July 30, 2025 • 36 mins
Hi there, welcome to our winter series. This week, we're taking you to the idyllic Cocos Keeling Islands – an atoll almost halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka where the airport runway doubles as the golf course, so infrequent are the flights.
Host Kirstie Bedford talks about her recent visit to the remote islands and what makes this largely unknown Australian island a must-visit. You can see some footage of her trip on Instagram at @kirstiewrites
Next up, we chat to author and freelance travel writer Celeste Mitchell about her new book, Ultimate Beaches Australia. She's scoured the nation to come up with 80 of the best beaches from the big names to some secret spots; places for world-class surf breaks or rock pools for the kids.
Celeste is also owner of Life Unhurried, lifeunhurried.com
And don't forget to enter our competition to win a tropical holiday in Thailand! To celebrate our 100th episode, we've partnered with Avani Hotels and Resorts to give away four nights' stay for two people in a deluxe room at Avani+ Khao Lak, with daily breakfast and dinner, airport transfers and a Muay Thai boxing class.
Just like the competition post on our Instagram page and tag a friend, and follow both The World Awaits and Avani Hotels, and you're in for the win!
Entrants can be located anywhere in the world. Entries close 31st July 2025.
*flights not included.
Visit us at https://theworldawaits.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to The World Away, travel tales to inspire
your wanderlust.
Hi there, welcome to our winterseries.
This week, we're taking you awayfrom the cold to some of
Australia's greatest islands andbeaches.
And for those who haven't heard,we have a trip to Thailand to
(00:20):
give away.
Our friends at Avani Hotels andResorts have partnered with us
to celebrate our 100th episode,kicking off the party with a
tropical holiday to give away.
You can win four nights for twopeople in a deluxe room at Avani
Plus Khao Lak with dailybreakfast and dinner, airport
transportation, and a Muay Thaiboxing class.
(00:44):
And all you have to do is go tothe World Awakes Instagram
competition post, like it andtag a friend and follow both the
World Awakes and Vani and you'rein for the win.
Entrance can be located anywherein the world and entries close
on the 31st of July.
First up, we're going to theidyllic Cocos Keeling Islands,
(01:05):
an atoll almost halfway betweenAustralia and Sri Lanka, where
the airport runway doubles as agolf course so infrequent are
its flights.
So Kirsty, I think the firstquestion has to be...
Where are the Cocos Keelings?
And are they really part ofAustralia?
I thought you were going to say,are they real?
You would wonder.
(01:25):
So it's literally in the middleof nowhere, so almost halfway
between Australia and Sri Lanka.
So to get there, you have to flyfrom Perth, and Virgin has two
flights a week.
And it is an Australianterritory, so you don't have to
have a passport.
So the Cocos Keeling is made upof 27 islands, but only two of
them are populated.
(01:46):
So West Island where the airportdoubles as a golf course because
the flights are so infrequent.
There's West Island and thenthere's also Home Island, which
is a half an hour ferry rideaway.
And that has about 600 peopleliving there, mostly Kakao
Malay.
And interestingly, tourismhasn't actually been around all
that long.
It only really started in the80s when the Kakao Malay
(02:08):
population voted to integratewith Australia.
Although the Queen did visit inthe 50s.
So there you have it.
Really?
Did she?
Oh my goodness.
Did she sail there, I wonder?
That would be fascinating tofind out.
Because it really is, you know,it is seriously remote from an
Australian point of view.
So, I mean, why do you go there?
(02:29):
Like, what do people expect whenthey go there?
Yeah, well, the perception's areally interesting one.
So I was sitting on the plane onthe flight over there next to
the only advanced open waterdiving instructor, Dita, and we
had a really nice chat.
And he was obviously justtelling me all sorts of things
about the history of the placeand how remarkable it was.
(02:52):
But he was telling me a reallyfunny story about how a couple
came over and booked a dive withhim because the husband wanted
to go diving.
So he just, you know...
They just went over as a couplewith the woman's wife.
And she thought she was goingfor sort of this luxury resort
style holiday.
And this is just not the case.
So while it does look likesomething straight out of the
(03:14):
Maldives, a trip here is sort ofreally more about immersing in
the local culture.
And it's really all about theocean.
Everyone's livelihood depends onthe ocean.
And so ocean tourism is a reallybig thing.
And it is a spectacular place.
But not quite what this womanwas expecting.
So, Dita was sort of saying how,you know, it was really
(03:35):
interesting because, well,needless to say, it didn't go
down too well for the manbecause his wife wasn't very
happy and she demanded to leave.
So, she ended up going home andhe had one of the best diving
and fishing experiences of hislife.
Oh, my gosh.
That's phenomenal.
