Islands In South Pacific

Adjacent islands located just off the northwest coast of the Fijian mainland. Both boast all the attributes of premier tropical real estate: stretches of white sand beaches, lush native vegetation that supports a diverse ecosystem of wildlife, shallow waters for bathing and leisure activities, access to deepwater for boating and transit, and a wealth of flat land for future construction. Though offered leasehold, there is a declared potential for development. The special use title spans 99 years and is classified for tourism development. Interested buyers can request copies of the lease and its parameters should they so wish. Separated by only a few hundred feet of turquoise lagoon, these properties hold a promising future for either personal leisure or commercial income – pending the appropriate authorisations.

If you have ever drunk a Tasmanian pinot from the Pipers Brook estate, you have already met this island. Ninth Island is the rocky outcrop the vineyard looks out on, twelve kilometres off the northern Tasmanian coast, and Tasmania's most celebrated cool-climate wine brand was named after it. The label is the view from the cellar door. The island itself is now for sale. ## What It Is Forty acres. 1.3 kilometres long, 550 metres at its widest. Freehold. One of only twelve freehold islands in the entire 5,000-island Tasmanian archipelago, which makes it among the rarest categories of land title in Australia. Twelve kilometres north of Bridport, in the Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania. Accessible only by helicopter from the mainland, under a conservation covenant that has limited land traffic for decades and produced what is now an almost untouched piece of coastal Tasmania. ## The Wine Namesake Ninth Island Wines is part of the Pipers Brook Vineyard portfolio, owned by Kreglinger, the Belgian family company founded in 1797 with registration number one in Antwerp. The label was created in the 1990s and has spent the last quarter-century carrying the island's name to wine lists across Australia, Europe, and Asia. Sparkling, pinot noir, chardonnay, pinot grigio, riesling. Owning the island that gives its name to a globally distributed wine label is a position with no obvious second. It is a piece of branding history, of Tasmanian terroir history, and of the country's cool-climate wine story, condensed into one freehold title. ## The Wildlife The conservation covenant exists for a reason. Ninth Island is one of the most biologically significant small islands in southern Australia. - Over **1 percent of the global population of black-faced cormorants** nests here - A breeding colony of an estimated **20,000 birds**, including short-tailed shearwaters and other native seabirds - Resident **Australian fur seals** along the rocky shoreline - **Little penguins** in burrows across the lower slopes - **Bottlenose dolphins** in the surrounding waters year-round For a buyer with a serious interest in conservation or ecotourism, the natural inventory here matches what some Australian states formally protect as nature reserves. For a private buyer simply wanting a wild estate, the island delivers that without any further effort. ## The Story In August 1962, the MV *Sheerwater*, captained by Peter Donaldson, was wrecked on a reef off Ninth Island during a voyage from the Furneaux Islands carrying livestock to Launceston. The crew were rescued. Donaldson was the grandfather of Mary Donaldson, born in Hobart, who later became Crown Princess and then Queen Consort of Denmark. The island's history holds other quieter things: a long period of light cattle grazing that has now ended, a 1995 oil spill from the MV *Iron Baron* that the local wildlife population has fully recovered from, and the long decades of being looked at rather than landed on. The Kreglinger vineyard owners held the title for many years before the most recent private ownership. ## The Setting Ninth Island belongs to the Waterhouse Island Group, in a part of Bass Strait that is increasingly recognised as one of Australia's most refined leisure regions. The mainland pier at Bridport is the closest point of contact, and Bridport is the gateway to **Barnbougle Dunes** and **Barnbougle Lost Farm**, two of the top three golf courses in Australia by national ranking, both designed on the dunes of the Tasmanian coastline directly opposite the island. The Pipers Brook Estate is twenty minutes inland, with its cellar door, the Tamar Valley wine region around it, and over fifty other cool-climate vineyards within an hour's drive. Launceston, with international flight connections, is roughly an hour from Bridport by car. ## The Opportunity A Development Application is currently in progress with the relevant local authorities, which is unusual for a Tasmanian island in this category and substantially de-risks the next owner's planning timeline. The land permitted