DUNK Island is just a 30min boat trip away from Bedarra but it feels like a metropolis after Bedarra’s peaceful seclusion.
A little over a century ago, Liverpudlian Edmund J Banfield and his wife Bertha stumbled across the island during their search for a place to set up home.
They remained there for 26 years during which time Banfield wrote the bestseller Confessions of a Beachcomber.
Staff on the island told the story of Banfield like you recount a tale about your favourite grandfather.
Almost all had read the book and within minutes of arriving, a copy has been thrust into my hand and Iam taken to see his last resting place.
Dunk is significantly bigger than Bedarra and houses one resort with accommodation for around 300 guests.
But while it’s more activity-based and family-orientated than Bedarra, it is hardly teeming. Most people are either hiking on one of the island’s rainforest trails, out on the sea or playing one of the many sports on offer.
There is also seclusion to be found on the neighbouring bays of Muggy Muggy and the delightfully named Coconut Beach where the colourful array of fish make for great snorkelling conditions.
I left Dunk by air – it has its own air strip – which gave me an idyllic view and revealed the full extent of the rainforest which, like so much of the Queensland coast, dominates the island.