So, we know what the perceptionis about it, but, well, I mean,
(03:55):
what type of place actually isit?
You know, what's the vibe ofthis joint?
UNKNOWN (03:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
So it's very relaxed.
So it's really like going toyour favorite beach holiday
destination.
You know, when you go to thoseplaces when you're younger, when
you're a kid, you know howpeople go to holiday
destinations and it's likeeveryone knows each other and
it's just a really relaxed, coolbeach vibe.
It's really like that.
And so to paint a bit of apicture, like it's literally the
water is like powder blue waterand icing sugar like sand.
(04:23):
And I don't say that lightly.
Like, it literally looks likethat.
There are coconut groves withthese giant green palms where
they just fan out and, like,envelope you as you're walking
through.
And there's, like, giantcoconuts discarded on the
ground, like big skulls.
And palm-sized crabs, the crabsare just incredible.
(04:44):
Massive crabs just everywhere.
And there's chickens roamingfree.
And then...
the waters.
So in the water, obviously,there's just like kaleidoscopic
fish darting around between yourlegs.
And we went We went out once andwe were just walking along in
this like crystal clear gin likewater.
And this parrotfish was justdarted between my legs.
(05:06):
It was so bright.
It was so surreal and almostlike in such a surreal
situation.
I just felt because of this fishthat was so vibrantly coloured
and because you can see them allso clearly.
So it really feels reallyuntouched.
And the other cool thing aboutit is it's beautiful.
the vibe is kind of like there'sno traffic lights, right?
(05:28):
And everyone leaves their keysin their cars just in case
someone needs the car and alltheir homes are unlocked.
So when you hire a car, they sayto you, don't take the keys out
of the car.
So you take the car and it feelsvery unnatural, but you have to
leave the keys in the car justto say someone else just wants
to pick up the car and use thecar while they're on the island.
(05:50):
So, yeah, that's what it's like.
Oh, my goodness.
So, I mean, that soundsincredible.
What are the things, why do yougo there, if you actually know
why you're going there, unlikethat woman?
What are some of the things youcan do on the island, you know?
You did rave about the motorisedkayaks and biking around the
(06:14):
island.
So, yeah, run us through some ofthe activities on the Cocos
Killings.
Yeah, both of those things arereally amazing and a really good
way to get sort of the lay ofthe land.
And so we cycled around underthose amazing coconut trees and
then you just pop out at this,you know, glistening, beach that
(06:36):
feels like you've just beenabandoned on some island
somewhere, which you basicallyhave.
And we also went snorkeling onPula Marae, which is one of the
tiny little islands there.
And you There's 500 species offish here.
So basically, like I was sayingbefore about that parrotfish,
when you go snorkeling here, themarine life is just really
(07:00):
incredible.
It's just remarkable.
And when you walk up on theshore, there's these lipstick
red crabs that just pop out oftheir white little shells and
just scuttle around.
So as you're walking around onshore, all the shells seem to
move.
It was just bizarre.
I was thinking...
all these shells are justmoving.
And when you take a closer look,you can see like these little
(07:22):
lipstick red cranes justcrawling around underneath.
But probably for me, one of thebest parts about it, and I
always bang on about how I lovemeeting the people behind a
place.
And I honestly, genuinely, thatwas the best thing for me.
So meeting the locals.
So we went, we're reallyfortunate to take a tour on Home
Island.
So I think I said before, it'sabout a half an hour ferry ride
(07:44):
from West Island.
And There's a local, Zula Akia,who actually runs the local
visitor information centre.
And she took us, she's a fourthgeneration local, and she took
us to her mum's house on HomeIsland.
And we had, because they'regoing to start running cooking
classes this year.
So if anyone goes over there, goover to the visitor information
(08:06):
centre and just ask about thecooking lessons with her because
they're she hasn't started themyet, but we were sort of getting
a test run.
So she took us over there and wewent into her house, into her
kitchen and her dad was thereand her mum was there and she
was saying, oh, my dad catchesall the fish.
And then we just, and then, sothey, her dad catches everything
(08:27):
they eat, her dad catches thefish for the week.
And then she was saying that,you know, she wanted to cook and
wants to show people the localdishes to help keep the
traditions alive.
And that aspect of helping keepkeep local cultures and
traditions alive is really deepin that home island culture.
So she took us around on littlegolf cart things around the
(08:49):
island.
It's really tiny.
And we went and met this84-year-old called Waka Uden,
and he is the only person on theisland who makes sea salt, and
he weaves traditional baskets,these coconut baskets.
tree, from the coconut treeleaves.
So he just whipped one up and Iwas saying to her, how long
would that normally take tomake?
