Pink Lake in western Victoria has always provided.

For one local family, the first salt they harvested from the lake helped their farm survive a drought. For Wotjobaluk people, it provides an important connection to country.

For everyone else, it sets a scene for beautiful images — one where the blues and greens of Australia's landscape make room for another colour.

Bushland separates the pink glow of the salt lake and the blue of the sky over country Victoria. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

Then, of course, there's the salt

Before processing, salt from Pink Lake in Dimboola is harvested and collected in bins. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

Pink Lake provides a source of minerals and flavour in the salt that crusts across its surface.

In April, it's time for harvest, so food producer Mount Zero Olives works in partnership with locals to move as much salt as it will need for a year from the lake's surface to its factory in Melbourne.

Why is Pink Lake pink? There's a red algae present in Dimboola's Pink Lake and together with the solid white salt bed, it creates a pink hue

There's a red algae present in Dimboola's Pink Lake and together with the solid white salt bed, it creates a pink hue Sometimes it's a bright rosy pink, others it's a light salmon. It all depends on the amount of rain

Sometimes it's a bright rosy pink, others it's a light salmon. It all depends on the amount of rain After a large downpour, fresh nutrients wash into the lake, "which in turn trigger the growth of algae", according to Parks Victoria

For the harvest, there's no machinery in sight. It's all done by hand.

With shovels and buckets, a small team make shallow cuts into the lake's surface and scrape the salty sludge into bins ready for processing.

Mount Zero Olives is owned by Neil and Jane Seymour.

Their promise is to: "Only harvest what we need."

"We're harvesting probably the best quality salt you can find anywhere in the world," Mr Seymour said.

This year, the harvest will yield 20 tonnes of salt. When it began nine years ago, Mr Seymour, 74, needed "quite a lot more" to "set up a bit of a bank".

There is a promise to look after Pink Lake because there is a feeling it has looked after the community.

The lake is just outside Dimboola — about a four-hour drive north-west of Melbourne. The town's main street is like an abandoned movie set; beautiful old facades, but not much activity.

In a tough farming environment, the lake provides a lifeline to the town by giving people a reason to visit. For the Seymours, the salt was once a lifeline too.

"Out at the farm, we were in a serious drought for 14 years. By 2006, we'd had six inches of rain for the whole year. We had no olives, there were no crops — nothing survived," Ms Seymour, 71, said.

"The only thing that I thought was sustainable was the salt."

Ms Seymour wanted to focus on salt because it was a resource that could be naturally replenished.

That idea started a two-year approval process, working with government and the Barengi Gadjin Land Council to come to an agreement to make the harvest happen.

Pink Lake salt is collected by hand and moved in bins. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

In this raw form, the salt is pink because of red algae present in the lake. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

The deal is that the harvest employs local Aboriginal people and a royalty is paid to the land council for every kilogram of salt that is extracted.

Harvest worker Paul Britten, 34, has been there from the beginning.

"I always put my hand up for it. I always look forward to coming out each year. Always enjoy it," he said.

The lake fills from both rain and an aquifer below so the salt is constantly being replenished, but at this time of year, conditions for harvesting are right; they're mild enough to work, but dry enough for salt to form.

Although the novelty of working out on Pink Lake "doesn't wear off", the annual harvest is tough.

"It's not easy, but how could you not be enraptured by a place that is just so beautiful? How could you be so lucky as to work out here?" Mr Seymour said.

"I get passionate about things like that."

It's a passion he shares with traditional owner and Wotjobaluk woman Aunty Hazel McDonald.

Neil Seymour from Mount Olives and traditional owner Aunty Hazel McDonald share a desire to see salt harvesting on Pink Lake continue. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

'It keeps our connection just a little bit stronger'

Aunty Hazel said her father and uncles gathered salt on Pink Lake.

"Every TO (traditional owner) comes here to look and see the beauty of it," she said.

"[There are] a lot of memories because my brothers … are well gone now — the people who started off this gathering of salt.

"I'd like to see this go on well long after I'm gone."

Wotjobaluk elder Aunty Hazel McDonald and Brett Harrison from the Barengi Gadjin Land Council on Pink Lake just outside of Dimboola. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

Brett Harrison, 32, from the Barengi Gadjin Land Council said for his people, there were "a lot of stories and connections that are associated with Pink Lake".

