Taking The Eyre

Nailing the perfect shot of Lake Eyre in flood isn’t easy, even with a bird’s-eye view, but expert tuition helps a group of keen shutterbugs zone in on the essentials of this rare spectacle.

- Chrissie Goldrick

IT’S BOOM TIME at the tiny outback settlement of William Creek along the dusty Oodnadatta Track in South Australia as news of a once-in-a-decade flooding event at nearby Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre radiates outwards like the effects of a pebble tossed into its turbid, briny waters.

It’s a sunny but chilly Friday afternoon in early May and William Creek’s quirky hotel has been inundated with enquiries following an ABC TV news item the night before. Footage of water surging down through Queensland’s braided inland river channels, turning the red desert green in its wake before emptying into the vast dry lake bed, has pitched William Creek into the global spotlight.

Trevor Wright, proprietor of the William Creek Hotel, woke this morning to more than 200 emails in his inbox, which sent him and his staff into a flurry of activity to meet the sudden demand.

As well as running the hotel, campsite and bar, Trevor, a well-known outback identity, is an experienced bush pilot who runs his own charter airline, Wrightsair. It’s based here at William Creek, which is reputed to be the busiest outback airstrip in Australia.

I’ve been invited by Canon on a guided photography weekend organised under their Canon Collective program, which teams dedicated amateurs with talented professionals in inspiring locations.

During the next two days we’ll make good use of Trevor’s airstrip and his team of expert young pilots as we explore this locality from the air.

My seven fellow participants and I and our two tutors can’t believe our luck. We’ve come here to learn to take aerial photos, so the flooding event at the lake is an unexpected bonus.