The ancient flood plains of South Australia's River Murray have sprung to life in the wake of its biggest inundation in 66 years.
Two months after the flood plains re-emerged from the water, ground that was bare for decades is now covered in greenery, while bird species from around the world continue to flock to the region.
Located just west of SA's border with New South Wales, Tony Sharley has led tours of the River Murray for years.
The business owner said it had been an experience of a lifetime to see the landscape transform completely.
"Amazing reflections, vast expanses of water, water birds breeding — there was just so much happening during that event," the River Murray Trails director said.
As some parts of the flood plains were covered for the first time since the 1956 floods, struggling vegetation was given a second wind while seeds were spread across once drought-stricken plains.
Mr Sharley said that the 2022 summer floods marked the start of the next generation of plant life.
"I've just witnessed an event that has produced really the next forests of red gums and the next woodlands of box trees, given that every red gum and every box tree is a signature of a former flood," he said.
"Hopefully in 500 years' time, they will be as big as some of the amazing trees that stand here today."
The former environmental scientist said that this level of change can only be achieved after a flood event.
"New plants that we haven't seen for a long time that are the early colonisers after a flood goes through," he said.
"They are holding insects that are the food for a lot of our bush birds and echidnas that are returning into the valley."
'Meadows of green and wildflowers'
Jan Whittle is the program leader for the River Murray and Floodplains under the state's Environment Department.
Ms Whittle primarily helps manage Chowilla Game Reserve, an 18,000-hectare landscape that crosses over into NSW.
She is used to keeping the site alive during long dry spells, like the Millennium Drought.
"We were just recording bare earth and at the moment, you go out to Chowilla there's waving grasslands in the breeze and there's beautiful meadows of green and wildflowers – it's vastly different," she said.
Ms Whittle's team monitors the health of the reserve and moves water to places where it is needed.
"We work really hard to try and keep these special places ticking over, through the changes in climate and the changes in flooding," she said.
"But during the floods, nature was doing the job for us."
The program leader said it had been a career highlight to see a site, known as a waterbird refuge, come to life.
"In the middle of the flood, the birds were pretty much dispersed right across the landscape because they were spoilt for choice when it came to food," she said.
"Thousands of ducks situated in wetlands, flocks of parrots in the hundreds, and migratory waders that have travelled across the globe – they are all dropping in on our Chowilla.
"I was fearful I might never see a big flood as big as this and I can't believe it's happened."
Mr Sharley said that there were "always silver linings associated with the flood".
"There are of course tough times, and there has been damage done and there has been an interruption to business along the river," he said.
"But now that the floods have passed you can actually celebrate the life that it's produced and the improvements in water quality in the river."
