4 June 2011. Lake Eyre is normally a dry salt pan, but some years it (partially) fills with water drained from a huge catchment area in Queensland. We were privileged in 2001 to see the lake with water in it, again made a special effort to return in 2011 when the lake filled again. By the time we got there in early June, so much water had evaporated that the lake was quite shrunken from its maximum size, but still impressive.