Pink Lake Hillier

Pink Lake Hiller

Hiller is the most unusual lake in Australia and perhaps the most amazing in the world. Its main feature is the pink color of the water. The lake is located in southwestern Australia, on Middle Island, one of the 105 small islands that make up the Research Archipelago. Pink Lake is surrounded by sand and eucalyptus forest around its edges.

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Hiller Lake is unique in its own right. Every year, travelers from different countries come to it to see that the water is indeed an unnatural pink color, even when poured into a separate vessel, and to marvel at this creation of nature. The lake is spectacularly bordered by a white belt of salt, and from a bird’s eye view it looks as if it was painted by Monet, who showed his imagination to the fullest, or by Van Gogh, who muted the colors a bit. No wonder that tourists often take photos of the Pink Lake, just being in the air, in order to preserve vivid impressions for life and once again to be convinced of the ingenuity of nature.

Video: Hiller Lake

• Why is the water pink?
• Location of the lake
• History of Pink Lake
• Legend of Lake Hiller

Why is the water pink?

This question comes to mind first of all, it is asked by almost every traveler who has visited this anomalous place. But the answer has not yet been found. Unlike other colored lakes in the world, such as Retba in Senegal and salt ponds in San Francisco Bay, the origin of the pink color of Lake Hiller has not been unequivocally proven.

It was first thought that the color was the result of dye created by Dunaliella and Halobacteria organisms living in salt water bodies. Another hypothesis suggests that the pink color is due to red halophilic bacteria. It was assumed that the reason for the pink color of the water was a combination of a certain salinity of the water and specific microorganisms. But tests carried out in 1950 did not confirm these assumptions. In the following years, a number of studies were also conducted, but the mystery of Lake Hiller remained unsolved, not on a joke to agitate the minds of scientists.

Location of the lake

Lake Hiller is located on the very edge of the Middle Island, separated from the ocean only by a small strip of eucalyptus trees surrounding the body of water on all sides. The evergreen trees provide a magnificent contrast to the landscape, looking especially striking against the pink lake.

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As for the size of the lake, you can not say that it is large. Its width is about 600 meters. Due to its oval shape, the lake is often compared to a fairy tale cake with delicious pink icing.

History of Pink Lake

The first mention of Hiller Lake dates back to 1802. British navigator and hydrographer Matthew Flinders stopped at Middle Island and noticed the unusual lake on his way to Sydney.

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From 1820-1840, seal hunters and whalers stopped on the island, and in the early twentieth century salt was extracted from the rose water. But the resource quickly dried up, and after 6 years salt extraction was stopped. Since then, the lake has not been used for industrial purposes.

The Legend of Lake Hiller

This mysterious place has its own, very beautiful legend explaining the pink color of the water. It is known to few navigators and rare travelers.

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In the XVII century in the waters surrounding the island, a ship was caught in a strong storm and sank. The only surviving sailor was thrown out onto uninhabited land. Fighting the elements injured him badly. Because of his broken limbs, every movement was painful, and foraging for food was torture. After a few weeks, maddened by pain, loneliness and hopelessness, he exclaimed: “I would sell my soul to the devil if this nightmare would stop!” Just then a man emerged from the shade of a neighboring tree with two jugs in his hands: one contained blood and the other milk. He walked leisurely to the small inner lake of the island and said: “The blood will help you forget what pain is. The milk will relieve your hunger. All you have to do is dip yourself in these waters.” The stranger then poured the contents of the jars into the lake, causing it to change color. The sailor, who thought he had gone mad, walked slowly into the suspicious pink water and dived in, and when he surfaced, the strange stranger was nowhere to be found. To the traveler’s surprise, there was no trace of the broken bones and the feeling of hunger. Later, pirates landed on the island and took the poor sailor prisoner. Later, the pirates were alarmed by the fact that the captive felt no pain and did not need food. Considering this a bad sign, the superstitious pirates threw the sailor overboard, not believing in his mystical story of healing. By the way, that the original name of the lake “Hiller” in pronunciation is absolutely consonant with the English word “Healer”, which translates as “Healer”.