40% covered. The South Australian Environment Department says that a lot of the initial water from the big rains in late February has dissipated. However, experts say the lake may not dry up until the end of the year … so there is still time to see the sights.
“People still want to see it and especially the baby boomers that are heading up north,” tourism operator Trevor Wright told the ABC. “If people haven’t seen it, it still has that iconic effect and is part of the bucket list.”
Lake Eyre, which is normally nothing more than a giant saltpan, has flooded for four consecutive years.