for development sits above the Tidal Crown Land that surrounds the shoreline. What can be built on the island has been the subject of several previous concepts: - A **private residence**, with helicopter access, off-grid solar and rainwater systems, and a footprint sized to respect the wildlife covenant - A **small-scale ecotourism operation**, with limited-capacity accommodation, in the manner of a high-end conservation retreat - A **vineyard-aligned hospitality concept**, in partnership with the wine industry that already carries the island's name The 360-degree views from the elevated land are widely considered the best of any island in the strait. The island sits high enough that the residence sites command the full sweep of Bass Strait, the Tasmanian coast to the south, and the open ocean to the north. ## Access - **By helicopter:** approximately 15 minutes from Bridport or Launceston, landing on the island under the terms of the conservation covenant - **By boat:** 12 kilometres from the mainland pier at Bridport, a roughly 30-minute crossing in suitable conditions - **Launceston Airport to Bridport:** one hour by car, with direct flights to Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane ## What the Position Looks Like Freehold private islands in Australia trade rarely. Ninth Island has changed hands twice in the past decade, and each transaction has been at a price comparable to a two- or three-bedroom apartment in an inner Sydney or Melbourne suburb. The arithmetic is what makes the listing distinctive: forty acres of legendary Tasmanian coastline, a national wine brand bearing the property's name, and a Development Application already in progress, at a number that would not buy a single floor in a Bondi tower. For the buyer with an eye to Australian heritage assets, this is the rarest kind: a piece of land whose name has already been carried into the wider world, waiting for the next chapter to be written on it.

In 1961, an oyster farmer named Snigger Findlay sat down to a card game in central Queensland and stood up sixty pounds lighter, without his island. Roger Mason walked away with the deeds. Pumpkin Island opened to its first paying guests three years later, and has changed hands exactly once since then. It is on the market now for the second time in sixty-five years. This is not the usual rhythm of luxury real estate. Pumpkin Island has been held, not traded. ## The Setting Six hectares, fifteen acres, in the Keppel Group of the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Fourteen kilometres off the coast at Yeppoon. Ten kilometres north of Great Keppel Island. Shaped like a boot, 150 metres wide and 450 metres long, with sandy beaches on every face and the warm twenty-five degree water of the southern reef around all of it. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The southern reef is the quieter end, less travelled than the famous Whitsundays to the north, but every bit as biologically extraordinary. Humpback whales pass through the channel between Pumpkin and the mainland on their migration each year from June to November. Green turtles and hawksbills nest on the beaches. Dolphins are resident. The reef itself, twenty minutes by boat, is reachable on a glass-bottom kayak from your own jetty. The wildlife on land is gentler. Sea eagles overhead. Small lizards and butterflies in the grass. Coastal she-oaks for windbreak. The island is small enough to walk in twenty minutes, and varied enough that no walk repeats itself. ## The Resort Seven self-contained units, sleeping up to 34 guests: - **Five oceanfront cottages**, each with a private deck looking out across the reef - **Two beach bungalows**, with open-air kitchen and bathroom facilities A central licensed beachfront bar and sunset lounge with a library, fire pit, and activities hut. A children's playground. A manager's residence. A separate staff guesthouse. A helipad. The whole compound has been built with the eye of operators who have run the island as their home as well as their business. The resort is currently a fully operational, profitable business. The hand-over is end-to-end: keys, staff relationships, bookings, brand, supplier contracts, and the operating systems built up over two decades. ## The Sustainability Position In 2018 the World Boutique Hotel Awards in London named Pumpkin Island Australasia's Most Sustainable Hotel. That citation is the headline, but the substance behind it is what matters. The resort runs entirely off-grid on wind and solar power, with rainwater harvesting and storage for all freshwater use. It was the first island in Australia to operate beyond carbon neutral, offsetting roughly 150 percent of its emissions and producing a small net climate benefit each year. For a buyer with a thesis about the direction of luxury hospitality, that position is the moat. A new resort can build a carbon-neutral compound. It cannot