A bubblegum-pink lake separated from the deep blue Southern Ocean by a narrow strip of eucalyptus forest. Unlike other pink lakes, its color persists even in a glass of water.
You can only reach it by small aircraft or boat. From above, the lake appears to be filled with strawberry milkshake — a vivid, saturated pink pressed against the indifferent blue of the Southern Ocean, divided by a paper-thin strip of white sand and green forest.
Scientists believe the color comes from a combination of halophilic algae called Dunaliella salina, which produces carotenoid pigments, and halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts. Unlike other pink lakes that lose their color when bottled, Lake Hillier stays pink.
Matthew Flinders, the British navigator who first documented it in 1802, described it in his journal with barely-contained amazement. The lake has not yet given up all its secrets.