Most people just drive the Stuart Hwy without event looking out the window or leaving their air conditioned car. They don’t see the strange and colorful landscapes around them, they just try to get to the next town as fast as they can. How can anyone do that when the journey is so amazing? Yes the landscape can be monotonous and sometimes even boring, but the size of it makes it exceptional. And you can’t argue against a few stops along the way just to wander around and get a glimpse of the remote places you are getting through.

And one of those stops is the Lake Hart Lookout between Port Augusta and Coober Pedy, not far from Pimba. The rest area has a shade shelter, some picnic tables and you can camp here for the night. But the rest area is not the selling point here. You’ll have to walk down a bit and cross the railway (beware of the trains, this is where the famous Ghan passes, but also a lot of freight transport), or go under by the small tunnel. And after a few hundred meters of walking you’ll be at the heart of Lake Hart (!).

In the dry season the surface is firm, but if there is water on the lake it may be muddy. But wait, with water on the surface the lake is just the most amazing thing you will see, reflecting the sun and the clouds on a smooth water.

If you can’t go see the Eyre, Torrens or Frome lakes (these are just gigantic, Lake Hart is a small puddle compared to them), then a stop and a short stroll to Lake Hart shore will give you an insight of what those wonderful outback salt lakes might look like.