A life of splendid isolation

The idea of escaping to live out your days on the seclusion of an island sounds like a romantic dream from a Hollywood storyline — something for the likes of Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, owner of Necker in the British Virgin Islands.

But island living isn’t as far away as many think — in fact you need look no further than our state’s own coastline to find an island lifestyle.

The most famous — and populous — of Victoria’s island communities is, of course, Phillip Island, about 140 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.

The sales manager at the Cowes office of Alex Scott and Staff real estate, Brian Silver, says that the attraction of Phillip Island — where the population of just fewer than 10,000 is estimated to swell to 50,000 in summer — is the beaches.

“People come to this area for the water, the beaches, the walking, the sports,” he says.

While the major town of Cowes accounts for much of the population, other communities on the island include Ventnor, the fishing hamlet of Rhyll, the eastern community of Newhaven and the surfing spot of Cape Woolamai. Cowes is unusual in Victoria in that it has a north-facing beach.

Prices start at about $400,000 to $500,000 for a house but it is possible to buy older properties for less. Houses on the foreshore generally start at about $1 million.

Just to the north of Phillip Island lies French Island, which at twice the size of its southern neighbour is the biggest island in Victoria.

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of Phillip Island, French Island offers a much quieter life. Seventy per cent of the island is national park and it can only be reached by ferries.

Hocking Stuart real estate agent Hendrik Boer, who handles sales on French Island, says that although the island has had some celebrities among its 80 or 90 inhabitants (the Minogue family and daughters Kylie and Dannii Minogue recently sold two properties there) it still remains largely unknown.

“Most people on the [Mornington] Peninsula don’t even know where it is,” he says, adding that while this is part of the island’s charm, it can also make it tricky to find buyers.

Island properties come at a considerable discount to those on the neighbouring Mornington Peninsula — real estate listings show it’s possible to buy 50-hectare properties complete with a substantial house for less than $700,000.

Mr Boer has listed a 59-hectare property for sale with 730 metres of beachfront and stunning views for $1.5 million.

“I went to an auction at Flinders — a 60-acre [24 hectare] property with similar views — that went for $11 million and it didn’t have that sort of beachfront,” he says. “French Island is a secret little gem, I think.”

Another island that tends to escape public notice is Raymond Island, which is off the Gippsland coast, just off Paynesville. The island is separated from the mainland by McMillan Strait.

“A lot of people don’t even realise [it’s here],” says Ann Waller, principal of Paynesville-based Ann Waller Real Estate.

“When you say Raymond Island, they think it’s somewhere up north. It’s a very pretty place with nice sandy beaches, a lot of wildlife [and] good walking tracks.”

The island has about 400 residents and the same number of homes (about half are holiday homes) and while there are no shops on the island, the fact it’s only a couple of minutes via a ferry to Paynesville (residents get a free ferry pass) makes shopping still easily accessible.

“It’s getting away from it without really getting away from it,” says Ms Waller.

Prices for island property start at about $160,000 for a shack with a jetty and go up to $1.2 million.

Long-term Raymond Island resident Andrew Bould says he loves the island’s natural beauty, the peace and the sense of belonging.

“The community is a community — you get to know the people here,” says Mr Bould, whose ancestors first settled on the island in the 1890s.

If a tropical island is more your style, there’s always Queensland. Island property there can go for millions — figures from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland show the median price for homes on Gold Coast’s Sovereign Island, for example, came in at $2.39 million for the 12 months to the end of March, while Clairview Island, near Mackay, is listed with an asking price of $6 million.

But there are more affordable options. REIQ figures also show, for example, that the median price of houses on Russell Island, just south of Brisbane, came in at a mere $235,000 for the period ending July. Properties on Bribie and Macleay islands are also well within reach of many buyers.

REIQ managing director Dan Molloy says that while private islands can command prices well into the millions because of their tranquil settings and scarcity, people should check them out before purchase — including whether they have a sustainable water supply, access issues and whether they are prone to tidal surges.

In addition, with many islands available only as leaseholds, potential purchasers also need to investigate the terms under which the island is being sold, along with the possibility of native title claims and environmental protection orders that may be in place.

Turtle Island, off Cape York, is on the market with an asking price of $5,910,000.

It’s among those being marketed by Private Islands (privateislands online.com), a Toronto-based company that markets islands all over the world. The company, which was founded about 11 years ago, has about 500 islands on its books and is marketing an additional 30 privately.

Chief executive Chris Krolow says while people who purchase islands do tend to have a lot of money — they are significantly more expensive to develop thanks to the cost of getting supplies to them — the company doesn’t exclusively target the wealthy but instead markets “islands as a lifestyle”. He adds that there is “huge interest” from Australians.

While they have expensive islands, including one in Portugal worth $US300 million ($314 million) and one in the Bahamas for $US110 million (the Bahamas is a particular hot spot for buying islands), it is possible to buy an island off the coast of Canada, for example, for about $100,000.

So whether it’s the pleasure of feeling the sand between your toes on your own private island or having a place where you can escape the hustle and bustle of life and connect with a small community, there are island lifestyles to match all desires and budgets.

My Australian idyll

Graham Little had only been to French Island once before he came over with a view to buying a property there late last year.

“I had no idea French Island was as big as it was,” says Mr Little, who owned a stud farm in Shoreham. “It’s an island that most people I know have never been to before and most of them don’t even know where it is. It’s one of those great mysteries really, how Victoria’s largest island within an hour of the city has sort of escaped the notice of the masses.”

The 54-year-old liked what he found and bought a 20-hectare property formerly owned by the Minogue family.

The property, with a four-bedroom residence, is in the middle of the island and surrounded by national park. Mr Little plans to turn it into a boutique health retreat. While Mr Little, who splits his time between the island and a home he’s renting in South Melbourne, says he was ready for the isolation of the island, he has been surprised by the degree of community spirit there. “I actually really love it … when you get off the ferry there, everyone is helping everyone else and having a bit of a chat. It’s an interesting walk back in time, I suppose, to how it was and I really like that. I feel like I’ve got a bigger community involvement there than I ever could on the mainland.”

While living on the island can mean planning ahead for supplies — a fact that may scare some people off — Mr Little believes the island’s peacefulness makes it an ideal place to de-stress.