Off the Beaten Path - State of Western Australia Travel Guide

Lake Ballard is about as far Off the Beaten Path as you could imagine. The "lake" is a vast salt pan, no different from scores of such places to be found here in Western Australia - but there is something here that makes this place truly extraordinary.

British sculptor, Antony Gormley's installation of no less than 51 sculptures is spread out over 7 sq km of the lake near the tiny town of Menzies. Local people were the models. His intent was to bring together two notions of the "interior" - human and the heart of Australia.

Out at the lake, the silence and emptiness is profound.
The lake's surface is very tricky to walk on in places - a thin crust on top of very sticky mud, firm enough to walk on but you have to be very careful not to slip. At the lake's edge the salt shows itself just as tiny pinpricks of brilliantly sparkling light. The further out you go, the thicker and firmer the salt layer gets, until you're walking on a blinding white solid crust that crunches underfoot. The horizon is a broken band of mirage. Where the crust is soft enough to leave footprints you can see the tracks of those who've been before you - people, kangaroos and the odd dingo.

The sculptures all stand in isolation - some looking back to the lake's edge, others gazing into the far distance. As you walk towards one you see others in the distance - but they seem almost insubstantial and with the dazzling light it's hard to tell whether what you're looking at is figure or figment.

The figures are a bit smaller than life size, and despite being reduced to essential elements. each on is absolutely recognizable as an individual. I'm still pondering on what I made of it all. I know I found it a really intense experience, and I know I'm definitely going again - next year, a little earlier - it got very hot out on the salt even at this stage of late winter. I want to camp out there, at the time of a full moon, so I can see the lake in that light, see it at sunset and again at daybreak.

Off the Beaten Path in State of Western Australia

State of Western Australia Off the Beaten Path

Visiting State of Western Australia?

Visiting State of Western Australia?