Island Digs
Advertising Pre Ripped Printed:22aug12 17:05
Pub: BSU
Edition: AFEA
Page No:16
Pub Date:26aug12
AU G
2 012
“THE MORE YOU GET TO KNOW THE ISLAND, THE MORE YOU REALISE THE ISLAND DESERVES PEOPLE’’ PETER BOND
I SLAN D D I GS On the hunt for a holiday home, Peter Bond came across cyclone-destroyed Dunk Island and quickly decided its resort deserved to be rebuilt
BY ROB KIDD PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN CASSEY
A
couple of grey nomads, two of the few who bother making the day trip to Dunk Island since it was smashed by Cyclone Yasi, notice Peter Bond on the beach. Spotting his Dunk T-shirt and untamed hair, they politely ask the multimillionaire if he is the island groundskeeper. Bigger egos might bristle but Mr Bond doesn’t blink. ‘‘Nah, I bought it,’’ he says matter-of-factly to stunned stares. ‘‘Feel free to look around.’’ It was once one of the state’s most celebrated tourist destinations, but 295km/h cyclonic winds turned the reeffringed island and its 150ha resort into a paradise lost just over 18 months ago. Tourism tycoon isn’t a title Mr Bond is keen to acquire but he has a ‘‘90-per-cent-there’’ vision to restore Dunk to its former glory and ‘‘crank it up a notch’’. ‘‘The way the maths is going it’s going to be 40 to 50, five to six-star rooms,’’ he says. ‘‘I’d like to go more family-orientated but it just doesn’t work unfortunately. It costs you the same on an island to run $200-odd rooms as it does to run $1000 rooms. It’s just the reality and I’m not a resort owner but I’m smart enough to do that.’’ The restaurant will be turned into a flash five-star eatery with a top chef and natural timber decor throughout. The gardens will be spruced up, the virtually untouched day spa given a lick of paint and a ‘‘sexy’’ 18-hole golf course and clubhouse designed and built. The restored iconic butterfly pool, which became an enduring image of Dunk’s downfall, will be extended to 3½ times the size. When renovated, Dunk, which lies less than 4km offshore from Mission Beach, is likely to be a drawcard for weddings and corporate events, as well as wealthy holidaymakers, and that is only part of the plan. A $400,000 government grant and Mr Bond’s own money will be used to build a cafe and camping site with facilities at the spit area, which will hopefully be open within the next six months. A host of units will also be retained for charitable visits, which Mr Bond intends to set up through his philanthropic foundation.
He recognises the local mainland community, many of whom rely on tourism, need Dunk to be a ‘‘centrepiece’’. However, with the economy and tourism industry hurting, the mining magnate says banks are less willing to lend and he is ‘‘in no rush to spend $15 million or $20 million of my own cash’’. Instead, he wants to get ‘‘all the obvious work done’’. In the next year, the spit area, golf club, restaurant and gardens should be finished, with plans to open to resort guests in the next 18 months to two years. ‘‘But you’ll see bits of it opening. You’ll see events starting this year,’’ says the Linc Energy managing director, who is worth an estimated $328 million. ‘‘It’s going to be building up so by the time you get to opening the resort we’ll already have 100 visitors a day.’’ Mr Bond was in the market for a holiday home for his large family (six children and three grandchildren) and had made an offer for a block on Hamilton Island, in the Whitsundays, when Dunk became available in October. For between $7 million and $7.5 million, about the same as what he was going to pay for the Hamilton block, Mr Bond bought the whole island – a significant discount on the $52 million price tag it attracted in 2007. He first visited Dunk eight months after Cyclone Yasi and admits it ‘‘looked like crap’’. The resort was gutted, a mountain of sand covered the pool area and flattened palm trees littered the island like broken match sticks. ‘‘It took me a week or so to get my head around it. I looked at Bedarra (Island) and considered that but this is a lot bigger, has more promise, has the airstrip, the jetty, much bigger beach, the flat-lying lands for the kids to do what kids do and the huge farm at the back,’’ Mr Bond says. It was when celebrating his 50th birthday on the island last month with family and friends, fireworks and the perfect sunset, that Mr Bond says he realised he had to rebuild the resort. ‘‘The more you get to know the island, the more you realise the island deserves people,’’ he says. At the farthest end of the cove, shielded by palm trees, Mr Bond will renovate one of the resort’s larger units into a family home. ‘‘There’s 200m of private beach. That’s enough for any man,’’ he says.
