Cattle and Sheep Stranded by Floods in Outback South Australia

Thousands of cattle stranded for four months by floodwater are "living the dream" on their very own island in outback South Australia.

At Cowarie Station, 250 kilometres north of Marree, around 4,000 of Sharon Oldfield's cattle have been isolated since February by record-breaking rain and flooding.

"The main channel is still full [of water] and the flood plain still has a lot of water on it, so we can't actually get around," Ms Oldfield said.

"It's not surrounded [by water], but it's the main channel, so we can't cross [it]… then when you get to the other side there's water as well and it's soft and boggy."

Roughly half the property is cut off, with no change expected until around September.

This is not the first time Cowarie cattle have only been accessible by chopper, but this time around it has been "prolonged".

"The channel has been up and down several times," Ms Oldfield said.

"It filled from local rain, and then … from the floodwaters in Queensland through the Diamantina and the Georgina, then the Georgina had another rise, and then the Diamantina had another two rises, and then we had more rain. So it's just kept it full."

It means the cattle cannot be transported, but they do not seem to mind.

"We've been checking on them by air, and they're all fine," Ms Oldfield said.

"Just living the dream out there at the moment.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring station has had to take their stock the long way around.

"They've been walking cattle over 100km to try and get them to a spot where they can actually put them on a transport," Ms Oldfield said.

Hide and 'sheep'

In South Australia's far east, Quondong Station is home to thousands of sheep – allegedly.

With 147,710 hectares of land, much of which remains underwater, a ground search was not going to cut it.

So, they brought in the big guns: thermal drone operators.

With an employment history stretching from dentistry to the military, couple Tony Eldridge and Colleen O'Callaghan now run a travelling security company utilising technology like drones.

Using their wheelhouse to assess flood damage at places like Quondong Station was a natural progression.

"We've been looking at areas that are flooded, making assessments of what's impassable, how long will it be possibly before they dry out and vehicles can get down them, what are the fence conditions and the status in those flooded areas like?" Mr Eldridge said.

"The other thing we've been doing is having a look at stock numbers within each of the paddocks, bearing in mind these paddocks are huge."

The insulation merino wool provides means some sheep hardly show up on the thermal camera.

The couple are still camping out on Quondong Station, but they have already managed to track down "a number of mobs".

"It probably takes a solid day for one paddock to crisscross properly," Mr Eldridge said.

"Then one of the issues we have is some of the fences have been damaged, so where they are one day, they're not the next.

"It would be near impossible on a property this big to get an absolute 100 per cent clarification of exact numbers.

Green fields and lambs

Ms Bishop recently returned to the station for the first time in four months, after road closures made it inaccessible.

What she found was a stark difference to the station she had left on January 31.

"Back in January we were shearing and it was 50 degrees, and I thought 'we are mad'.

"But thank god we did because two weeks later, if we had delayed it until February or March or April, we wouldn't be shearing. We wouldn't be able to get to our stock.

"It's far better that we survived that horrific heat rather than, they would all drown with a full year's wool on them."

No matter how many new challenges the rain presents, you will not hear any complaints from Quondong Station, where all five of the station's 300,000-litre holding tanks are full.

"It is spectacular. It is English green," Ms Bishop said.

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It is the same story up north at Cowarie.

"It is an absolute delight to see the country at the moment," Ms Oldfield said.

"I've certainly never seen it any better than it is now … it's just an absolute picture to behold."