Hamilton Island: Australians have been heading to Hamilton Island for decades, looking for a Whitsunday holiday with all the comforts of a small village. But if you haven't been for a while, there are plenty of surprises: the Reef View Hotel has been given a major and much-needed facelift, the accommodation options have expanded greatly - and of course if you're after complete luxury there's the exclusive and secluded qualia - and the new 18-hole golf course on nearby Dent Island is all set to open. Story by Lee Mylne

Howe splendid: Around 550km east of Port Macquarie, Lord Howe Island is one of the east coast’s best kept secrets.  Just 11km long and barely two kilometres at its widest point, the world-heritage-listed island is home to the just 280 lucky people, the world’s most southerly coral reef, pristine beaches, beautiful kentia palm forests, and a vast array of rare birdlife.
Story by Lee Atkinson

Australian islands
International islands

Australian islands

Marvellous Maria: In the 1880s, Italian entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi had a vision for Tasmania's Maria Island which included hillsides of vineyards, silk-making and cement factories. It didn't quite turn out that way, but you can still stay in Bernacchi's heritage-listed house at the end of the fabulous four-day Maria Island Walk. With a fascinating history - Maria also pre-dates Port Arthur as a convict settlement – and wildlife that includes a large colony of rare Cape Barren geese, it's easy see why this place has been proposed for World Heritage listing. Story by Lee Mylne

Fraser Island: There’s not many places in Australia where you can find wilderness, luxury spa pampering, off-road 4WD adventures and rare humpback whales wrapped up in the one getaway package, but Fraser Island’s Kingfisher Bay Resort manages to combine the lot. Story by Lee Atkinson

Norfolk Island: Eavesdropping on the locals takes on a new dimension when you're on Norfolk Island . The lilting burr that is the language called “ Norfolk ” can confuse and confound you. It sounds almost like English, but not quite….just as you think you can follow it, the meaning will slip away. Norfolk Island has one of the world's rarest languages, a strange hybrid of Tahitian and Old English developed in the 18 th century by the Bounty mutineers and spoken today by their descendents. Story by Lee Mylne

Wild at Heart: It’s December in Kangaroo Island and that means only one thing: storm season.  As we drive through rich, late afternoon light that turns the dry, shoulder-high pastures into soft yellow fields backlit against a bruised-black sky roiling with thunder, the locals are nervous. Storm season is fire season, and each bolt of lightning that stabs at the horizon is a potential arsonist, ready to wreak havoc. Just like the weather, Kangaroo Island’s gentle rolling hills, covered in rich pasture and studded with grazing sheep and cattle, belie a wilder heart. Story by Lee Atkinson

What a Day for a Daydream: There's been a resort on Daydream Island since 1932, when a couple of adventurers sailed up on their graceful timber ketch, dropped anchor and stayed. It's easy to see why.
Story by Lee Mylne

Tiwi touch down: It helps to speak the local language when you travel, and in the Tiwi Islands, 80km north of Darwin, the local language is football, or more precisely, AFL.  Story by Lee Atkinson

Orpheus Island: When the tide is in at Orpheus Island , the small white seaplane which delivers guests to the resort can land almost on the beach. But when I land, the tide is out and we moor instead at “ Orpheus International Airport ”, a pontoon floating offshore.
Story by Lee Mylne

Queensland's Family Friendly Islands: Whether they are sliding down a towering sand dune, or gently cradling a newly-laid turtle egg in their hand, or learning to fly the trapeze, kids of all ages will find something to challenge them on a Queensland island holiday. The waters off Queensland 's coast, from Cairns to the Gold Coast, are studded with islands providing exciting and interesting options for family holidays.
Story by Lee Mylne

Tripping to the Tiwi Islands: In the Tiwi Islands , a scenic 80km flight from Darwin , art is an important part of life and examples of this distinctive culture are everywhere. On Bathurst Island, there are two major galleries where visitors can stop, watch and talk to artists at work during a day tour of the island – a trip which most visitors to the Northern Territory don't bother to take. Story by Lee Mylne

