Tiny island just a short paddle from Freycinet National Park could be yours for $5m
It’s not every day you get the chance to buy your very own island. And, rarer still, one that is freehold and sits in open blue water.
There is only a handful of them around, but one is up for grabs a short paddle off the Freycinet National Park and world-renowned Saffire Freycinet resort on Tasmania’s east coast.
Picnic Island is a small rocky outcrop that measures 6750 square metres and teems with bird and sea life.
With a name like that, it’s hard not to summon up carefree images of rowboats, leisurely summer days and romantic lunches.
Certainly, for owner and former Victorian politician Clem Newton-Brown, who bought the island around 2005, Picnic Island proved to be a wonderful getaway for his then-young family.
In their earliest days, it was where he brought his wife and two toddler sons from Melbourne for “wild adventures”. They’d set up camp, huddle around a fire, swim, fish (there’s abalone, crayfish, sea urchin, mussels and squid) and “live off-grid” for weeks at a time.
“We had some amazing experiences as a family … this wild, barefoot existence where time didn’t matter,” Newton-Brown recalls. “It truly was a special place to escape to.”
He never imagined doing much with the place, even though he bought it from a Queenslander who had planned to develop it.
“When we got the island, it seemed too difficult to do anything more than camp,” he says.
In 2015, however, Newton-Brown – with his political career in the past – decided to build accommodation. He approached local architect John Latham to design something that “looked as if it could’ve washed up on the beach”.
Two eco-friendly buildings were completed by 2017. One held five twin bedrooms, the other a communal living area with kitchen, bathroom and hanging fireplace. And uninterrupted waterfront views, of course.
Copper-clad exteriors, sandstone floors and rough-cut timber boards helped the lodge blend into its natural habitat.
“It’s rustic but stylish,” Newton-Brown says. “The idea wasn’t to build a five-star luxury hotel.”
In fact, it remains off-grid with its own desalination plant, solar power and hot water, backup generator and eight water tanks – which he ferried 800 metres from shore, tied to the back of his tinny.
With the island home to little penguins and muttonbirds (shearwaters) nesting in a blanket of scrub, Newton-Brown installed a 300-metre circular boardwalk to protect the birdlife from visitors.
He also added a jetty and viewing platform looking across to The Hazards mountain range and Freycinet Peninsula. In addition, there’s a permit to build a modest function venue.
Importantly, the lodgings have not only been for friends and family but guests as well – at a rent of $3300 a night.
“Turning it into a tourist destination let us share and better protect the seabird colony,” Newton-Brown says. “The penguins are the highlight for most people.”
Newton-Brown is now ready to pass Picnic Island on – or at least dip his toe in the water to gauge buyer interest.
“It appeals to buyers with a romantic notion of owning an island retreat they can take their family to, as we’ve done, but also run as a business,” he says. “It’s a unique property.”
Peninsula Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Rob Curtain agrees, saying, “We see this for a fairly unique buyer looking to indulge themselves or create a yield with some kind of tourism venture.”
It comes at a time when other Tasmanian islands have come up for sale: Waterhouse Island sold for $5.5 million in 2016 and Ram Island was listed at the end of May for $7 million.
“Owning islands, you’re a front-row purchaser [with] uninterrupted views and direct access to the beach,” Curtain says. “The buyer may own a boat or pleasure cruiser that can be easily moored. It even could be an overseas buyer.”
Newton-Brown says the island forces you to slow down and “slot yourself into the natural order of things; it’s a magical place”.
“What appeals is Picnic Island’s location to the internationally renowned Coles Bay and Freycinet coast, with easy access, including a local water taxi,” says selling agent Robert Curtain of Peninsula Sotheby’s International Realty.
The feature image in this story has been supplied courtesy of www.weseektravel.com
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