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The Bush Telegraph, Issue #020 - Latest Outback News
March 21, 2010

Outback Floods

G'day,

First of all, thank you for subscribing to my newsletter, and welcome to all new subscribers.

The Bush Telegraph is the newsletter of Rita's Australian Outback Guide. Don't miss

  • New pages on Rita's Outback Guide
  • Festivals and events in the Outback. If you're planning a trip, don't miss this great opportunity to include an unique Outback event to your itinerary!
  • Breaking news from the Australian Outback and Australia as they happen
  • Interesting questions and tips by the Outback Guide readers



Birdsville Track
Moongara Channel, Birdsville Track


It's been a long time since the last newsletter. Actually, this is the first Bush Telegraph I send out in 2010. I apologise for being quiet for such a long time.
This time I have really good news, and top photos to share. Read on, and check the photo links below for some stunning pics I just received this morning.

Outback flooding

Once again, the weather in the Australian Outback is worth to talk about, and there are mainly great news.

Major parts in Outback Queensland, the north-east of New South Wales and the far north-west of South Australia had good summer rains. Extensions of cyclone Laurence moved south-west in December and brought rain to the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland.

Remnants of cyclone Olga brought above-average rainfalls to Outback areas in Queensland and South Australia in February. Longreach and Barcaldine received their best rainfalls in twenty years.

Nearly everyone in the Outback is happy about the rain. However, sometimes the rain hit too hard. Charleville, Qld. had to be declared a disaster zone earlier this month when the whole town was flooded.

In New South Wales the level of areas officially in drought dropped from 81% in January to 40% in March. There is new hope for cattle station owners in NSW and Qld. However, for some the rain came too late, they had already sold most of their stock.

Just this Sunday cyclone Ului hit the Whitsunday coast, more rain for the coastal areas.

Travelling to the Outback this year

If you are going to the Outback regions which had all this wonderful rain, you are up to a surprise. Fat grasses, green bushes, wildflowers, bird life, the inland changes dramatically. It will be wonderful.

Don't forget to check the latest weather and track condition before you travel anywhere in the Outback. Many roads are closed or badly damages after rain.
Water levels of Cooper Creek and the Diamantina river, as well as their tributaries are still in flood. Innamincka, Birdsville and other towns have been isolated for days and weeks.

To give you an idea what the wet Outback looks like, check out these amazing slide shows provided by the Lyndhurst Hotel website.

Strzelecki Flooding - It is shocking to see how a road can disappear within a few hours. There are also photos of the Innamincka region. Oh well, that's where I want to go later this year!!

Now when you see these pictures you understand the warning "Do not ever camp in a dry creek bed".

Finally, the recent flooding raises hope, for some people even confidence, that the water might reach Lake Eyre. The lake is already damp from the local rains, Goyder Lagoon is filling, Warburton Grove is flowing, yep, things look good.

Debbie and Graham Reid from Travel West Outback Tours have already scheduled the first flight over Lake Eyre for the 1st of May 2010.
Check out the other tours on this page as well. Debbie and Graham offer now a Simpson Desert crossing tour to Uluru for all who want to explore the Outback in luxury and style.

* New pages and reader's submissions on the Outback Guide *

There have been some interesting questions and stories submitted by Outback Guide readers. Thanks everyone for your contributions.

Burke and Wills route across Australia - Scott Murray from Scotland plans to follow the Burke and Wills route across Australia on mountain bikes. This is interesting. I hope he lets us know about the excursion.

Flies in Flinders Range during February? - Teresa Yeo from NSW sent in a nice photo of her trekking excursion in the MacDonald Ranges. Despite her Outback experience, she's still a bit worried about the flies out there.

There are many more contributions. Just check out the Outback Guide blog where recently published (or updated) pages are listed.

BTW, Jeannie Lapping, who did an epic trip to Uluru with her family last year, contacted me afterwards and sent me a selection of her awesome photos. I am going to add one of her photos on the Outback Guide every now and then. Thanks Jeannie.
On this trip they came up with an unique business idea. If you ever need a trailer for a family road trip in Australia, they have the perfect trailer to hire. See one of Jeannie's photos and info about their Scram Trailers on the Stuart Highway page.

This is a bit off topic, but if you are interested in Germany, please visit my Germany Insider Facts Guide. The website is still very new, but the topics might give you an idea about what is coming.

If you like the Bush Telegraph, please pass it on to your friends, they might like it, too. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, I would be happy to see you subscribe to the Bush Telegraph here

Until next time.

See ya, signature

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