The Pink Lake which is no longer pink

2014 February, The Long Trip - Australia, Pink Lake

Albany which I visited early morning looked charming with old, one store buildings. Walking among narrow street you could easily see it was on of the first Australian settlements. I heart about The Natural Bridge and The Gap to be interesting places to visit nearby  but I had no clue how to get there. I stopped at one petrol station to ask for directions. Surprisingly, they gave me a free, tourists map with all small roads clearly marked. 

The Natural Bridge and The Gap weren't special but I found there a perfect spot for breakfast with amazing sea views. 

In the late evening I got to Esperance. The Pink Lake lies 3 km from the town but it's clearly marked. Unfortunately, the only thing I could see was a big information board explaining in which circumstances this salt lake is pink. This natural phenomenon is caused by one specific species of green algas and/or some other microorganisms. Lake colour depends on water salinity, temperature, light conditions which allows algas to accumulate the red pigment - beta carotene. Close to The Yabby's Farm, a camping ground where we stopped was another The Warden Lake which was actually more pink that the famous Pink Lake but yet not pink enough.

Welcome to Australia

Near the Gap

Natural Bridge

The Warden Lake

Australia :-)

Visiting the Diamond Tree

2014 February, The Long Trip - Australia

It's time to explore Australia. Perth was the closest destination from Singapore and an obvious choice for someone who wanted to explore this country off the beaten track. It wasn't my first visit to Australia. An inspiration was a pink lake, a natural phenomenon, which I saw on photos ages ago. Perth was the closest international airport to Esperance where you could find unique, pink lakes. Renting a car was the most obvious choice. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in finding any car relocation from Perth to Adelaide/Melbourne. 

After landing at night and spending the rest of it at the airport's chairs I was so tired I managed to drive south up to Bunbury. Luckily, I found one hostel which was still open at 7 pm. The first lesson was learnt. In Australia everything shuts down at 5 pm: all shops, camping grounds, holidays parks, hostel receptions. Bunbury is famous for their dolphin centre and various trips to observe and/or swim with dolphins in the ocean. Unfortunately, all trips left at 7 am and I didn't want to wait to take part in it on the following day. It would be awesome to visit this area when various species of whales visit it. 

Buselton was my next stop on the west Australian coastline. On the way I left the main road to drive through the Ludlow Tuart Forest. It was a fascinating place to explore as those majestic and rare trees were up to 40 meters tall. Besides, I was the only visitor. Buselton is known for its Jetty - the longest, wooden pier in the southern hemisphere. 

On the way to Esperance, I stopped close to Manjimup where you can find an interesting view points on tree tops. What was the most amazing about those places was that you could climbed them on your own risk. The only protection was a metal net on one side. Those enormous Karri trees were up to 52 meters tall. The platforms on tree tops were built as a fire look out and they're still in use nowadays, ie. when weather conditions don't allow to take off any surveillance plane.  Diamond Tree was the one I visited. 

Finally, I stayed overnight near Albany on one camping ground marked on a mobile app, wiki camps for Australia. 

Kangaroos

Going up

The Diamond Tree

On the top

Emu