Lake Eyre | Kati Thanda

Flying over the salt lake is like watching a painting come to life. The earthy tones swirl and blend along the salt flat, as the rolling dunes and stone-strewn tablelands make way for the salty clay pans.   

The lake is Australia's largest salt lake; sitting 15.2 metres below sea level, it becomes a catchment area for the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

“Floodwaters from the north drain towards Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre — the country’s lowest point — spilling over riverbanks and across the floodplains, filling waterholes and wetlands, and carving new arteries across the landscape — giving the Channel Country its name.” (ABC)

Fed by three river systems, the Georgina and Diamantina rivers and Cooper Creek. There are two separate lakes, the north spanning 144km long and 77km wide, while the south is only 64km long and 24km wide. (National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia) The Lake Eyre catchment accounts for 1.3 million km2 of central and northeastern Australia or one-sixth of Australia. Unlike the Murray-darling river system, the rivers supporting this area remain without irrigation and diversions.

“The Lake Eyre Basin is one of the largest and most pristine desert river systems on the planet, supporting 60,000 people and a wealth of wildlife.” (ABC)

Once every eight years or so, floodwaters cover the lake changing this barren environment into an oasis of wildlife. Pelicans, silver gulls, red-necked avocets, banded stilts, gull-billed terns and other saline tolerant species flock to the lake to breed. The lake filled to capacity only three times in the last 160 years. (National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia) Which I suppose is often enough when you consider the lake was formed 200 million years ago. The lake changes colour as it fills and dries over the years; the pink hue comes from a pigment inside specific salt-loving algae staining the salt as the water evaporates. (Southaustralia.com) “Most of the rain which falls in the north never finishes the 1,000-kilometre journey to the lake, making the event of its filling so incredible. The land is a sponge. Evaporation across the basin is 20 times the average annual rainfall.” (ABC) 

Returning to its Native name in 2013, Kati Thanda means "the name of the lake which was formed after the skin of a kangaroo was spread over the ground." According to Aaron Stuart, Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, interviewed by Adelaide Now.  He went on to say although the lake does not physically look like a Kangaroo, "Actually, if you look at it, it looks like a giant hawk sitting on a branch eating a marsupial, but the story of the kangaroo comes from the north and the east; different tribes use it."

According to Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History the formation of the lake is connected to the travels of a Kangaroo in Tjupura, a Dreamtime being whose path across the desert is very important to the Arabana Tribe. While most songs are sacred and secret, the story of Wikunda is not “men’s business” and can be shared with the uninitiated. 

Wikunda hunting the kangaroo that became Lake Eyre

An old woman was hunting and saw a huge kangaroo in the distance. Wilkuda, a young boy jumped out of her belly and chased the kangaroo to the west. When his spear finally struck it he thought it was dead and put it on his fire and went to sleep. When he awoke the kangaroo had gone. Wilkuda tracked the kangaroo for many days. As he travelled, his path crossed that of an old man with his dog. The kangaroo was finally killed with the help of the dog and Wilkuda gave the old man the meat for he only wanted the skin. Wilkuda took the skin back to the east and, east of Anna Creek, he threw the skin down. The skin then changed, becoming Lake Eyre. Wilkuda can still be seen as a boulder on the shore of the lake he made.

(Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History, Ed. Jennifer Isaacs, New Holland Publishers)

Its colonial name, Lake Eyre, is named after the explorer Edward John Eyre, who emigrated from England in March 1833. He was a sheep farmer or "overlander," taking stock from Sydney to Adelaide. He was known for his journey around the Great Australia Bight in 1840-1841 and exploring Adelaide's desert northwest. He then served as a magistrate and protector of Aborigines, learning their customs and languages. (Britannica) 

The lake remained largely unknown to the outside world until, in 1960, British speed racer Donald Campbell drove his Bluebird racer 648 km, breaking the world land speed record at the time. (Adelaide Now) 

What is the best way to visit Kati Thanda | Lake Eyre?

To visit the lake without the long dusty drive, join our Outback Air Safari! We visit all the highlights of the region and give you spectacular aerial views of the lake, Flinders range, Simpson desert and more: