Twilight Cloud patterns reflect in Lake Eyre, an arid inland sea or temporary lake, South Australia
Wellies on I leave Megan behind in the tent. Trying to walk quietly in Wellington boots is almost impossible, one has to slow down the walk to the extent that anyone watching would think you're practicing an audition for a role as a sloth. Any faster and you achieve the combined sound of hobnailed boots and flip flops. Safely past the sleeping area I flip flop towards the entrance to the mud flats with Lake Eyre beyond. It's an hour before sunrise and of course I cant see a thing, only featureless grey. The horizon has a sliver of blue against the ink coloured star spangled sky. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of stars, like everything here it seems endless and the feeling that I am insignificant continues. On a slight hill only 2 metres above all else, I'm looking for something I saw yesterday, and there it is a black lump against the now increasing blue of the horizon. I start walking. The black lump looms large and seems gigantic compared to the flat expanse all around. But there's a twist, things here are not how they appear, time and distance are slightly skewed. Its been 15 minutes and I'm still walking, seeming no closer, and then what appeared to be a two metre tall black lump begins to shrink until 10 minutes later I'm standing before a slab of rock only 50 cms tall. You'd definately be forgiven for looking for the mirrors, it's all quite surreal. Last nights cloud has moved East, now a slash of grey curving across the horizon with the false dawn scribing an orange line between the blue. A puff of wind gusts past. Wondering how far I can go without sinking I tentatively take a step into the Lake, its more solid here so I keep going till I'm half up my wellies. A glassy surface of still water, pocked with mud banks and the detritus of dead vegetation blown in from past storms is before me, the real Lake is out there another five minutes or maybe ten. The wind strengthens to a breeze wipping it up, a blue grey smudge past the calmer water. With my
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Photo credit: © Matt Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: australia, australian, beauty, big, blue, cloud, dawn, desert, endless, eyre, false, inland, lake, landscape, mirrored, national, natural, outback, park, patterns, reflected, reflections, sea, sky, south, trip, twilight, water
