I loaded up the pictures for this about six weeks ago and have been sitting on them ever since, unable to write another blog post because I wanted to finish this one, but stuck. I've got lots of other Central Australia stuff to blog about so I need to get on with it!
And I have just been to my first Geelong Fibre Forum and have lots of things to say about that too!
Lake Hart, South Australia, near Woomera. It was the site of salt mining up until the 1930s and the salt was taken by rail on the Trans Continental Line to Sydney for domestic and industrial use. It was supposed to be twice as 'salty' as other salt, and free of gypsum.
This pictures show a huge pile of bags of salt (7,00 tons originally, though I;m sure some of that has dissolved and disintegrated) that had just been left in situ since 1931 in the sun (and occasional rain). It is an astonishing sight, similar to an industrial ruin that had sunk into the landscape and taken on an organic form. The hessian bags have largely rotted away but have left their imprint on the salt, and are the reason for the odd drapey shapes in the pile.
The railway line is still there though the trains don't go there any more, obviously.
Amazing skies over a dead flat landscape - taken over the lake.
Salt. It wasn't until I tasted it that I believed it was salt, it must have melted and resolidified countless times over the decades.
It was a haunting landscape and a poignant reminder of the death of a once lucrative industry.
1 comment:
Oh yes that is weird and ghostly. Down our West Coats we have ghost towns that used to be huge. It is a little bit sad. I am not sure I would have tasted the salt!!
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