People are mesmerised by the return of this disappearing lake

The crystal clear, aqua blue waters of the tarn are quite the sight.
 By 
Johnny Lieu
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Nestled deep in the mountains of southern Tasmania in Australia, the Disappearing Tarn is sought after by photographers and intrepid hikers.

As the name suggests, the tarn isn't always there, but recent heavy rainfall in the region has given it new life.

Photographer and blogger James Spencer visited the spot on Saturday, which is only accessible by a 6.5 kilometre (4.04 mile) hike up the mountain.

"There really was only one place to go for a walk when the weekend rolled around," Spencer wrote in a blog post.

"We reached the fabled tarn and were excited to see how high it was. Certainly a LOT higher than in the photos from the original blog post I wrote two years ago."

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

While the adventure is perhaps part of the appeal, the crystal clear, aqua blue waters of the tarn are also quite the sight.

A tarn is a lake or pool that's formed when a cirque on a mountain is filled with water from run-off or a glacier. It's unclear how this one exactly occurs, but happens in heavy rainfall, and is generally associated with more easterly weather and east coast lows, according to the ABC.

"I've never been there, I've never seen it, I've just heard people talk about it in bushwalking terms that there is this lake you can visit at certain times after heavy rain," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Matthew Thomas told the news outlet.

"I would assume that it's possibly something to do with the fact there's a slight depression that fills up with water when there's large amounts of rainfall up there."

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Johnny Lieu

Mashable Australia's Web Culture Reporter.Reach out to me on Twitter at @Johnny_Lieu or via email at jlieu [at] mashable.com

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