THIS IS A RIVER
As we climbed out of Boulia, the “anastomosing” channels of the Hamilton River sprawled below us, 6km in width.
When we talk about rivers in Western Qld, this is what we’re referring to – wide and flat, lined with Coolibahs.
Up at 8000 feet, we could see countless billabongs, filled to the brim after this outstanding year of regular rain and occasional river flows, which sometimes cut the Boulia-Winton Road.
A little further downstream, this system meets up with the Bourke and Georgina Rivers, flooding out across a 40km wide floodplain before bottlenecking near Bedourie.
Filling up mega lakes and weaving its way through a maze of sand dunes, floodwater will flow straight into the guts of the Simpson Desert. Every few decades, it might even make it to Kati Thanda – Lake Eyre.