And she was like, oh, you know,if anyone else said it, it would
(09:10):
be like two hours.
And he was whipping thesebaskets up in about 10 minutes.
And I said to him, what I askedher to translate, because he
didn't speak English, ask himwhat, you know, how he felt
about keeping, he's the onlyperson doing it.
And he said, he's really beentrying to educate the younger
generation, but a lot of themjust aren't particularly
(09:31):
interested in it.
So it's just such a shame tothink that, you know, that that
tradition could be lost.
So, and you can actually buy hisbaskets if you do go over there
at the West Island VisitorsInformation Centre, or you can
buy them off him as well.
And you can also taste his seasalt at the main restaurant on
West Island, which is calledSalty's Cafe, which is run by
another local family.
(09:52):
Everything's run by locals andeveryone's got more than one
job.
So, you know, people do, peoplemight be interested have, you
know, they might be the localelectrician and then they also
run a dive centre or something.
So yeah, so that's...
And then back on West Island, Ialso met another really
remarkable woman called EmmaWasher and she runs the Big
(10:16):
Barge Art Centre.
So this is this boat that thisgiant moored barge, which her
father completely restored withthe locals on a...
And they...
They've got it now permanentlymoored on this completely
isolated island on West Island.
And it's literally like, youknow, just metres from the
(10:38):
water.
And it's...
Basically, she's turned it intoan art centre.
So she uses debris, 100% marinedebris that's washed up on the
atoll, to make art.
So things like thongs andtoothbrushes and plastics.
And she said that there's justnot a lot of education in
(10:59):
neighbouring nations aboutdiscarding of rubbish in the
ocean.
So she wants to make sure thatshe can collect it.
And she runs workshops.
So if you're a visitor, you canmake something from the marine
debris and take it home withyou.
Yeah, I mean, that's incrediblethat, you know, that they are
getting, you know, debris andrubbish in from other parts of
(11:19):
the world.
Because when you look at it onthe map, it's quite close to, I
mean, it's much closer toIndonesia than it is to
Australia.
So I was going to ask when youwere talking about running over
all those incredible crabs andstuff, what's the food like when
you go to that cooking school?
You know, is that, like, whatare you eating when you're
there?
Because you are Miles fromnowhere, I don't think there's
(11:40):
any sheep or cattle kickingaround the place, are there?
No, and this is the thing.
I mean, it's because of thenature of the islands, you know,
they don't grow much there.
So predominantly, it's all aboutlocal fish.
There's chickens running aroundeverywhere, to be honest.
But we had, yeah, a lot of Thefood's remarkable, and we had a
(12:05):
lot of– there are a lot of sortof Malay dishes, you know, rice
and chicken and fish andchicken, beautiful dishes and
samosas and things like thatthat we had when we were there.
Yeah.
Oh, that sounds fantastic.
And, look, I have to ask, whatis the weather like?
(12:25):
You've got these amazingbeaches, but you are in the
middle of the ocean, and thathas got to play– It's got to
play some effect upon thesetiny, tiny landmass.
So tell us about the weather,Kirsty.
So when I was on the plane withDieter, he was telling me that
there's a running joke thatsummer's winter and winter's
summer because the weather onlychanges by two degrees.
(12:46):
So it's really beautiful andwarm all year round.
But unseasonably, and just myluck, when we got there, it was
literally like we had about afew hours and then it just
started raining.
It just literally poured withrain.
And it doesn't typically rainwhen you're there like this.
(13:09):
It was in November.
And it does sort of have a bitof an impact on you obviously
getting out to do with the boatsjust because of the weather.
But it didn't stop us sort ofgetting out about– and I'll tell
you, it was really funnywatching the local kids because
clearly this is an indication ofhow much rain they must get.
When it was really– raining alot outside the golf um the golf
(13:32):
club which is just like a tinylittle shack um on the next to
the runway because that's thegolf course the um There was a
little puddle that sort of onthe road, there was a bit of
like a lot of water that hadpulled there.
And all the kids grabbed likeskimboards and whatever they
could find, little boogieboards.
And they were so excited aboutthe rain.
(13:53):
And I was thinking so different,you know, when it rains at home.
And they ran outside and theyliterally were dragging each
other around on these boards.
And then they were sitting inthe puddles.
And when we were driving aroundthe corner, they were screaming
out and yelling And I said tothe person we were with, the
local, what are they doing?
(14:13):
And, you know, why are theyyelling at us?
Are they just so excited?
She said, no, they want us tospeed up and splash them.
But she said, it's not going tohappen because there's a
30-kilometer limit around thewhole island and everyone
adheres to it because it's sucha community feel.
It's like literally everyone's abig family.
So because there aren't thatmany people.
