#kati thanda

[designae]

ORCHID | 22

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Lake Erye / Kati Thanda | Kevin Krautgartner

The Lake Eyre / Kati Thanda basin is one of the largest dry land river systems on our planet. With a size of about 10.000 km², it is Australias biggest and oldest lake and it´s also the lowest point of the continent.

In 2019 a rare natural wonder appeared, as water slowly covered about three-quarters of the lakes surface. Typically, it fills that much only a few times per century; this most recently happened in 1974 and 1950. The water transforms the lakes parched and salty interior into a thriving ecosystem, with water birds arriving from across the globe and colorful algae painting unique canvas of blue, white, red, yellow and pink.

[homeisaplaceinthehills]

Lake Eyre / Kati Thanda

Kevin Krautgartner

[earthstory]

Travel along with Photographer Murray Fredericks as he takes advantage of Lake Eyre - Kati Thanda in Australia, a shallow, ephemeral desert lake in a salt flat, to produce art from light reflecting off panels and objects. Amazingly little wind - seems like every wave is produced by his feet.

[the-yellow-bird-official]

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is the world's largest lake that's rarely there? That's because this lake is ✨ephemeral✨ To learn more about this fascinating phenomenon, check out my latest video!

[gwydionmisha]

Flood waters pour into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in rare spectacle ‘supercharged by climate change’

Sacred site of the Arabana people could get its most significant top-up in a generation as floods spread across the outback

[larimar]

southaustralia

Your eyes aren't deceiving you - this lake is naturally pink 💗

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in @flindersrangesandoutback is one of South Australia's famous salt lakes which can change colours when flooded with desert rain 🌧️🌈

Once every few years, networks of channels, streams and floodplains converge in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park, bringing with them an abundance of wildlife, stunning natural beauty and dreamlike pink and orange hues.

[hwheat2021]

April 20 The Oodnadatta Track

Australia is a land full of wonders, with layers and layers of history - a place for discovery. Its forests and gorges are its cathedrals and its precious weathered rock art and ruins, its museums and libraries. Majestic River Red Gums mark the wide river courses which are more often than not dry beds of stones, sand and huge boulders but which, when at flood, cover huge tracts of land. Water! The essential ingredient to the stories of this mostly sunburnt land and which is central to this little story, a story about a small part of our wide brown land, the Oodnadatta Track.

Beneath this iconic outback track lies one of the world’s largest aquifers, the Great Artesian Basin which covers more than 20% of Australia. The Track crosses the traditional lands of three Aboriginal groups - in the south the Kyani people, to the west the Arabana people and to the north the Arrente people. The desert which today we know as the Simpson Desert, has three different names depending on location and is guarded and tended by these traditional groups.

A string of springs runs right through this part of the country, outlets from the deep artesian reserves. Knowledge of the location of these life-giving springs has been passed down by the traditional people of the region for 10s of 1000s of years and they have shared it with explorers and settlers alike warning them that “it isn’t the straightest route but it’s the only one if you are to survive.”

The Track is 600 odd Kms long and we have travelled it a number of times never tiring of its many faces.

The staggering enormity of Lake Eyre-Kati Thanda which lies to the north of the Track, is mind blowing and the rivers that feed the lake cover a further area of 1.2 million square Kms. Mostly it and Lake Eyre South (pictured above) are dry salt lakes but we have seen water in the southern lake from the Track a number of times. We have even walked to the edge close to the water - or more exactly as close as we could before getting totally bogged almost up to our knees – a little scary actually.

But the springs - we had stayed at and explored Coward Springs but I was keen to explore the mound springs dotted along the track and first on the list were the Wabma Karabu Mound Springs. It was like driving through a moonscape getting to these springs; this is extensive salt pan country.

It was rather unbelievable seeing raised water pools in this arid landscape; the first spring is ‘Blanch Cup’. The springs are home to amazing creatures like isopods which seem to be from another world but there are also a few varieties of land snails and fish that live in these pools. The ripples in the second pool are caused by the water bubbling up – this spring is call ‘The Bubbler’. Amazing!

Strangways Springs NW along the Track are within a heritage and conservation area. On the right is one of the last of the original telegraph poles that carried the essential line to Darwin along this line of springs; the pole is supposedly made from native cypress pine which is termite-resistant. Incidentally Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working cattle station.

This is the ‘track’ we followed as we explored Strangway Springs; the stones, we think! Here it was clear but elsewhere it was a bit of a guess. We walked about 6ks and it was pretty ‘warm’.

This is Sedge Spring, one of the mound springs at Strangways. The ledges of this small rocky spring indicate the original depth of the pool and are very fragile. The overflow from the pool creates a trickle of permanent water supporting the sedge community; the sedges are typical of many mound springs. Springs like this in this area are rather precious as many are no longer gurgling due to the number of bores that have been sunk. But they still sustain some precious life out here.

Some of the mound springs were rocky and high and Lindsay just had to climb them to see what was on top. Sadly most were extinct.

On the bottom of the pool at this spring, you could see little craters of sediment created by the bubbling spring. This spring was fringed with the small sedge, Cyperus laevigatu.

I couldn’t leave this post without sharing a few pix of plants I found – in the most unlikely and seemingly hostile environments flowers bloom. Left is a Harlequin Mistletoe, a bright flash in a parched environment. Top right is Frankenia a small grey-green mounded ground-cover with sweet little pink flowers. It is common near springs and other saline areas. I found it atop one of many extinct springs at Strangways. Lower right is samphire which grow in saline areas inhospitable to many other plants. Small birds eat their fruit.

Wandering the mound springs that day made for a pretty special birthday - starting in Coward Springs and ending at William Creek. More anon …..