Wicked Sour Watermelon Gummies and the Pink Lake That Shouldn't Exist
You are flying low over the south coast of Western Australia, skimming eucalyptus canopy, and then the pilot banks left and you see it: a lake the color of bubblegum. Not sunset-pink. Not "if you squint" pink. Full, saturated, almost offensive pink, ringed by bone-white salt crust and deep green scrub, sitting right next to the steel-blue Southern Ocean like it has absolutely nothing to apologize for. Your brain says impossible. The lake does not care. Welcome to Lake Hillier, and welcome aboard the most electric leg of the Orchard Airways route map.
Open your bag. Pop a Wicked Sour Watermelon gummy. Let that tart-electric hit do its thing. This flight pairs perfectly.
Why Wicked Sour Watermelon Gummies Belong at This Destination
Lake Hillier sits on Middle Island, the largest island in the Recherche Archipelago, about 130 kilometers west of Esperance. The pink color is real, it is permanent, and it does not wash off when you take a sample. Scientists believe a combination of halophilic (salt-loving) bacteria and algae, particularly Dunaliella salina, produce carotenoid pigments that stain the brine a shade that looks like someone dissolved a giant piece of watermelon candy into the water. The lake has been this color since at least 1802, when British explorer Matthew Flinders described it and was clearly very confused about it.
The Wicked Sour Watermelon gummies carry that same energy: the color and flavor that arrive before your brain catches up. Tart on the front, sweet underneath, electric from the first second. These are hemp-derived Delta-9 THC gummies, 21+ only, and they are the carry-on snack this destination absolutely demands. Grab them from the Orchard shop before you board.
The Local Moves: How to Actually See Lake Hillier
- • Skip the tour boat. Charter the floatplane. The standard experience is a scenic flight from Esperance that circles the lake and turns around. Fine. But the Orchard Airways local move is to charter a floatplane that lands on the adjacent lagoon, hikes the salt flat rim at golden hour, and gets you close enough to dip your hand in water the color of raspberry lemonade. The lake is not open for swimming due to conservation rules, but standing at the edge while the Southern Ocean roars behind you is a sensory experience that needs no amplification.
- • Time your arrival for mid-morning light. The pink is always there, but under a high, clear Australian sun it goes almost neon. Overcast days flatten the hue to a dusty rose. Mid-morning, the color is at its most absurd and most beautiful.
- • Stay in Esperance, not Perth. Perth is a four-hour drive. Esperance is a twenty-minute flight from the archipelago and has the added benefit of being genuinely lovely, with some of the whitest sand and clearest turquoise water in the country. Lucky Bay, just outside town, is where kangaroos camp on the beach. Actual kangaroos. On the beach. You are not dreaming.
- • Combine it with the Cape Le Grand circuit. The national park east of Esperance has peaks with 360-degree views of islands, inlets, and coastal scrub. Hellfire Bay is a twenty-minute walk from the road and almost no one is ever there. This is the Orchard move: the cove the tour vans cannot reach.
- • Bring the gummies for the floatplane ride back. Nowhere better. The lake below you going pink in the late light, the Southern Ocean going silver, and that tart-sweet hit landing right on schedule. The scenery and the snack are competing for best-in-show and it is genuinely too close to call.
When to Fly
Western Australia's south coast is best from November through April, when the Southern Hemisphere summer keeps skies clear and temperatures warm without the brutal inland heat. The lake is pink year-round, but summer light is longer and brighter, which means more time at the rim and a better shot at that neon-pink-from-the-air moment. Pack light layers for the sea breeze. Bring sunscreen. Bring water. Bring the gummies.
If you want to nerd out on what makes hemp-derived Delta-9 THC gummies different from everything else in your carry-on, the Orchard Journal has the full science-lounge breakdown worth reading before you land.
Book the Flight
The Wicked Sour Watermelon gummies are your boarding pass for this one. Tart, electric, genuinely surprising, and exactly as vivid as the destination. Lake Hillier is proof that the most impossible-looking things are sometimes the most real. These gummies are boarding now. Carry-on only. No checked bags required.
These products are intended for adults 21 and older. Do not operate a vehicle or heavy machinery after consuming hemp-derived THC products. Keep out of reach of children. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Hemp-derived Delta-9 THC products may not be legal in all states. Check your local laws before purchasing.