John McDouall Stuart at Willaroo Lagoon
Willaroo Lagoon as seen by John McDouall Stuart.
On his 1858 trip of exploration, John McDouall Stuart covered 2400km over four months. Three men on horse back.
John McDouall Stuart would have taken in a vista, pretty much unchanged from this as he overlooked Willaroo Lagoon, not far from Andamooka Waterhole, in outback South Australia.
Of course, there’s no indication as to exactly where Stuart spelled his horse and gazed out over the great expanse of iron stone and salty mud flats with the slate cliffs in the background. From his description, the spot may have been within a few hundred metres or even right at this spot, with its hungry ironstone cliff edge glistening in the subdued sunlight.
John McDouall Stuart’s journal entry for Monday 21 June, 1858, states:
At eleven miles we came upon a salt lagoon (Wealaroo) two miles long by one broad. From the north end of it, on a bearing of 55 degrees, one mile and a half will strike Andamoka.
On the western side of Willaroo Lagoon, the cliffs are of slate in colours ranging through grey, blue, green and brown.
Just wait till you hear the story and see the photo of the old stockmans hut at Wirrda Wells. This hut uses the slate from Willaroo Lagoon.
John McDouall Stuart at Willaroo Lagoon on Wilderness Travel