retroactively claim to have been the first. ## The Business and the Assets Included in the sale: - The freehold of all improvements and the leasehold of the land to 2046, after which the lease becomes a rolling renewal - **Pumpkin Xpress**, a custom-built 36-passenger passenger ferry, the resort's branded transport from Keppel Bay Marina - Three registered boat moorings - An active oyster lease (guests still shuck their own oysters off the rocks at low tide, which is exactly the kind of detail Pumpkin Island is known for) - Helipad and existing helicopter charter relationships from Rockhampton - Planning approval already secured for two additional villas, with capacity expansion immediately available to a new owner - Full operating brand, website, booking systems, supplier relationships, and Sojourn Retreats management knowledge The 2012 to 2015 chapter, when the resort was temporarily rebranded as XXXX Island for a national beer campaign, is a part of the property's place in Australian cultural memory. Three thousand prize winners visited during the promotion. The story is repeated affectionately enough by Australians of a certain age that mentioning the island still triggers recognition. ## Access - **Rockhampton Airport** is a 45-minute drive from Keppel Bay Marina at Yeppoon, with direct flights from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne - **Keppel Bay Marina to Pumpkin Island** is a 45-minute crossing on the Pumpkin Xpress, or a charter boat, or a helicopter direct to the helipad - **Helicopter from Rockhampton** is approximately 25 minutes door to door For a buyer flying into Sydney or Melbourne in the morning, the island is reachable by dinner the same day. ## The Position for the Next Owner Pumpkin Island is at a clean transition point. The current ownership family is moving to New Zealand. The resort is profitable, award-winning, brand-recognised, and structurally complete. The planning approval for two additional villas, the unactivated wellness and dining upsell categories, and the long runway of the sustainability story all give a thoughtful new owner room to grow without disturbing what already works. Six hectares of the Great Barrier Reef, with one of Australia's most respected eco-tourism operations attached, comes to the market roughly once every three decades. Snigger Findlay played his cards. The next owner gets the better deal.

The property serves as a testament to the natural splendour of the South Pacific: an encircling blue lagoon rich with fish and other marine life, pristine beaches, towering palm trees, and diverse interior vegetation. Given Katafanga’s size, there is significant potential for future development. The island could comfortably feature a first-class resort with the luxury addition of a private airstrip. The encompassing coral reef also has a natural 200-foot opening, allowing large yachts to berth near shore. At the time of its listing, there was one completed villa on the island, with another 19 partially built. A runway, golf course, ring roads, water jetties, and staff housing were also under construction. Those interested in Katafanga Island are urged to inquire about the current extent of its development.

In excess of 270 hectares of freehold land, Nananu-i-cake is one of the most naturally impressive islands on the Fijian market. By virtue of its size, the property offers a high degree of both peace and privacy. Though, these qualities do not come at the sacrifice of convenience and connectivity – Nananu-i-cake is located just a short distance from mainland Fiji and less than three hours from the country’s international airport. Initial development on the island comprised a traditional-style four-bedroom home with open-plan living spaces and panoramic views. With more recent refurbishments, the facilities now extend to two external cottages, a deepwater jetty, modern utilities, a luxury swimming pool, and livestock areas. With space to accommodate further commercial development, Nananu-i-cake presents an enticing opportunity for tourism entrepreneurs. The island would also excel as a private retreat.

Secluded and unspoilt, the 56 acres of Urelapa island offer one of the most exciting development opportunities in the South Pacific. With either the whole island or as many as ten, individual parcels offered for sale, no vision is too big or too small. Boasting more than a kilometre of white sandy beaches, calm coastline waters, verdant tropical vegetation, and an extensive coral reef, Urelapa is the perfect spot for an ambitious tourism development or private retreat. Only a 12-minute boat ride from the mainland, the property boasts a four hectare freshwater lagoon – an ideal space for the development of a sheltered marina. Meanwhile, panoramic deep water access presents an abundance of mooring opportunities. An 800-metre former airstrip may also be restored for the landing of light aircraft.

