The salty red earth crunched beneath my feet as I trudged across the dry lake plain towards the crop of rocks. I climbed the mound of earth and rocks, my breathing growing more laboured as I neared the lookout at the top. Reaching the summit I heard Craig exhale “wow”. I smiled and took a deep breath before exhaling as I looked out over the 360 degree view below.

I knew Craig had had reservations about the trip to visit the Antony Gormley installation of sculptures called Inside Australia at Lake Ballard. Located about 180kms north of Kalgoorlie, this is a fair drive for a daytrip but it had been on my bucket list from the start.

Each of the sculptures represents a man, woman or child from the aboriginal tribe of this area.

The natural setting of Lake Ballard is breathtaking and spectacular in it’s own right, but the setting of these sculptures in the middle of the emptiness adds a sense of scale.

After viewing the statues from the top of the mound we came back down the hill and walked out to see a few of them up close. They are spread out over an area covering 10 square kilometres.

The air didn’t seem to move making the temperature of 30 degrees feel very uncomfortable. The sun glared and the heat haze reflected off the earth in the distance. It was easy to see how people could get lost or dehydrated quickly out here.

I may have smirked just a little as Craig agreed with me that this place was definitely worth the visit.

Note

It is possible to camp at Lake Ballard and if we’re out this way again we will.  I reckon the view of the sun setting over the salt lake plain and the shadows of the sculptures stretching out into the distance would be pretty amazing to see.