Lake Torrens and Andamooka 5/5/2011 (posted the day after)

A bush covered in salt crystals

Yesterday we went to Andamooka and Lake Torrens (again). We asked for directions this time and it turns out the other day we were on the right track to Lake Torrens we just had to keep going and going and going until we got to it. We drove through the bush for ages, we found a river and decided to get out of the car and go for a walk to the edge. Brent, Zac and I all found some pretty rocks so we decided to smash them open and see if we could find some opals or somthing else special. We found a bigger rock and we each had a turn at smashing them but we didnt find anything. We caught Zachery sneaking over to the car, opening the door and smuggling a load of rocks inside while he thought we werent watching. Its funny how early kids learn how to be sneaky, haha.

We got back in the car and continued on toward Lake Torrens (constantly wondering if we were going the right way because it seemed to take forever, driving along red dirt roads in the middle of nowhere). We finally came over a rise and spotted on of the edges of the lake that ran off into like a creek. We didnt end up following it to the body of the lake as the road stopped where we were at so obviously you had to come in from a different town or access road to get to the body. We could follow the creek with our eyes and see the body of the lake but it was too far in the distance for Zac to walk after how far he had already walked around by the time we realised.

The lake was extremely salty and glowed a bright white from all the salt. The salt under the water was rock solid like a solid (but spiky) glass floor and when I dug at it (in one tiny spot, just to check) it was over two inches thick. You could see the red tinge of the dirt through certain parts but mostly it was white. The salt was beautiful, like crystals and all three of us really enjoyed touching it and looking at it.

We also found some emu footprints they were so huge and the steps were so wide as though the bird was running extremely fast. They looked so cool and were perfect imprints because of the type of dirt/mud that was there.

Lake Torrens was a beautiful experience I really loved it, as did Brent and Zac. I wish we could have gotten closer to the body of the lake but the part we found was VERY interesting alone. It was a great experience and I highly reccomend it.

After Lake Torrens we drove back into Andamooka and took some photos to show everyone how the people have all just mined their own backyards. Its so weird to see and also to think of all the opals they must have found.

Zachery wanted to taste it, haha

Not so yummy haha

salt on the ground

salt

Our first glimpse of the outskirts of the salt lake

Zachery cracking open rocks

The rocks we found and decided to crack open

Brent and Zac walking along the river

The blogger website is stuffing up again and will not let me upload the rest of my photos so I wont be able to put up the Andamooka photos today of the mined backyards but I'll add them to this entry later and then re-post it.