Tasmanian trails: Tasmania is a small island, but incredibly diverse.  Everywhere is only a few hours drive from anywhere else, and there is plenty to see and do in between. Story by Lee Atkinson

Saintly Setting, Devilish Past: The sound of tramping feet down the stone causeway onto Moreton Bay 's St Helen Island once belonged to the prisoners who called it “the Hell-hole of the Pacific”. Today, the sound comes from the feet of arriving tourists.
Story by Lee Mylne

International islands

Land of the Glowing Sky: Stewart Island is the kind of place where – even after a few hours – you sense that anything can happen down here at the bottom of the world. And maybe it does. Called Rakiura, or land of the glowing sky, by the Maori, the island is a 20 minute flight or an hour by ferry from the bottom tip of New Zealand's South Island. Story by Lee Mylne

Italian Escapes: Not far from the summer tourist hordes, three of Venice's islands beckon. Head to Burano, Murano and Torcello to discover the places where Venetians go to get away from it all.
Story by Lee Mylne

Phu Quoc Island: They're calling it the new "hot spot" for travellers to Vietnam looking for a getaway from the bustle of city life. Phu Quoc, in the Gulf of Thailand, about an hour's flight from Saigon, is already being targeted for major resort development...but that won't change the relaxed atmosphere and rich history of this former prison island. Story by Lee Mylne

Kapiti Island: This predator-free island, off the coast from Wellington, is home to several rare birds including the Little Spotted Kiwi, which is extinct on New Zealand's mainland. Kapiti has been inhabited by Maori people for more than 800 years, their history surviving through the stories and legends told by their ancestors, who still live here and share their culture with visitors. You can make it a day trip, or stay overnight at the bush lodge to take part in kiwi spotting tours.
Story by Lee Mylne

Mellow Out in the Maldives: Long renowned as the ultimate romantic holiday destination, the Republic of Maldives is a stunning collection of coral atolls and islands, scattered into a turquoise sea.
Story by Lee Mylne

Isle of Serendipity: Sri Lanka was once called the island of Serendib and it's easy to see why. Delightful small surprises abound...a monkey swinging through the trees as I breakfast, a hitch-hiking pair of Buddhist monks on the riverbank as my rubber raft floats by, the perfect pair of bookends in a fancy store in Colombo , a tiny turtle's head which pops from the courtyard pond in the villa I'm visiting. Story by Lee Mylne

The Isle of Lewis: It takes me some time to work out what's missing on the Isle of Lewis. The feeling persists, and finally I realise what it is: there are no trees. It's wild, windswept and barren. Here, in the Scottish Hebrides, I feel like I've stepped back in time.
Story by Lee Mylne

Cape Breton Island: Canada's Cape Breton Island is a little piece of Scotland, transported across the Atlantic. You'll hear Gaelic spoken, and Highland culture thrives centuries after the first settlers arrived aboard the Hector at Pictou. Story by Lee Mylne

French Polynesian paradise: The evocative scent of the tiare flower lingers in the memory long after you've left French Polynesia . Along with the sound of the ukulele, it assaults your senses and stays with you from the moment you arrive in Tahiti's capital, Papeete .
Story by Lee Mylne

Hawaii's Big Island: From above, the volcanic terrain of the Big Island is a moonscape. Huge craters, steaming and puffing, loom below the helicopter. And where the lava fuses with the sea, the island is steadily growing. On the other side of the island, lush untouched green valleys were the setting for the movie Jurassic Park. This is an island of mind-boggling contrasts and beauty that may make you weep. Story by Lee Mylne

Magical Macau: The rapid click of mah-jong tiles floats from an open upstairs window in the back streets of Macau, the former Portuguese colony which has magically fused its Chinese and European histories into a culture all its own. Story by Lee Mylne