Each issue Australian Traveller captures a stunning Aussie location. This time, we look at Rottnest Island off the WA coast. Photo by Eugene Tan  What a top spot for a dip. This is Little Parakeet Bay, a gorgeous sandy cove on the northern coast of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. The island is one of Australia’s most pristine and picturesque (you can get here by ferry or boat and hire a bike to get around), but it’s also at the mercy of the “Freo Doctor”, or Fremantle Doctor, a wild wind that blasts the West Australian coast.

“You’ve never felt a wind like it,” says Eugene “Uge” Tan, Australia’s most popular surf photographer, who took this shot a few years back; “but Little Parakeet Bay is on the other side of the island, and it’s sheltered so it’s always swimmable. It also has a protective reef which acts like a natural shark net. It’s a family-friendly beach and really beautiful – on a hot summer’s day you’d think you were in the Greek islands.”
Uge grew up in WA and says when he and his mates sat on headlands overlooking beaches like this they thought, “This is how the world is.” Although he’s since found out that’s not strictly true, he spends his time chasing equally dazzling locations as a professional photographer. After relocating to Bondi Beach, Uge’s career started by emailing his friends pictures of the early-morning surf conditions. His subscriber base has now expanded to 40,000 people, who welcome a daily dose of Aussie sunshine, and his job takes him to some of the most amazing beaches in the world. Wish you were him?
You can subscribe to Uge’s daily email at aquabumps.com.au. Visit his gallery at 151 Curlewis St, Bondi Beach, NSW. (02) 9130 7788.
To find out more about Rottnest Island, go to rottnestisland.com
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