A couple of days ago we packed the campervan and headed off on a 2200kms trip from Melbourne to Alice Springs.  This trip is becoming a bit of a annual event, were we head off joining hundreds of grey nomads on the annual migration to warmer weather over winter.  In our case we work over winter in Central Australia, making the most of day temps in the high 20’s to work on our tan and escape Melbourne’s gloomy winter days.

The drive is kind of fun, we have done it often enough to have our regular spots, Jitter Bean Oasis at  Lochiel, 130kms past Adelaide towards Port August is a favourite.  Do not bother eating at anywhere else, they have the most amazing homemade pies, frittata’s and big breakfasts.  This drive I had the Chicken Korma pie, ahhhhmazing.  chunks of chicken breast, thick korma sauce and yummy pastry.  Will had the Green Chicken Curry version and the same look as me on his face, so I assume that it was good to.  We also scored a huge veggie frittata to have at Lake Hart in the evening at our overnight stop.

Only 180kms past Port Augusta, near Woomera, Lake Hart it is a great spot to roadside camp and enjoy the Lake at Sunrise and Sunset.  There are no facilities available, so you must be self sufficient.  Good spots also go early, so make sure you try to arrive by mid afternoon if you can.  Lake Hart is a massive inland salt lake, a crust about 7cms thick of white salt crystals.

Lake Hart was originally identified as a potentially valuable salt mining site in 1918, when surveyors estimated a potential yield of 300 million tons of salt from the 61 square mile lake.  The Commonwealth Salt Refining Company began mining in earnest and over 50 men camped at Lake Hart harvesting the salt and refining it.  The salt from Lake Hart is free of gypsum, which is quite rare.  In 1931 salt harvesting ceased at the Lake, mainly due to issues with the sites isolation.

Now, you can still see the skeletons of old industry at the site, slowly being buried in a salty crust.  The sunrise and sunsets are magnificent, at night the trains rumble past and occasional lights from Woomera can be seen.