The Sun Goddess awaits: my transport to Hayman Island is a gleaming white launch awash with sparkling wine. 

The smooth journey from Great Barrier Reef Airport on Hamilton Island to Hayman takes an hour, which is long enough to nibble at a plate of canapes and toast the journey with flutes of sparkling wine from the Hunter Valley’s Bimbadgen Estate.

A little box with chocolates handmade on the island includes a white-chocolate prawn: that’s a first.

Alongside me on the Sun Goddess are urbane European couples (the women carry delicious handbags), newlyweds from Japan and a few families.

‘m told the resort is almost full when I arrive, yet I see but a handful of people the entire time I’m there. “It’s the great mystery of Hayman,” says a Hayman staffer, Sam. “Where does everyone go?”

If they’re one of a privileged few – and I’ve joined this elite group for only a few days – they’re most likely at a beach villa.

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