‘Outback Encounter’ is a tour company in Adelaide that bills itself as a ‘designer of handcrafted journeys’.
This weekend, we are all set to experience the extraordinary natural phenomenon of seeing water from a deluge of rains in three states many months ago that is only now flowing into the usually dry salt pan of Lake Eyre.
Seldom do flooding rains reach Lake Eyre in the arid heart of the Australian continent, but it has now happened two years in a row, triggering a spectacular explosion of life in the region.
Our party of eight including my good friends, Andrew, Juanita, Pam and Ken, starts off in Adelaide on a Saturday morning and flies north to Angorichina Station homestead in the Flinders Ranges. We fly in a brand-new Pilatus turbo-prop aircraft with Garry Williams in command.
Our hosts, Di and Ian Fargher, make us welcome at the homestead and Ian accompanies us for the flight over Lake Eyre, and to remote Birdsville in the southwest corner of Queensland.
On Sunday evening we return to Adelaide and catch our flights back to Sydney. What a weekend! What an adventure!