"In terms of keeping the momentum going and following on from elders who have passed on that have been associated with the salt harvest, I think that's a really special connection for us as a people," he said.

"To see it still going keeps our connection just a little bit stronger."

The book Salt of the Earth by Victorian-based writer and researcher Peter S Evans explores the history of Pink Lake, noting "the creation story for Pink Lake has unfortunately been lost", but elders believe it "must have been a spiritual place".

During the mid-1800s, European settlement changed the landscape of the region. The book's account of its history said Aboriginal people were "forced to the very margins of existence".

It was in the early 1860s that the first evidence of systematic salt collection began. Since then, there have been many industrial salt harvesting operations on Pink Lake.

Rusted-out relics of a mining operation long closed down are scattered around the lake's edges as reminders of its history.

Rusted equipment sits on the edge of Pink Lake as a reminder of mining operations long closed. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

Being part of Pink Lake's modern story is something Mr Seymour "treasures".

"This lake has been … harvested excessively in the past. We're very gentle in how we go about it and Barengi Gadjin Land Council people are sensitive to that," he said.

"Hopefully we develop and maintain their trust in us. It's pretty simple really."

Mr Harrison: "I think the current operation is not harming the lake at all. [The aim is to] minimise harm, but everyone gets maximised gain out of the best salt in the world."

Australia produces a lot of salt

The 20 tonnes extracted from Pink Lake each year is a small fraction of the amount Australia's salt industry produces every year.

You want to take your own Pink Lake shots? Fair enough. To get to Pink Lake, you've got to drive a little past Dimboola (or Dimmy) which is just outside Horsham in Victoria's north-west. You'll pull off the highway and park in a lane that hosts a slow but steady stream of tourists. There are toilets on site, but pack water. From Melbourne, you're looking at a four to five-hour drive. Worth it.

Australia is the biggest exporter of salt in the world, but most of that will never be consumed.

Market monitor Ibis World recently took a look at Australia's salt market and reported:

Of the 12.2 million tonnes of salt expected to be produced in Australia in 2017-18, only a small fraction will be used in food manufacturing

Of the 12.2 million tonnes of salt expected to be produced in Australia in 2017-18, only a small fraction will be used in food manufacturing Most of the salt produced in Australia is supplied to the chemical industry

"In 2016-17, Australian table salt exports were $5.2 million, accounting for less than 2 per cent of Australia's total salt exports," analyst James Thomson said.

At the other end of the market, gourmet and small-batch salt producers were "experiencing rising demand".

Mr Thomson said that demand was driven by growth in the restaurant industry and consumers "becoming increasingly conscious about the quality and origins of their produce".

Richard Seymour works with his parents as operations manager at Mount Zero Olives.

"We're not a commodity producer, nor do we seek to be a commodity producer," he said.

"We want to celebrate this region's produce and at the moment that's ending up on great restaurant and cafe tables. It's not used in big manufacturing environments."

Pink Lake Salt starts here. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

Often pink tinge fades during processing. The red algae is believed to be safe to consume, but can affect curing or food production that uses the salt. ( ABC News: Linsey Rendell )

That arrangement suits Aunty Hazel. It means a little part of her country that is present in her childhood memories and that she shares with her grandchildren, is experienced by others too.

"I think we should be pretty proud of it," she said.

"It's good to see it's taken off. Hopefully it keeps going … into overseas markets."

Pink Lake Salt ends up in commercial kitchens, but also in Australian homes, with several retail products being stocked across the country.

Mr Harrison from the land council would like to see his people's stake increase.

"I think it's important the harvest continues with the partnership," he said.

"It's been going on for generations and it's still continuing today so in terms of a culture, it's still embedded in who we are and what we do.

"As we grow as a community, we want to take on a bit more responsibility with the harvest and get into the sales side a bit more."

There is a lot of trust in this partnership

Traditional owners need to trust Mount Zero Olives will continue to respect the land and that they'll receive a fair share of its spoils.

And the producers need to trust they'll be allowed to return to Pink Lake every year as they build their business.

At the heart of the deal, is the salt itself. Ms Seymour believes, once again, it's playing the role of provider.

"I feel salt brings out the best in food as well as the best in people," she said.