We’ve been watching the weather charts and flood gauges with a fair bit of anticipation lately. It is not often we get to talk about a once in a generation event, but 2026 is shaping up to be exactly that for the Lake Eyre basin. Our mates out at the Birdsville Hotel have been keeping us posted on the ground, and the news is nothing short of spectacular. If you’ve ever wanted to see the dead heart of Australia come to life, this is the year to pack the rig and head west.
The water levels in Lake Eyre are already sitting over 2m deep and they’re still climbing. To put that in perspective, we’re looking at the highest levels since ’89, and there is a real chance it could rival the legendary ’74 floods. For those who remember the mid-seventies, that was a time when the lake reached six metres deep. Seeing this much water in the desert is a visual sensation that stays with you forever. The Goyder Lagoon is also looking prime, acting as a lush green precursor to the massive inland sea further south.
Fuel supplies and the reality of the bowser
There has been plenty of chatter about a national fuel crisis lately, and it is enough to make any tourer nervous about getting stranded. However, the word from the track is that there is plenty of diesel and ULP to go around. We’ve checked in with the pumps at Longreach, Windorah, Quilpie, and Charleville. Birdsville itself is well stocked too. You can expect to pay anywhere between $3.09 and $3.39 for diesel at the moment.
It’s easy to baulk at those numbers, but let’s be honest with ourselves for a second. We were already paying well over two bucks out there long before any global supply issues hit the fan. When you factor in the sheer distance from the ports and the cost of trucking it in, the pricing is actually pretty reasonable. Interestingly, some of the metro prices in Sydney and Melbourne aren’t far off what the bush is charging right now. The main takeaway is that you won’t be stuck for a feed for your engine.
Navigating the road closures and detours
Getting there is still a bit of a puzzle, but the pieces are falling into place as things dry out. The wet start to the year in February and March caused a fair bit of chaos, but the roads are opening up every day. The eastern access from Windorah into Birdsville has been open for a few weeks now. While the Cooper Creek floodwaters stopped travel toward Quilpie recently, that stretch is expected to be back in action just after Easter.
If you’re coming from the north, you can get through to Boulia via the Lake Machattie detour or the Coorabulka road. The big one for our southern travellers is the Birdsville Track. It’s currently closed, but word is that maintenance crews are about to get stuck into it. The Cooper Creek barge is also prepping to resume operations. A word of advice though: don’t rely solely on the official QLD Traffic maps. They’re often outdated. Check in with the local council Facebook pages or give the pubs a ring for the most accurate info.
The Simpson is still off limits
It is not all green lights and open gates just yet. The Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park is currently closed, and it looks like it’ll stay that way for a while. The Eyre Creek is running at full tilt, which means desert crossings into or out of Birdsville are a no-go. The best guess at this stage is June at the earliest before we see the tracks through the dunes opening up again.
Even if you can’t cross the desert, the spectacle of the floodwaters makes the trip worthwhile. The Birdsville Hotel has aircraft and pilots ready to go for scenic flights, which is truly the only way to appreciate the scale of what’s happening in the Channel Country. This is a rare event that most people only see once in a lifetime. If you have the time and the rig is ready, we reckon it is time to stop thinking about it and start driving.
