Sojourn out to fix up island resort
Townsville A WHITSUNDAY island resort abandoned since Cyclone Marcia has been bought.
Australian company Sojourn Properties snapped up the lease at Paradise Bay on the southern tip of Long Island for an undisclosed sum.
The island resort, which includes 10 bungalows, a day spa and a licensed bar, has been abandoned since 2015, when it suffered storm damage in the wake of Cyclone Marcia.
In 2017 the resort was hit again by Cyclone Debbie and the Australian Islands website had it listed for sale at a heavily reduced price of $ 1.5 million.
Though the bungalows are in quite good shape, the reception, bar and swimming pool have been badly damaged by Cyclone Debbie.
Sojourn Properties’ Wayne Rumble said a lot of the damage had been “cosmetic” and hoped to welcome visitors back to the resort by October.
“You have got gutters, hot water systems and solar panels that need to be re- looked at,” he said.
“It looked really bad but when we got the professionals out there to look deeply into it, ( we decided) it’s definitely worth getting up and running again.”
Mr Rumble said there was a team of people on the island clearing debris and landscaping the grounds, and erosion from tidal surges would need to be addressed.
Sojourn Properties has also owned the lease on Pumpkin Island in The Keppels since 2013.