Lake Ballard
Submitted: Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 11:22
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Member - Davoe (WA)
A freind of mine had some visitors from overseas and over east so he suggested a trip out to
lake Ballard to check out Anthony Gormleys statues. I had been there once over a year ago and was keen for another look. While I am not into art there is definitly something bizzare about 50 strange looking sculptures spaced out into a saltlake as far as the eye can see. The islands in the salt lake give it an even stranger appearence with the closest island rising straight out of the lake to about 30m high wth a steepish walking track to the top. We stayed till dusk watching the shadows stretch back from the statues before heading to
snake hill lookout where there is bbq facilitys and shelter.
The Italian visitor seemes amazed with the straight roads and the isolation that we had driven 180k one way and passed through 1 very small town. If travelling North from Kalgoorlie and you have the time a detour from Broadarrow through
Ora Banda and Northwards to
Leonora Exists which takes in the sights of the Golden Quest discovery trail inc the statues is a more exciting route than the highway which is as interesting as a broken pram at the tip
Reply By: Member - Melissa - Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 12:03
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 12:03
Hi Davoe,
Have to agree with your comments. We went out to
Lake Ballard in Apr'03 and camped at the lakes edge. Apart from viewing the statues at dusk and dawn when their long shadows spill across the salt lake, just watching the changing colours of the lake and contrasting vibrant orange/red of the surrounding ridges and sand as the sun went down whilst we sipped wine by a flickering campfire was absolutely magic. Dawn was also a lovely - albiet no wine but a big fat feed of smoky bacon and eggs was an worthy substitute :-). So whilst salt lakes aren't most peoples traditional idea of a great place to
camp, I'd recommend anyone who gets the chance to spend a night camped by a remote saltlake somewhere to give it a go.
:o) Melissa
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 12:20
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 12:20
I agree I reckon they are great
places to
camp. When working for the survey we would usually
camp next to saltlakes or
granite rocks. Saltlakes usually have a bit of Topography around them and the ones around
norseman often had larger unburnt trees and sandier ground. Some of the sunsets we saw reflecting off of 5cm of water cover were fantastic. Nothing compares to a goldfields sunset!!
On that point There was a lady who wrote an article in the Kalgoorlie Miner about her trip to Hawai. After everyone asking her if she was going to check out the fantastic sunsets she did so for 3 nights until she relized it wasnt just bad luck and dud sunsets but she had been spoilt
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Reply By: Member - Hugh (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 15:34
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 15:34
Hi Davoe,
I agree with your comments. We went there Mar '04 and were very impressed.
Have you camped at Niagra Dam? We haven't but called through on the way to Kookinie Tavern for a counter lunch (another gem). Some people had been camping there for a few days and it looked a beaut spot.
Hugh
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Follow Up By: Member - Davoe (WA) - Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 15:39
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 15:39
Havnt camped there but have been there a few times. Apparantly at the moment it has plenty of water. The camping facilitys were upgraded a few years back as part of the GQ discovery trail. The lowere campgrounds look ok with some shady areas with heaps of yabbies in the dam. If you go to nearby
Kookynie pub you can get a mud map to some interesting
granite rock formations
Hanging rock,balancing
rock and split
rock
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Reply By: Bilbo - Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 23:27
Monday, Jan 24, 2005 at 23:27
I once camped for 3 months on the edge of Lake Carey - doin' a bit of prospecting. Beautiful white quartz sand and white salt on the clay pan. It was like beach camping but with no water.
Bugger of a place to get to now though and if it's rained AT ALL stay away from the lake - walk down to it - don't drive.
Cruiser
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