082 VIRGIN AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2017
PHOTOGRAPHYALAMY, AARON JONES, GETTY IMAGES, RENEE DEBONDT, WILL WARDLEGETTING THERE TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHT
TO ANY OF THESE DESTINATIONS, VISIT
WWW.VIRGINAUSTRALIA.COM OR CALL
13 67 89 (IN AUSTRALIA).TIWI ISLANDS
NTFROM TOP Tiwi
Islanders take
advantage of
local fish — best in
croc-free spots;
the abundant and
mostly unspoilt
natural environment
is deeply connected
to the local people
and their art; live like
a gourmet castaway
on Haggerstone
Island, with its
delicious produce
and remote location.HAGGERSTONE
ISLAND
QLDSometimes you can judge how special
a destination is by how long it takes you
to travel there. Haggerstone Island, 600
kilometres north of Cairns, is accessible
only by private plane, and is as rugged as
the surrounding waters are unspoilt.
“The thing I love is the complete
feeling of wilderness,” says Anna Turner,
who moved here in 1985 and runs
Haggerstone Island Resort with husband
Roy. “When we go to the Outer Barrier
Reef it feels like people have never been
there, and I absolutely love that feeling.”
During the past 30 years, the Turners
have tamed and shaped the island’s lush
jungle-covered interior, building four
open-air cabins around a main house that
caters to just a handful of guests. Rates
include daily jet boat excursions tailored
to guests’ interests, be it snorkelling or
fishing, while anyone looking to head
further afield can charter a helicopter
to visit waterfalls, sand dunes and
sand cays. The island is surrounded by
two beautifully clear lagoons, and the
remains of an 1840s shipwreck can be
spotted in a shallow reef garden.
What makes the island stand out is its
cuisine, with the majority of food grown
in the orchard or plucked from the ocean.
“We never know what’s going to be for
dinner; guests catch it and we create the
menu around it,” Turner explains, adding
it’s likely to be lobster, mud crab or coral
trout. http://www.haggerstoneisland.com.au.A vibrant Indigenous art scene, barramundi
fishing and Aussie Rules are what keep the Tiwi
Islands ticking. An easy 80-kilometre sail from
Darwin, the little-visited 11 islands of Tiwi were
once connected to the mainland before rising
sea levels changed that, creating pockets of
culture in the process. Only two islands are
inhabited: Melville and Bathurst, which,
according to David Woodrow from Sail Darwin,
have their own distinct identities. “We travel
to the north end of Melville to the community
of Pirlangimpi [and] it has a completely
diferent culture to Bathurst’s Wurrumiyanga,
the largest settlement in the Tiwi Islands.”
There’s not much here — a medical clinic,
social club, an Asian takeaway, public pool
and a school — but there is an incredible love
of AFL. Tourism and accommodation are
restricted, and guides are essential if you want
to explore the islands. Visitors can create their
own pieces with local artists, who have built an
internationally renowned scene.
It’s the wilderness that seems to surprise
tourists most, however — there are waterfalls,
swimming holes, thick forests and an
abundance of animal and bird species.
“I think what’s not really recognised is the
landscape and how beautiful the beaches
are,” says Woodrow. “It’s unspoilt.”
http://www.saildarwin.com; http://www.tiwiislands.org.
au; http://www.tourismtopend.com.au.