In my opinion Coongie Lakes are a little slice of heaven, admittedly you will need some strong mosquito repellent to enjoy that paradise, but even with the presence of mozzies, visiting and staying at this park is a definite must do.
Access
109 kms north of Innamincka the lakes are accessed by 4x4. You could probably tow your caravan as far as the main car park at the end of the road, but you won't really get to enjoy the lakes at all from that spot, so leave your caravan behind, bring your tent and your 4x4.
I stopped for the night half way out to the lakes and enjoyed the flocks of Galar and Little Corella circling my camp site - check them out in the video later in this post.
To really enjoy the beauty of staying at the lakes you will need to drive over the soft red dunes to the lakeside. The trail meanders around the lake, over more dunes, (low flat pans that may be impassable if wet) and along the way are a number lovely level camping spots right on the lakes edge.
Great advice
I had the pleasure of meeting Rob and Mark in their gorgeous defender who had just spent a whole 10 days at the lake. After chatting about how amazing our Defenders are (of course), travel destinations and plans they assured me the dunes were perfectly easy to cross and gave me clear directions (over this salt pan, cross the stream, turn...) to their camping spot which when I got there was a beautifully sheltered and secluded spot tucked away on the lakes edge, I can see why they enjoyed it so much! My camping spot
Backtracking a little from Rob & Marks's prime camp spot I found an elevated level spot, just above but very near the lake and set up camp. Endless swims
During my glorious 3 days at the lake I enjoyed walking the 15 steps from Lulu down to and into the water for countless swims. The lake was quite high during my time there and instead of walking along a small path through long grass to reach the water, I had to wade/swim through the grasses... But that was perfectly fine with me. Long hot sun filled days = water at my doorstep and no other campers within sight or sound = perfect. What to wear
You will need to wear your head-net to keep flies off your face, but if you find a secluded spot you don't really need to wear much more than that. Take your kayak or paddleboard
Motorised boats not allowed on the water, but you can enjoy kayaking/paddle-boarding to your hearts content. Its certainly a great way to enjoy getting away from the flies and getting close to the birdlife. I enjoyed watching the little turtles pop their heads up out of the water to watch me pass. From on the water you can also approach quite close to some of the large nests in the water-bound trees. Birdwatching from my comfy bed
I had my tri-pod set up almost the entire time I was camping, camera on it ready to capture images of the Pelicans, Spoonbills and other birdlife in and on the water just below my campsite. I have so many pictures of the birdlife I had to be quite sever in culling them down to just the best images. A larger lens would have captured superior images, but the best lenses were the ones in my eyes and they feasted on watching the pelicans fishing just below my camp site.
Nearby dunes
The elevation of the nearby dunes makes a great location to watch the magnificent colours play across the sky at dawn and sunset.
Dingo's
I was not bothered by Dingos, but enjoyed hearing a pack howling in the wee hours of the morning. I never saw their prints, but there were certainly a lot of rabbits in the dunes for them to feed on if they had wanted to.
This little video below will give you a better idea of just how wonderful the location is
Recommendation:
As you can tell its quite obvious I loved this location and recommend it most highly. But as I said before - leave your caravan behind, bring your tent, your head net, mozzie repellent, kayak and some good books to read and prepare to relax.
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