The Moods of Lake Gairdner

Last night I had a chat to Ken the Geologist, who told me a heap about this part of the world. I won't bore you with all of it, suffice to say that some volcanic activity 1.5 billion (yes billion) years ago resulted in some very hot rhyolite lava which on cooling formed the basalt like columns we have been seeing. Also the white stuff where the wombats burrow are old lake beds , well young by the rhyolite standard, that have been eroded leaving the substrata of calcite material which is much easier to dig..........John the 70 (must be at least) year old roustabout just reckons the calcite stuff is a bugger to work with his grader....he almost lost it the other day.

John also shared many other stories and some of his life history this morning whilst we watched some ring necked parrots bathing in our soon to be drinking water.

All in all much information was gained, hopefully some of it absorbed to become boring anecdotes when we meet.

So we set off for Lake Gairdner again. Boring aren't we. I wanted to see it with the light coming from behind. When we got to the last sand dune ridge we stopped at a magnificent sight. I have not seen the photos yet so I probably have not have captured it, but it was a real WOW moment.

Wandered down and on the lake's edge was a wedge tailed eagle making up it's mind if it was warm enough to take off. 12C is cool for everybody.

Lake Gairdner is more than twice as large as Port Phillip Bay and twice as salty. At maximum water it reaches a depth of 75cm. Normally the water is as much a function of the wind as anything. This morning the water was a little further out than yesterday as the wind was different. We were only seeing a small portion of it, say Corio Bay. I stripped off and walked in with my sandals and shorts. The water was icy and the salt bed very hard and it looked really sharp with salt crystals glinting in the morning light. The photos of the lake pinned around the walls of the common room showed just how the face of the lake can change with weather, water and light. We had been lucky to see this particular mood.

I washed off my feet with some water brought along specifically for this task. The salt can get a bit harsh on bare flesh otherwise. Thanks John for the tip.


Drove back, but detoured via what is called, The Embankment. It is essentially a dam build across a narrow valley to collect and store water. Nobody knows exactly when it was build put pre 20th century for sure.

Whilst we were there we climbed to the top of the hill, watching a herd of goats scuttle across the adjoining hill. It really is lovely countryside. Harsh I suspect, but beautiful.

Back at the station for lunch in the aluminium kitchen/bathroom/common room/shearers quarters. It is apparently a pick up from the Maralinga left overs. We will hire a Geiger counter when we get home.

Fed and rested we headed up the hill behind the station for a walk. Once at the top we decided to follow a 4WD track which took us ner Mt Scott. Given we were there anyway, I climbed that and the view were stunning. in all directions. Of course there was all sorts of stuff to look at. A mob of Euros (roos) hopping across our path was a highlight. I had not mentioned we had been seeing roos and emus everywhere.

Back down to the station and we are having a quiet afternoon.  It is cooling down again and Marjan has her sleeping bag coat on again and gloves.