We headed to
Marree for a scenic flight on the June long weekend. We drove directly to
Marree from
Adelaide and stayed at the Oasis caravan park. The caravan park was very busy, I would go as far as nearly full, probably because of the races held that weekend. There was also
free camping at the back of the pub and for a few dollars you can use the showers.
Marree was not a great place to stay on the Friday of the June long weekend because someone was having a party in a nearby house. Loud music till 4am and then some very colourful language as a couple had a domestic for 20 minutes (seemed much longer) on the road near the caravan park. It may have been more to do with it being a Friday night than the races I suppose.
The scenic flight was great. The best way to see the lake. We went with GSL Aviation (08) 8675 8349 and I would recommend them and our pilot, Krysta. The Lake is currently at 50% capacity and is expected to fill to around 70% when the next flood pulse comes down over the next couple of months.
The next night was at
Muloorina station which was a good place to
camp. Good
toilets and a nice spot near the
waterhole. A $10 donation to the RFDS per vehicle per night. The road to the Muloorina
waterhole is in good condition but starts to corrugate near the end. Plenty of camper trailers out there and the more hardy may consider towing a caravan at the moment. (I met someone in
Marree on the way back out who was about to give it a try)
The road between Muloorina Stn and
Level Post bay is very corrugated. A real spine rattler at some
places where you are forced to slow down for corners. Not recommended for 2WD or vans and I didn't see any campers on the road.
The water at
Level Post Bay is at least 6-8km away. I walked (briskly) with a mate and after 35 minutes we were starting to sink into the mud. We went about 50m past the last of the footsteps for braggers rights and then walked back. Even after walking a few kilometers it was impossible to tell where the mirage ended and the water began but it was a long way. Note: there was a strong Southerly breeze which may have pushed the water out too.
It was still interesting to see the crust of salt on the lake though so the walk out was worth it in my opinion.
We then drove along the
Oodnadatta Track and up to the viewing point of Lake Eyre Sth. The road to that point is in excellent condition. From there it was a short walk to the waters edge however it gets very muddy. Boots or barefoot is a must. The wind must have been dieing down as we got there as it appeared as if the tide was coming in, the waters edge moving in a couple of meters over a few minutes.
We then backtracked to the Borefield Track and headed to
Andamooka for a look around. The Borefield track started
well and then slowly got rougher as we got closer to Olympic
Dam (but was still pretty reasonable, I just noticed the Patrol had to work a little harder to maintain the same speed). Once we crossed into the Olympic
Dam area the road improved dramatically. I saw some caravans and a large campervan on the Borefield road.
We bush camped on the
Andamooka road a few kilometers from
Roxby Downs which is a good spot with lots of tracks so you can get a little way from the road if you wish. The locals use it for trail bike riding and 4WDing by the look of it so possibly not the best place to be during the day but it was nice and quiet when we were there in the evening.
Cheers
Alex