Lake Thetis Walk Trail

On our way back into town we decided to turn off the main road and onto the heavily corrugated track that leads to Hansen Bay Lookout and Lake Thetis. Hansen Bay Lookout provided a different perspective of the town but the wind meant it would only be a quick look for us before moving on to Lake Thetis. The car park and boardwalk for Lake Thetis was redone in 2008 and provides a nice way to see the lake and the biologically/geologically interesting stromatolites without disturbing the fragile environment. An information board highlighting a loop trail peaked my interest but was happy to go along with what everyone else was doing given we had been in the sun for most of the day and some (me) were looking forward to rest time before our astrophotography trip later that night. The main boardwalk leads you down to the edge of the lake through grassy fields known as the algal mat and eventually to one of the highlights of the walk, the stromatolites. These micro bacterial "living rocks" are a unique formation found up and down the Western Australian coast, more famously at Lake Clifton near Mandurah and Hamelin Pool near Shark Bay. Observing the signs we admired them from a distance and read all of the information boards about their formation, the saltiness of the lake and the life that thrives in this isolated ecosystem.

Related to some of the first ever living organisms, these stromatolites have been studied extensively by scientists to get a better understanding of what life was like billions of years ago. Without the information boards you could be forgiven in thinking what all the fuss is about but learning about new things is fun so it was definitely a great experience being out there staring at them in wonder. The group decided that continuing on the loop walk was the way to go so I gladly agreed and we set off into the grassy and flat landscape. Being a summers mid afternoon the conditions were a bit bright for photographing but that didn't detract from the beauty of the landscape. There is something about the limitless feel to the horizon here, made even more apparent by the featureless grassy plains and flatness of the arid lands. The occasional roar of a passing car on Indian Ocean Drive reminded you that you were still close to civilisation and as we exited the boardwalk section and onto the hard sandy track I caught a glimpse of a wildflower that I wasn't expecting. More life appeared just after we rounded a small raised hill that serves as a lookout over the lake when someone spotted a green praying mantis in the middle of the path. It modelled perfectly for us as an array of phones and cameras came out trying to get that non-blurry snapshot for memories sake. 

We were now facing back towards the west and that meant the howling winds were right in our face when we weren't being sheltered by the occasional bit of windswept bush. Much like the lake system of Rottnest Island, the winds were blowing salty foam towards the lakeside grasses and occasionally a bit further as we discovered when one of us would randomly be sprayed with the suds-like substance. The effect was quite cool with a tundra like appearance of snow covered grasses being slightly possible if you ignored the warm air and swathes of green grass elsewhere. Seeking shelter from the winds and the foam we moved on to one of the only patches of trees on the whole loop. Having something else to photograph was a relief and after a detour to a viewing area we discovered the flowering eucalypts were home to a large number of bees, ants and even a colourful butterfly (have only ever seen monarchs on my hikes). In the shade we admired the bees having a grand old time collecting nectar from the summer flowers and watching the almost fluorescent purple ants jockeying for position. Some final sweeping views of the lake set against wide blue skies was the perfect way to finish as we piled back into Newt and set off for the accommodation.