Ballina – Lake Ainsworth

Lennox Head is a small village about ten minutes north of Ballina. Located here, is an amazing natural lake. It’s just metres from the ocean, but it’s fresh water. Better still, it has the colour of a cup of English breakfast tea!

The colour of the water is caused by the dyes leaching out of the leaves of the tea trees that grow along the banks of the lake. It’s a natural perched fresh water lake, which is very unusual. The lakes on Fraser Island are similar, but much more famous. Lake Ainsworth is brown though, which is very unusual.

The water of the lake was long held to have special properties. People would bathe in it and report coming out feeling refreshed, revived and generally very relaxed. It was also renowned for doing amazing things to your hair. It was supposed to make your hair amazingly soft and clean.

All this started to change a few years ago. People were attracted to the lake as a holiday destination. A caravan park was built and trees and reeds were removed from the shore to make it more tourist friendly. This has had some pretty dire affects on the lake.

The lake is still brown, but it’s not as deep as it used to be. Worst still, due to leaching fertilisers from the surrounding area, every summer, the lake suffers from a toxic blue-green algae bloom, which makes it unfit for swimming. This is a classic example of how people drawn to an area have ended up ruining it!

Not all is lost, however. There’s now a management plan in place which has resulted in a lot of the natural vegetation being regrown around the lake. This has reduced the access, but should ensure the survival of the lake for future generations.

Despite the problems, the lake is still a great place to visit. There’s lots of barbecue areas around the shore, as well as sailing and canoeing down one end. If you get sick of the fresh water, the surf beach is a three minute walk away.

Lake Ainsworth is a unique natural attraction in the area. It’s a great place to spend a lazy afternoon in the sun.