Sitting on a beach on a paradise island off Bali as the orange sun sinks into the horizon, Summer Knight sighs contentedly.

The 25-year-old is mesmerised by the ravishing beauty of Gili Meno and is only too aware that it is thanks to her profession - from which she earns up to $10,000 a week - that she can afford the idyllic Indonesian resort.

Summer is a high-class escort whose doll-like blonde locks, beguiling eyes and affable nature mean she charge $600-a-hour selling sex in Sydney to fund her wistful travels around the globe.

High-class escort: Pretty Summer Knight charges $600-an-hour and can earn up to $10,000 a week selling sex from her home in Millers Point, Sydney, money she uses to fund her travels around the world

Soaking up the sites: The pretty blonde is passionate about travel and has ticked off Darwin, Perth, Cairns, Canberra, the Gold Coast and Hobart from her list of hotspots in Australia, since she arrived ten months ago

'On a good week I can make $10,000 if I work hard,' British-born Summer told Daily Mail Australia, adding: 'I pay my taxes but otherwise every penny I make I get to keep as I don't pay commission to an agency.

'Sex work in Sydney is almost three-and-a-half times more lucrative than in the UK... It's easy and the money's amazing,' she says.

Summer earns ten times the average weekly wage and with prostitution grossing $30 million in Australia annually, according to the Australian Federal Police, she is keen for a slice of the pie.

Excited at the prospect of a fresh start, she arrived as a backpacker on a Working Holiday Visa doing temp work in call centres and as a waitress.

It paid the bills but, consumed by wanderlust, she found she couldn't save enough to travel until she heard on the sex workers' grapevine that pickings are bountiful in the Land of Oz - where the age old trade has been legal in most states since the 1990s.

Dream girl: Summer earns ten times the average weekly wage and with prostitution grossing $30million in Australia annually, according to the Australian Federal Police, she is keen for a slice of the pie

Selling sex in the city proved quickly lucrative thanks to word of mouth on forums and advertising on websites.

In sexually liberal Sydney, brothels, strip clubs and massage parlours abound, but Summer earns enough to work the circuit from the privacy of her riverside home in Millers Point on the edge of the CBD.

The bubbly blonde, from the city of Liverpool, in Britain's north-west, said: 'It took a few months to build up business but I can now make enough money to rent a lovely apartment in a nice area and work privately.

'Guys will pay more if you're prepared to advertise what you look like. I charge $600-an-hour; sometimes it's just a date in a restaurant with a bored businessman and sometimes it's a lot more.'

'Sometimes it's just a date with a bored businessman, sometimes it's more...' Summer offers a range of services and no doubt her doll-like looks help

She added: 'Sex work means I can afford Sydney, it's expensive but I love the lifestyle and I earn enough that it means I can work half the year and travel the rest.

'I have always loved travel, learning about new food, languages and customs. There is something really romantic about being totally alone in a place where nobody knows you or anything about your past, a totally fresh start.'

A former dancer, Summer (her work name) first dabbled in the sex trade in Liverpool three years ago.

'I'm rebellious by nature and always knew from the age of 12 I would try it,' she explained.

'I didn't know anybody in the industry and I just called up an escort agency, a number I saw on a poster in the city centre when I was 18, a number I got from a poster in the city centre, and went for an interview.

'I knew I wasn't ready for it then but I went back three years ago when the time was right.'

In Britain, she earned £150-an-hour ($180), and was obliged to give an agency madame 30 per cent of her takings, three times less than what she makes in Sydney.

A stint travelling around India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Nepal took her away from the sex industry months at a time, until she arrived in Sydney ten months ago and moved into private escorting as Summer Knight.

Backpacking: She arrived in Sydney ten months ago and moved into private escorting as Summer Knight

She has learned 'the hard way' not to fall in love with clients.

'When I worked for an agency in the UK one guy, a gorgeous young pharmacist, always asked for me and I developed feelings for him. We got on really well and the sex was great,' she says.

'I was young and naive and missed him when I hadn't seen him for two weeks.The next time he came back I asked him where he had been and he said he was busy so he asked for one of the other girls.

'I was absolutely devastated that he had been seeing someone else. Now I never let feelings get in the way'.

It is hard to believe such a sweet-natured woman is part of such a profession still largely stigmatised today, even though prostitution is first thought to have appeared in Australia in 1788 at the time of the First Fleet.

Bali beach: Summer takes in the fireball sunset at a tourist hotspot

Another life: Travelling is her passion and enables her to 'start afresh' where no one knows her past

She appears the charming girl-next-door, is softly-spoken and smiles a lot but it becomes quickly apparent she knows her mind.

She charges $600 an hour and thereafter $500, with her advert promising everything from the girlfriend experience to fetish and domination sex.

On a good day, she can earn $2,100 if a client requests four hours but often she will see between two and three men a day; typically taxi drivers, bankers, corporate workers and businessmen on work trips from China, Honk Kong and Singapore, as well as students.

'They don't have to be Brad Pitt,' she says, insisting: 'It makes no difference if they're fat, bald or ugly. It's my job.

Backpacking in Iran: With her girl-next-door looks, it is hard to believe she is part of such a profession still largely stigmatised today

'People come for all different reasons and from all walks of life. I love meeting new people and clients tell me I'm warm and friendly and easy to get along with.

'The guys go for someone who they're going to enjoy being with for an hour and that's not always the prettiest girl.'

Despite the stigma surrounding the profession, Summer says friends and peers have been very supportive of her working in the industry.

She has the support of the Scarlet Alliance, the national sex workers' association, which campaigns for the rights and discrimination of members.

Getting friendly with the wildlife: The animal-lover met a wallaby in Melbourne earlier this year

She said: 'My parents know, they didn't react well at first but I've stuck to my guns with them and told them "this is what I want to do".

'They would rather I did something else but they are proud of me for being able to fend for myself. You know, going home with a drunk man from a night club is dangerous, sex work in Australia is pretty safe because it's decriminalised; I can call the police and they won't judge me if something goes wrong,' she said.

And what of the future?

'Maybe in 10 years I'll start my own business running a cafe, or do something where I'm my own boss. Everything I do is my choice.'