Waiting for Nature to Move in

Absolute silence on the meltwater lake at the base of the Tasman Glacier surprises West Australia Today’s Elissa Blake, who notes the lack of birds and trees, on “the rough, rocky shores of the lake”, which “appear devoid of life, save for a few grasses and mosses.” “This, says our guide, Martin, as he kits us out in lifejackets stored in a tin shed and shepherds us aboard a pair of bright-yellow, plastic-hulled Mac Boats, is because there is little in the way of fauna and flora here yet. This is newly exposed land, less than 40 years old. Nature hasn’t had time to move in.”