We had a wonderful three days at Longreach Waterhole at Elliot. It is a free camp around the edge of the water. There were quite a lot of vans there but the body of water is so large you can spread out and not be settled on top of your neighbours. We found a wonderful spot; nice and shady, secluded and overlooking the water about 15m from the water. It was possible to get closer to the water at some sites but the land was quite sloping so it would have been impossible to get the van level. That didn't seem to bother some people but it sure does bother Greg.
View from our campsite
The water is a milky white-grey due to clay particles suspended in the water. It is a bird paradise so I am guessing the water is full of bird poo too. We didn't swim but we did canoe and the kids played in the edge of the water in the lovey grey mud. When the wind stopped (and it really wasn't very windy at all) the water was glassy and canoeing on it was just beautiful.
It is the type of place where you sit and do nothing but watch the birds and time passes and it is so relaxing you lose track of time and days. We left, partly to get on the road again and partly because we were running out of water. It is taking us some time to get used to how hot it is now and how much water we need to keep up with our needs. Prior to our trip home, we had had a lot of cooler weather so we didn't go through as much water as we now need to.
We saw about 20 water birds and around 5-10 other birds. One of our best investments has been a Field Guide to Australian Birds that we bought for Tilda. She (and us) spent quite a bit of time watching the birds and trying to identify them.
We saw Whistling Kite (lots of these), Pelicans (probably 50 or more), hundreds of Little Black Cormorants and Pied Black Cormorants (in the hundreds), Caspian Terns, Magpie Geese, unidentified ducks, Strawnecked Ibis, Australian White Ibis, a Stilt of some type, Egret (we were never quite sure if it was an Intermediate Egret or an Eastern Great), plus others I have now forgotten. On land there were Galahs, Rainbow Beecatchers, a little bird that never stopped moving long enough to identify and more.
My favourite was the Rainbow Beecatcher. It is so beautifully coloured and as it flies overhead you see it's jewel coloured green body with coppery-bronze wings. It is amazing just how colourful and beautiful it is.
(photo found on pinterest as I couldn't download mine)
I found three days there just the perfect length of time but I could imagine staying longer. Finding a water oasis in the middle of such a dry space was wonderful and it is hard to imagine it there in the middle of all the dry scrub.
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