The ultimate Covid-19 escape? A private island in Australia, once won in a poker game for US$78, all yours for US$17 million
Once owned by Castlemaine XXXX beer, Pumpkin Island off the Queensland coast is now for sale and – complete with 2 ocean-facing bungalows, 2 registered moors, a helicopter pad, 36-passenger boat and an oyster bar – the sustainable luxury retreat might be the perfect place to forget about the rest of the world, or dodge a global pandemic
A 7-hectare (14-acre) island off the eastern coast of Australia has just hit the market for a cool US$17 million.
Pumpkin Island is just a 30-minute boat ride from Queensland, and is currently owned by Wayne and Laureth Rumble. The couple had been quarantining on the island as the pandemic began sweeping through Australia.
“It was the ideal place to spend lockdown during the pandemic,” the couple told CNN Travel. “It is secluded, private and yet you have total freedom to move around, be outside … our kids were playing in the playground, on the beach and life just felt very normal until we switched on the news.”
The luxury island is also known for being a sustainable retreat. It has a resort that runs on renewable energy sources, making use of both wind and solar power systems, and also has a system that can convert rainwater into drinking water.
Whoever buys the island will also get plenty of bonuses: it comes with two ocean-facing bungalows, two registered moors, a helicopter pad, a 36-passenger boat, an oyster bar, a game room and a library, among others.
According to island lore, the island was initially owned by a man named Snigger Findlay and operated as an oyster farm. After Findlay lost Pumpkin Island in a poker game, the Mason family bought the island from him for just US$78.
The Rumbles bought the island in 2003 for just US$909,000. They had been quarantining on it during the pandemic, but now want to sell the island so they can move closer to their family in New Zealand.