ISLANDS

JOEL ROBINSON

A piece of paradise Buying your own island is the ultimate property move – but it will cost you

Islands on Australia’s eastern seaboard are globally recognised as among the world’s most idyllic. There’s something special about those located in the Great Barrier Reef, but they don’t come cheap. The leading Whitsunday tourist hotspot Hamilton Island was bought from developer Keith Williams for $200 million in 2003 by the Oatley wine family, who continue with their remarkable transformation of the holiday favourite.

The most recent major sale, that of Dunk Island, occurred late last year when it was transferred for $32 million, although the improvement schedule proposed by James Mawhinney’s Mayfair 101 remains in doubt.

Through the years owners have included the OzEmail founder Sean Howard, who bought Double Island in 2000 for $4.5 million and sold it in a rundown state to the Hong Kongbased property tycoon Benny Wu in 2012.

Computershare founder Chris Morris owns the Northern Escapes Collection, which includes the tropical Orpheus Island, which he bought for $6.25 million in 2011.

Now there’s another opportunity to secure an island resort on the picturesque Great Barrier Reef. Elysian Eco Retreat on Long Island, one of a handful of truly luxury oceanfront resorts in the Whitsundays, has been listed for sale following a fresh upgrade. Of course there’s no inspection to anyone outside of Queensland given the state’s tight border controls. Owners Wayne and Laureate Rumble, who run the Sojourn Retreats collection that includes Pumpkin Island in the Keppel Islands, completed its update just over a year ago.

The pair bought it in 2017 when it was the Paradise Bay Eco Resort, hit hard by Cyclone Debbie. They have since created a luxury retreat that is the first solar-powered resort on the Great Barrier Reef, with new solar energy-generated infrastructure for electricity, water and waste systems installed.

Elysian, on the southern point of Long Island, is set in a 3ha private cove with a rocky beach, surrounded by rainforest. The full renovation included an update to all 10 of its oceanfront villas, which feature 4.5m vaulted ceilings and private beachfront balconies.

The hub of the retreat is the Great House, where guests dine. There’s a commercial kitchen adjoining the restaurant, a lounge area and a library. Around the Great House is the spa

Clockwise from below: The wet-edge pool at Elysian Eco Retreat; aerial view of the villas; the Masekela bedroom

treatment centre, and an oceanfront magnesium wet-edge swimming pool surrounded by timber decks and outdoor seating. There’s also self-contained staff quarters.

There’s no airport, just a helipad that can be reached in six minutes from Hamilton Island’s Great Barrier Reef Airport. Alternatively, a boat takes 20 minutes from Hamilton Island’s Super Yacht Marina and can dock in the 16m deep mooring.

There’s a push to sell the property from the US, with Dolly Lenz Real Estate New York (see page 18) marketing the retreat to their American clients. Lenz, who has the listing with daughter Jenny and colleague Adam Vanderbrook, says their clients are always looking for value and extraordinary properties such as Elysian Retreat.

“Jenny and I have covered Australian real estate for several years and now more than ever Australian properties are on our radar; particularly those properties that offer privacy and security,” Lenz says.

Lynn Malone and Barbara Wolveridge at Queensland Sotheby’s have the listing locally, asking $8.75 million. Malone calls it a oncein-a-generation offering in a storybook oceanfront cove.