On a recent road trip from Perth to Kalbarri, we came across one of the strangest, funniest and bizarre things I have ever seen.
At Northampton, we took the coastal road towards Port Gregory and drove past an enormous pink lake which definitely needed more investigation. We needed to get to our accommodation in Kalbarri and we decided we would stop at the pink lake on the way back to Perth, after doing some research about it.
We discovered that the pink lake is actually called Hutt Lagoon and the pink hue is created by bacteria (Dunaliella Salina), which becomes trapped in the salt granules and appears pink. Conditions need to be right for it to be pink and the time of day, time of year and cloud cover are all factors. When the conditions are right, it can be a vivid pink and when the conditions change, the lake changes colour throughout the pink spectrum. There are other pink lakes throughout WA and you may be familiar with them, but this one had an addition we were not expecting.
The large lake stretches 5 kilometres alongside George Grey Drive around 60 kilometres from Kalbarri. It will be on your right-hand side (Kalbarri to Perth) and hard to miss. There are no lookouts or stopping places so perhaps not an attraction, but we wanted to have a closer look.
At the tip of the lake, there is a road junction and we turned right on Port Gregory Road and drove along the other side of the lake. There is the small township of Port Gregory at the end of the road, around a five-minute drive and it was when we were nearing Port Gregory just after a bend that I saw a fisherman sitting at the edge of the lake.
We turned round at Port Gregory and on the way back to the main road, I said I wanted to stop and ask the fisherman what he could possibly be trying to catch in the lake. With all the bacteria, I couldn't think why he would be fishing there.
There was a stopping place close to him and I got out and walked towards him. As I was getting nearer, all was not as it seemed. I thought he looked like he was watching TV whilst fishing and then needed to get up close to see what was going on.
The 'fisherman' was sitting in a chair with a makeshift stubby holder, 'watching' TV whilst 'fishing'. Bizarre!
His head was an old buoy, his body a hi-vis jacket with a life vest and he was enjoying the views, listening to music through headphones and watching the TV!
It made my day and made us all laugh! We were there on a cloudy day and the pinkness was quite faint in the rather dry, salt-rich lake which was disappointing, but the 'fisherman' cheered us all up and made the journey worthwhile.
When you are that way next, see if you can spot The Fisherman at Hutt Lagoon. He should become a tourist attraction in his own right!
Have you seen 'The Fisherman at Hutt Lagoon'? Comment below if you have!