here are trends that emerge with every 52 Weekends Away issue. This year, the 29th annual edition of Good Weekend’s much-loved domestic travel special, it’s glamping.
Whoever manufactures the upmarket safari-style tents that are popping up on empty paddocks and grassy lawns around the country must be making a motza.
Forget the basic tents of old: these sit on wooden decks, have en suites and kitchenettes, and are usually kitted out with upmarket queen-size beds, rugs, lights, side tables and even TVs.
Teeny-weeny pod-type houses are also going up at a rate of knots, so the architects and builders behind that development must be doing it sweet, too. Other noticeable trends include bathtubs on decks with amazing vistas – accompanied, if the property owner is smart, by a complimentary bottle of bubbles – and a tendency towards celebrating the artists whose work graces the walls of boutique hotels and Airbnbs nationwide.
So dive into our 2019 list of places to stay right around the country, which has been compiled with a view towards both practical advice and couch dreaming – and once again, with the help of our friends at Traveller.
-Katrina Strickland, Good Weekend editor
Queensland
ELYSIAN RETREAT
THE LOCATION It’s a 20-minute flight from Proserpine to the ends of the earth. Not literally, of course, but this secluded retreat on the southern tip of Long Island feels distinctly, and wonderfully, isolated.
THE PLACE Ten compact villas face the quiet cove’s too-blue-to-be-true waters, with the bush providing a verdant backdrop.
THE EXPERIENCE Leave the kids and the to-do list at home; here, less is definitely more and Wi-Fi is deliberately limited. The family-run property may have just a handful of staff, but the talented team capably tackles everything from creating elegant three-course meals and prepping homemade kombucha to providing soothing massages. The resort boat, Lotus, can drop you on a deserted stretch of sand for a spot of beachcombing; ask the chef to pack a picnic so you can make an afternoon of it. If that sounds too energetic, park yourself on a hammock beneath the palm trees and finally get stuck into that novel you’ve been meaning to read.
DON’T MISS Waves washing against the shore provide a soothing soundtrack for twice-daily yoga classes.
FROM $880 a night, including all meals and daily yoga lessons. - Ute Junker
https://www.smh.com.au/national/52-weekends-away-some-of-australia-s-finest-escapes-20191022-p5330c.html