Blow the budget on a luxury beachhouse

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Every family will have a different idea of luxury, but one thing is guaranteed – your dream holiday home is out there.

Whether it’s a separate kids’ retreat, an amazing infinity pool, a modernist haven in Tassie with floor-to-ceiling glass doors or a Balinese-inspired villa in Noosa, you’re bound to find a place with the perfect luxury extras you’ve always dreamed of.

So go on – why not go all-out this year?

 

Try there…

NSW: Ocean Muse, Port Stephens

This sprawling seaside abode in Port Stephens is flanked by national parkland, creating a luxurious enclave for a family or group to settle in and enjoy the infinity-edge lap pool, amazing views over the bushland out to the ocean, and many bells and whistles.

It’s well–equipped for kids and adults, with a billiards room, large decks, open–plan living and dining and a large garden that’s perfect for playing a spot of cricket after a day at the beach. There are three bedrooms, including one master ensuite set in its own pavilion and another with four single beds. From $800 per night (five nights-plus). 02 9331 2881.

VIC: Zealandia, Portsea

Handily positioned between Portsea Front Beach and Portsea Back Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, Zealandia is a testament to 50s modernist architecture and design. Beautifully furnished, it’s best for families with older children.

With three bedrooms, three living areas, outdoor entertaining areas and an inground pool, you’d be forgiven for never actually making it out the front door. From $500 per night (two night mid-week stay) to $6000 per week (summer peak, one week minimum). Sleeps six. 0418 121 779.

Fin more option with our guide to the best places to stay the Mornington Peninsula.

TAS: Avalon Coastal Retreat, Swansea

If there’s a better view from a beach house, we’d like to hear about it. Perched atop a headland overlooking Oyster Bay on the east coast of Tasmania, this ‘modernist coastal dreaming home’ does everything in its power to embrace the stunning landscape, with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, sensational outdoor dining areas, even a Huon pine bathtub from which to enjoy the views.

There are wonderful creature comforts inside, too: robes and slippers, coffee machine, heated floors, an open fire, gourmet kitchen and even a gourmet mini bar. With full beach kit at your disposal and direct access to a secluded beach, it’s kind of a no-brainer. From $900 per night (Sun-Thurs) or $1000 per night (Fri/Sat). Sleeps six. 1300 36 11 36.

SA: Kangaroo Island Villa, Kangaroo Island

Inspired by European villas, the light, airy and curvaceous Kangaroo Island Villa gives you plenty of choices. Enjoy an indulgent lie-in in your circular ‘tower’ bedroom, with its expansive ocean views – or rise early and nip down to the jetty and beach, only a minute away at .

Should you enjoy an outdoor jacuzzi under the stars before or after your barbecue on the deck? Go for ‘house only’ accommodation, or splash out on the ‘full service luxury’ option, where a private chef prepares all meals, snacks and beverages for you? Oh, the dilemmas.

It’s easy to handle all this tough decision making when you’re staying in a place this exceedingly lovely, though. From $590 per night for one room plus $25 for each additional room used (low season) or $950 per night (peak season) for accommodation only. Sleeps six; rollaway bed available for $25 extra. 02 9331 2881.

For more check out the best 8 places to stay on Kangaroo Island.

NT: Mandalay Luxury Stay, Darwin

This gorgeous, colonial-style stone residence on Darwin’s Esplanade carries echoes of the region’s history, from the influence of Colonial traders and Chinese settlers to indigenous art, and combines location with luxury living.

The bedrooms open out onto the grand verandah, with views overlooking Darwin harbour, plus a pool. From $445 per night for one bedroom or $645 per night for three bedrooms (low season) up to $995 per night for three bedrooms in peak season. Enquire about wet season specials. Sleeps six. 08 8942 3012.

For more option check out our guide to Darwin accommodation.

QLD: Balinese Beach House, Noosa

Your own private beachside oasis lies just on the other side of the Balinese-style wooden doors to this unique property on Noosa’s North Sunshine Beach. All airy white spaces punctuated by lovely wooden beams, this conveniently located home is like its own mini–resort, with a saltwater pool, poolside cabana and loungers, daybed and breezy front balcony with beach views.

From $450 per night (low season) to $1000 per night (Christmas). Minimum stays apply. Sleeps six (extra charges apply for additional guests). 0421 887 520.

For more here is our guide to the best places to stay in Noosa.

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3 wild corners of Australia that let you reconnect with nature (in comfort)

    Kassia ByrnesBy Kassia Byrnes
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    The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.

    Australia offers sublime opportunities to disappear into the ancient, untouched wilderness, worlds away from modern stress. Wild Bush Luxury offers a collection of experiences that are a portal into the continent’s wildest, most undiscovered landscapes, from wide floodplains to vast savannas, where the only distractions are birdsong, frog calls, curious wallabies and the daily drama of sunset. With a focus on conservation and Indigenous knowledge, these all-inclusive experiences allow guests to slow down and quiet their minds for intimate encounters with the natural world.

    1. Bamurru Plains

    safari tent at Bamurru Plains wild bush luxury
    Let nature take front row.

    In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains , a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).

    Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.

    It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish,  largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row.  Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.

    Bamurru Plains airboat tour
    Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)

    It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.

    In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.

    2. Maria Island Walk

    woman on a headland of Maria Island Walk
    Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.

    Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.

    These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.

    Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.

    At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.

    3. Arkaba

    two people standing next to a 4wd in Arkaba
    Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.

    For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.

    Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.

    Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.

    It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.

    Disconnect from the grind and reconnect with nature when you book with at wildbushluxury.com