Motu Tane is an island of exceptional pedigree. Located within the Bora Bora archipelago, just 300 metres offshore from the main island, the idyllic property markets as an ideal destination for private luxury. A property of natural and developed wealth, Tane boasts crystal clear waters, white-sanded beaches, lush green vegetation, and stunning tropical vistas. Here, residents can indulge in a range of activities, ranging from snorkelling, fishing, and water sports to beach leisure and nature walks. Motu Tane is surrounded by a stunning coral reef, which serves as an prime location for scuba diving and dolphin watching. The ~10-acre property also has a dense jungle complete with small streams and rivers running throughout – the foundations for a diverse ecosystem of indigenous wildlife. These natural assets underpin Tane’s upscale developments: traditional Polynesian thatched-roof huts, beach bungalows, a library with museum-quality artefacts, a photography studio, a high-grade kitchen, and staff quarters. All buildings are flush with luxury furnishings. With its stunning beaches, lush greenery, diverse wildlife, and premier developments, Motu Tanu is a paradise in waiting.

# Nengo Nengo *Private Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia* --- There are perhaps fifteen privately owned atolls in the eastern South Pacific. Nengo Nengo is one of them, and the only one currently for sale. Two hours by light aircraft southeast of Tahiti, deep in the Tuamotu Archipelago, the atoll is a coral ring 13 kilometres long and 8 kilometres across, enclosing a 67-square-kilometre lagoon of water so clear that it is often compared to a swimming pool. Nine square kilometres of emerged land. A 45-metre lagoon depth, with the salinity, oxygenation, and nutrient profile that have made it, for the past two decades, one of the most productive single-source pearl farms on earth. The current owner is **Robert Wan**, the man most often called the King of Tahitian Pearls, whose company is the largest cultivator and exporter of black pearls in French Polynesia and the world. Nengo Nengo has been the centrepiece of his operation since the early 2000s. He is selling it. ## The Atoll A bell-shaped coral atoll, oriented along a north-south axis, with a narrow navigable pass at its northern edge providing the only deep-water access to the lagoon. - **Total area:** approximately 2,224 acres (900 hectares) - **Emerged land:** 9 square kilometres distributed around the rim and across numerous islets - **Lagoon:** 67 square kilometres of enclosed water, 45 metres at its deepest - **Coastline:** roughly 42 kilometres of reef edge and beach - **Beaches:** white and pink sand, the latter a product of the pulverised coral and shell that the Tuamotu atolls are known for The lagoon is the central asset. Tuamotu atolls are famous in marine biology for the contained, semi-isolated ecosystems they create, where the lagoon water moves slowly enough to develop its own chemistry and quickly enough to remain alive. Nengo Nengo's lagoon is regarded among Polynesian pearl farmers as the textbook example: stable salinity, deep oxygenation, the right nutrient flow, and a temperature profile that hits the narrow band Pinctada margaritifera oysters require to produce gem-quality pearls. The same conditions that make the lagoon ideal for pearl culture make it ideal for marine life generally. The waters of Nengo Nengo are densely populated with fish, with minimal commercial fishing pressure across decades of private ownership. Reef sharks, eagle rays, hawksbill and green sea turtles, and the deep tropical biodiversity of the central Pacific are at full strength here. ## The Infrastructure Nengo Nengo is not raw land. It is a working private island with the operational infrastructure of an industrial-scale pearl farm. - A **private airstrip**, capable of accommodating light aircraft, eliminating the otherwise prohibitive boat journey from Hao or Tahiti - **Operational and accommodation buildings** that previously housed up to 80 workers during peak pearl farming seasons - A **deep-water pass** into the lagoon, with piers and small-craft facilities - **Monthly cargo ship rotation** from Tahiti, an established supply line that a new owner inherits - A **resident caretaker team** of approximately six people currently maintaining the property, including a young couple in long-term residence What this means for the next owner is that the most expensive part of any island development, getting people, materials, and supplies to a remote South Pacific location, is already solved. A new villa, a science centre, an eco-resort, or a continued or expanded pearl operation can be built on foundations