Australia's Lake Eyre

The Lake Eyre Basin, one of the world’s largest internally draining river basins, is situated in the driest part of the Australian continent in northern South Australia and is normally one of the most barren salt lakes in the world. Lake Eyre only fills a few times in a century when the rivers in Northern Queensland receive 3-4 years of rainfall in one fall creating floods that push through the dry maze of channels and billabongs on the edge of the Simpson Desert. 1974 was the first time in modern recorded history and also the last time the lake was filled to capacity. In 2000, for the first time since 1989, it not only flowed but also peaked at 85% full and created a amazing transformation to the landscape creating a huge increase to the number of tourists to the area. They came from all around the world to see what became 9,300 square kilometers of inland sea, and it’s amazing variety of birds, fish and plant life.