Lake Bumbunga, the salt lake in South Australia that features seasonal color changes and its very own monster.

2 min read

2 years ago Nathan

As you drive along the hot and windy highway north of Adelaide, Australia, it is hard to miss the bright pink shoreline of lake Bumbunga, also known as the pink lake, even though It is not exactly an unusual sight in this part of the world.
A regular salt lake known for its seasonal changes in color, it has been mined for salt since 1881 and attracts its number of tourists.
But don’t expect it to always be a bubble gum pink colour you see in the some posts, because the colour of the lake changes depending on the seasons, the weather, amount of rain, cloud cover, salinity levels in the water and the time of day. If you’re lucky, it might be a fairy floss pink, while orher times it may be white, greyish, brown or blue.
Either way, into the town of Lochiel, nothing seems amiss.

Nothing….until far in the distance, you see a black, snake-like form appearing from the lake bed.
You might think your brain is deceiving you after your car journey, or perhaps the searing heat is forming a mirage.
But as you pull into the carpark and follow the path to the lookout, you see it clear.
Right there, in isolated South Australia, far from its rumored home in Scotland, NESSIE!
Well, more or less.
Her close relative goes by a different name, the Lochiel Monster, sometimes spelled Loch-Eel.
The sea monster made from an assortment of scraps, including old tires and pipes, has sat proudly in Lake Bumbunga for more than 30 years, and claims the northern end of the lake.
The legend of the Loch Eel dates back to the 1800s, and sculpture’s appearance in the lake is shrouded in mystery, as it seems to have moved in overnight.
The myth of a Lochiel monster is part of the local folklore and dates back to the 1800s, and it is linked to a bullock team that disappeared in the lake’s treacherous sands after allegedly being spooked by something.