that already exist. ## The Pearl Operation For the past twenty years, the Nengo Nengo lagoon has produced **Tahitian black pearls** under the Robert Wan operation. These are the lustrous dark pearls, ranging in colour from peacock green to aubergine to silver, that French Polynesia is the world's only commercial source for. A single high-grade Tahitian pearl can sell for between several hundred and several tens of thousands of dollars depending on size, lustre, and colour. The pearl operation on Nengo Nengo can be continued, expanded, or wound down by the next owner. Pearl concessions of up to 500 square metres of lagoon area may be retained by ownership for the cultivation of Pinctada margaritifera oysters, creating a working aquaculture income stream tied directly to land title. For a buyer with a thesis about owning a renewable luxury-goods source, this is a structurally unique opportunity: very few land assets anywhere in the world produce gemstones as part of their normal operation. ## The Possibilities The seller has been transparent that Nengo Nengo's next chapter is a question for the buyer to answer. Three directions are immediately viable: **A private estate.** With the airstrip, the existing infrastructure, and the absolute isolation of the location, Nengo Nengo can be developed as a private South Pacific residence at a scale that no inhabited island can match. The buyer would join the very small global cohort of private atoll owners. **An ultra-luxury eco-resort.** The Tuamotu Archipelago has no comparable private resort. A development integrating the pearl operation, marine science, and limited high-end accommodation would have a position no competitor could replicate, on a lagoon that is already among the cleanest and most biodiverse in French Polynesia. **A scientific and conservation centre.** Earlier seller materials describe a science centre planned for the southwestern part of the atoll, intended for sea turtle protection and monitoring. A buyer with conservation as a primary motivation can build on these plans and on the working biology of the lagoon. **Or some combination of all three.** The atoll is large enough to hold all of them without proximity conflict. ## The Setting The Tuamotu Archipelago is the largest chain of atolls in the world, 77 islands and atolls spread across an ocean area larger than Western Europe. The chain runs east-south-east from the Society Islands and includes Rangiroa, Fakarava, and Tikehau, which are the best-known publicly accessible atolls, and a series of smaller and more isolated coral rings that include Nengo Nengo. The atoll is **42 kilometres southeast of Ravahere**, its nearest inhabited neighbour, and **approximately 100 kilometres southwest of Hao**, the regional administrative centre. **Tahiti and Papeete** lie 775 kilometres west. The horizon, in every direction from Nengo Nengo, is empty ocean. ## Access - **By light aircraft from Tahiti (Faa'a International Airport):** approximately 2 hours direct, landing on the atoll's own airstrip - **By aircraft from Hao:** approximately 30 minutes, with onward charter or boat connection - **By cargo ship from Tahiti:** monthly rotation, the standard supply route for the atoll - **Onward connection from Faa'a:** direct flights to Los Angeles (8 hours), Auckland (5 hours), Paris (via Los Angeles), and onward worldwide A buyer's representative leaving Los Angeles in the morning is on Nengo Nengo's airstrip the same evening. ## A Note on Ownership French Polynesia operates under French civil law with adaptations for the territory. Foreign buyers are permitted to purchase private land directly, with notarial transfer through a French notary. Pearl concessions in the lagoon are subject to French Polynesian aquaculture regulations and are transferred with the property. ## The Position Nengo Nengo is the rarest category of property in the world: a large, freehold, infrastructure-complete, productive private atoll in the South Pacific, with the working operations of one of the world's leading pearl houses included in the sale. There are not thirty pearl islands in the eastern South Pacific. Of those, the number genuinely available for outright purchase has historically been close to zero. The next owner inherits an airstrip, a lagoon that produces gem-quality pearls, the operational continuity of the Robert Wan team, and the horizon of the central Pacific Ocean in every direction. The atoll has been described as a waking dream, in the slightly heightened language that French luxury real estate is known for. The underlying claim, in plainer English, is straightforward: there is nothing else like this on the market, and there has not been for a generation.