Isobel King reports on the revival of an Australian classic.
AS WE stare up at the towering racks of bottles, many with crusty labels that suggest decades in the vault, our host relates a sobering tale. Some years back a sommelier was hurriedly chasing down a drop when he nudged a $40,000 bottle of French wine from its mantle. The museum piece crashed to the floor, closely followed by the horrified sommelier, who was found passed out in the wine room and resigned the next day.
Our little posse eyes up the stocks with newfound reverence, elbows tucked in tightly as we gingerly tiptoe around the room.
We're on the kitchen tour at Hayman Island Resort and our guide is the sous-chef, Hamish. Apart from helping manage the resort's four restaurants, this natural raconteur clearly thrives on the chance to interact with guests and lead them through this massive engine room.
We weave through endless passages and swinging doors, past the whirring machines churning out industrial quantities of fresh ice-cream, and poke our heads into the cookie store, plucking one or two from the racks as we go. A brick of Valrhona chocolate catches my eye in the chocolate room, mainly because of its astonishing size. It's the sort that retails for $260 a kilogram at David Jones, but here it's just one of the many base chocolates used by the chocolatier to fashion the resort's famous handmade truffles.
Food and wine, as you may have gathered, are two highlights of this private island resort, long regarded as one of the most exclusive in the cluster of resorts in the Whitsundays.
The resort can take 500 guests but with a whole 300-hectare island to lose yourself on, as well as dozens of nearby coves and sandbars quickly reached by the resort jet-boat, and snorkelling spots where the greatest intrusion is a giant turtle blocking your view of the coral, it is easy to feel you're one of a privileged handful here on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.
A good measure of any resort is a bad-weather day and so it is on the second day of our stay. The sun is shining but the conditions are gusty. The morning starts in typical style with a leisurely graze of the buffet at the beachfront Azure restaurant, where breakfast runs until a civilised 11am.
The glare from the reef dead ahead, glistening at low tide, makes sunglasses a must. Over bowls of steaming miso soup, scrambled eggs, tropical fruits and bottomless cups of coffee, we map out the day ahead.
Some decide to throw down the towel and spend the day by Hayman's spectacularly large and sheltered pool. The rest of us forge ahead with the day's sporting activities, but not before a session in Spa Chakra.
Trickling waterfalls, dim lights and soothing hands ensure any last remnants of stress are massaged away.
Next up is an overland walk to a sheltered alcove on the other side of the island. The sign says one hour, but it's a good 21/2-hour return trip along the bushy track once we've made a few obligatory stops. The trek is rewarded by heart-stopping views of distant Whitsunday Islands threaded by turquoise water.
We pass the pool on our way back and spy two of the group in sun lounges, sipping cocktails, soaking up the rays and studying the menu. They're mildly curious about our morning expedition but clearly content with their decision to stay put as we dash off to get ready for an afternoon of sea kayaking.
Down at the marina, four of us squeeze into wetsuits and join the instructor for a crash course. It's obvious we're no naturals, as we fumble with paddles and struggle with basic instructions, but our good-natured instructor patiently shows us the ropes, all the while offering words of encouragement: "That's the way girls. Beautiful."
We lower into the two-person kayaks and head out along the reef. The water is choppy, progress is slow and there's a chorus of grumbling as we clip paddles and narrowly escape colliding with each other. Our instructor bobs in the water up ahead, still calling out words of encouragement, but it's only when we finally pull up alongside him that he cheerily announces it's too rough to continue.
"If you were a little more experienced ... " We're too relieved to be ashamed of our pitiful effort.
Once again, we pass by the pool on our way back through. Our friends are still there in the same sun lounges they've been glued to since breakfast, looking tanned, relaxed and just a little too smug when they hear of our aborted mission.
The only thing for it is to head back to my room for a restorative outdoor shower in the miniature jungle of pebbled walls and vines that is my private outdoor bathroom. I'm in one of the refurbished retreat rooms and, having seen a cross-section of rooms at the resort, many more lavish, I'd still choose this one in the mid-priced range. It's centrally located just behind the beachfront rooms, infinitely more private and a short stroll to all the resort's hubs.
Reaching any of them is just a matter of meandering down a path flanked by tropical gardens, palms, blossoms, the occasional fountain and even a pond of lilies home to two white swans.
Hayman Island Resort is 20 years old and in the final phase of a renovation that has transformed its '80s decor into a more low-key kind of luxury, yet it's the location and seclusion of Hayman that remain the real heroes. As one contented guest remarked: "It's a resort with a great heart." He should know. He and his partner were back for the fifth time.
The writer was a guest of Hayman Island Resort.
TRIP NOTES
* Getting there: Hayman Island is a one-hour launch transfer from Hamilton Island. Jetstar has flights from Sydney to Hamilton Island; Virgin Blue has flights via Brisbane.
* Accommodation: Prices range from $665 a night for a Palm Room to $4500 for a three-bedroom penthouse (including buffet breakfast and transfers). Several packages are available. Three-night a la carte packages cost from $998 per person in a Palm Room, including transfers, daily buffet breakfast and a nightly three-course a la carte dinner in the Oriental, La Trattoria or Azure restaurants.
* Activities: Free for guests are watersports (paddle skiing, windsurfing and catamaran sailing), access to some facilities at Spa Chakra, tennis, squash, croquet, golf and billiards.
* There is a kids' club for ages 12 and under.
* See www.creativeholidays.com.au.