17
Pub: BSU
Edition: AFEA
Page No:16
Pub Date:26aug12
AU G
2 012
“THE MORE YOU GET TO KNOW THE ISLAND, THE MORE YOU REALISE THE ISLAND DESERVES PEOPLE’’ PETER BOND
I SLAN D D I GS On the hunt for a holiday home, Peter Bond came across cyclone-destroyed Dunk Island and quickly decided its resort deserved to be rebuilt
BY ROB KIDD PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN CASSEY
A
couple of grey nomads, two of the few who bother making the day trip to Dunk Island since it was smashed by Cyclone Yasi, notice Peter Bond on the beach. Spotting his Dunk T-shirt and untamed hair, they politely ask the multimillionaire if he is the island groundskeeper. Bigger egos might bristle but Mr Bond doesn’t blink. ‘‘Nah, I bought it,’’ he says matter-of-factly to stunned stares. ‘‘Feel free to look around.’’ It was once one of the state’s most celebrated tourist destinations, but 295km/h cyclonic winds turned the reeffringed island and its 150ha resort into a paradise lost just over 18 months ago. Tourism tycoon isn’t a title Mr Bond is keen to acquire but he has a ‘‘90-per-cent-there’’ vision to restore Dunk to its former glory and ‘‘crank it up a notch’’. ‘‘The way the maths is going it’s going to be 40 to 50, five to six-star rooms,’’ he says. ‘‘I’d like to go more family-orientated but it just doesn’t work unfortunately. It costs you the same on an island to run $200-odd rooms as it does to run $1000 rooms. It’s just the reality and I’m not a resort owner but I’m smart enough to do that.’’ The restaurant will be turned into a flash five-star eatery with a top chef and natural timber decor throughout. The gardens will be spruced up, the virtually untouched day spa given a lick of paint and a ‘‘sexy’’ 18-hole golf course and clubhouse designed and built. The restored iconic butterfly pool, which became an enduring image of Dunk’s downfall, will be extended to 3½ times the size. When renovated, Dunk, which lies less than 4km offshore from Mission Beach, is likely to be a drawcard for weddings and corporate events, as well as wealthy holidaymakers, and that is only part of the plan. A $400,000 government grant and Mr Bond’s own money will be used to build a cafe and camping site with facilities at the spit area, which will hopefully be open within the next six months. A host of units will also be retained for charitable visits, which Mr Bond intends to set up through his philanthropic foundation.
He recognises the local mainland community, many of whom rely on tourism, need Dunk to be a ‘‘centrepiece’’. However, with the economy and tourism industry hurting, the mining magnate says banks are less willing to lend and he is ‘‘in no rush to spend $15 million or $20 million of my own cash’’. Instead, he wants to get ‘‘all the obvious work done’’. In the next year, the spit area, golf club, restaurant and gardens should be finished, with plans to open to resort guests in the next 18 months to two years. ‘‘But you’ll see bits of it opening. You’ll see events starting this year,’’ says the Linc Energy managing director, who is worth an estimated $328 million. ‘‘It’s going to be building up so by the time you get to opening the resort we’ll already have 100 visitors a day.’’ Mr Bond was in the market for a holiday home for his large family (six children and three grandchildren) and had made an offer for a block on Hamilton Island, in the Whitsundays, when Dunk became available in October. For between $7 million and $7.5 million, about the same as what he was going to pay for the Hamilton block, Mr Bond bought the whole island – a significant discount on the $52 million price tag it attracted in 2007. He first visited Dunk eight months after Cyclone Yasi and admits it ‘‘looked like crap’’. The resort was gutted, a mountain of sand covered the pool area and flattened palm trees littered the island like broken match sticks. ‘‘It took me a week or so to get my head around it. I looked at Bedarra (Island) and considered that but this is a lot bigger, has more promise, has the airstrip, the jetty, much bigger beach, the flat-lying lands for the kids to do what kids do and the huge farm at the back,’’ Mr Bond says. It was when celebrating his 50th birthday on the island last month with family and friends, fireworks and the perfect sunset, that Mr Bond says he realised he had to rebuild the resort. ‘‘The more you get to know the island, the more you realise the island deserves people,’’ he says. At the farthest end of the cove, shielded by palm trees, Mr Bond will renovate one of the resort’s larger units into a family home. ‘‘There’s 200m of private beach. That’s enough for any man,’’ he says.
17
