Water colours

Lake Hillier, Middle Island, Western Australia

Nestled photogenically behind a fringe of white sand on Middle Island, 11 kilometres off the south-east coast of Western Australia, Lake Hillier isn’t a place you’d chance upon on a road trip. But its startling bubblegum hue, best seen from the sky on a bright, sunny afternoon or via one of the limited number of cruises to this protected spot in the Recherche Archipelago, makes this 600-metre-long strip of surprise worth a detour. Australia’s briny groundwater means there are more pink lakes here – their tint almost always connected to salinity, algae or brine shrimp – than anywhere else in the world.