| On safari-- wildlife and nature photos |
 Lake Gairdner- evening storm. Click to enlarge | Awesome salt lakes |  From Lake Gairdner's hills. Click to enlarge |
Large areas of the arid and semi-arid inland of Australia are covered by salt lakes...mostly dry, sometimes wet, occasionally flooded. They're in endorheic or closed basins, with no outflow to rivers or oceans. Water escapes only by evaporation and seepage
The photographs on this page feature salt lakes in the hot dry north of South Australia. The originals are mostly medium format transparencies, with some 35mm slides
 | ...midday glare on tiny Lake Johnstone |
But the salt lakes are not just about harshness. They often present a myriad of pastel tones, from cloud-shadows and reflections off the moisture of recent rain to the earthy stains left by the richly-coloured waterborne and wind-blown outback soils which surround them
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| Cloud shadows, Island Lagoon east | Nature's stains, Lake Johnstone | Riot of colour, Island Lagoon north | Hilltop Triodia, Lake Gairdner |
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| Rocky shore, Lake Gairdner south | Leaning acacia, Island Lagoon north | Daybreak, Lake Gairdner south |
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| Sky mirrors ground, Island Lagoon north | Salt patterns, Lake Gairdner south | Broad daylight, Lake Gairdner south |
Signs of settlement: decaying fencelines close to lake shores are reminders of the decades of pastoral use the outback lands have been subjected to. And the transcontinental railway is a symbol of those who just pass through fleetingly and absorb little or nothing of the colour and atmosphere of the harsh expanses
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| Fenceline, Lake Gairdner south | Morning light, Lake Johnstone | The track, Lake Hart | Evening, Lake Gairdner south |
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| Dune, Island Lagoon | Panorama, Lake Gairdner south | Cloud vista, Lake Hart | Dune, Lake Gairdner south |
The lakes are surrounded by life, some of which ventures on to the surface at times. Scorpions patrol the surface close to shore at night, for flies, moths, spiders and other prey. On Lake Gairdner's shore, the little Painted dragon in the next series of photographs is digging a burrow in which to lay her eggs; she finishes her arduous task at the end of a long hot day, and carefully fills the hole in until there's no sign of her work. She leaves her offspring to hatch without further involvement from her
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| Painted dragon digging | A safety check | Fat with eggs | Taking a break |
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| Filling in the burrow | Work still to be done | Job nearly finished | Job well done |
Start your African safari or look at other Australian pages: Birds , Kangaroo Island ,the River Murray , the Adelaide Hills , Victoria, Wildlife carers, or Papua New Guinea
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