There's like 100 people, 120people that live on West Island
(14:35):
and they're all running tourismbusinesses and, you know, as I
said before, like Home Island isa larger population of Kako
Malay, but West Island is wherea lot of the tourism operators
are based.
And so she was saying, no onewill do it.
But, you know, we tried to get alittle, give them a little
splash, but it wasn't, yeah, youhave to stick to that 30k speed
limit.
But these kids were just soexcited about the rain.
(14:58):
But If it's not raining, the onething you really want to do,
which we were going to do but wecouldn't because of the rain,
was go to Direction Island.
And that's where apparently themarine life is just really
abundant.
And it's said to be by many,many people that go there and
the locals that it's likeswimming in an aquarium.
It's just that magical, thediving there.
(15:20):
And it's renowned for being,yeah, a really remarkable dive
spot.
So it sounds incredible.
Who– I mean, who's best suitedto this island?
Clearly not the woman in theanecdote at the beginning
because she was looking forfive-star hotels, wasn't she?
Yeah, I think her husband justmight have talked it up because
(15:41):
he definitely wanted to gothere.
So, yeah, look, I do think itsuits most travellers.
I mean, if you want a luxuryresort type holiday, then, you
know, Dita's right in that it'snot, you know, there's some
lovely accommodation, butthere's not flashy resorts.
For a family holiday, you justwould have an amazing time.
Like, I would love to havetaken, I mean, my kids are
(16:01):
older, but, you know, kids atany age, you just get back to
basics and connect wheneveryou're travelling And because
this place is really literallyjust back to basics, no one
wears shoes.
I mean, I was talking to Mel,the PR person, for the Cocos
Keeling, who was, who was withus a lot of the time when we
were there.
And she, they'd lived there fora few years and she, they were
(16:25):
going to be moving back tomainland.
She was saying, you know, thather, her son, her three-year-old
son had never worn shoes.
So they just don't wear, no onewears shoes.
No, like it's just the weather'swarm.
It's just safe.
No one wears shoes.
And you just walk around andthere's, but for couples also,
they're, are some reallybeautiful private snorkelling
(16:45):
spots and they're neverovercrowded because you can only
have, I think it's 140 or 144people there at one time.
So you can never have moretourists than that there at one
time.
So because of that, you know,there's lots of quiet places to
go for couples and the beachesare literally your own.
The food's amazing.
Like I explained before, there'sa really local sort of casual
(17:07):
cafe style restaurants andthey're right on the water, run
by the locals, everything's runby locals.
And I think our last day reallysort of summed it up for me.
So we Our flight was cancelledand so, you know, when the
flights are cancelled, I mean,there's nowhere to go because
you...
And a whole lot of people havecome in from Christmas Islands
(17:29):
because the way the flight goes,it came from Christmas Island,
then Cocos Killing and then backto Perth.
So...
There was an influx of peoplewho already had been booked in
our accommodation, so wecouldn't stay where we were
staying.
So literally, it was like it wasan event of some kind or a
festival or something.
All these locals just come outof their houses.
(17:51):
Everyone just rallies around andthey just take you to their
home.
So I stayed with this gorgeouscouple who'd moved here So the
lifestyle, I just ended upliving there.
And they just gave me theirspare room.
I stayed in their spare room.
They make you a cup of tea.
They're happy to just make youanything you want to eat.
It's just a real sense ofcommunity.
(18:11):
And experiencing that, beingthere when that flight was
cancelled and watching thatcommunity rally around you, and
literally everyone just came outof their homes and were just
like, right.
We were lining up and they werejust ticking our names off and
going, you go with Fred, you gowith Mary, you go with this
person, you go with that person.
It was just remarkable.
And, you know, I think thatreally sums up what it's like
(18:35):
being there.
Like everyone knows everyone.
Everyone treats you well.
Like, they love having touriststhere.
They respect you.
They're grateful to having youthere.
They want to show you what aremarkable place this is, and it
really is.
And because, you know, like Isaid before, their livelihood is
all about the ocean, so it'sabout getting tourists out on
(18:56):
the ocean.
But there's just a true sense ofcommunity, and you will feel
that from the minute that youget there, and you will
certainly feel that when youleave.
Oh, it sounds just incredible.
That's such a great note to endon.
And if you want to hear more orlearn more about the travelling
in the Cocos Keelings, you canread Kirsty's story in the
(19:18):
latest issue of Vacations andTravel magazine.
And to learn more about theatoll, go to
cocoskeelingisland.com.au.
That was my co-host, KirstyBedford, talking about her
recent visit to the CocosKeeling Islands.
You can see some footage of hertrip on her Instagram at Kirstie
Writes.
That's K-I-R-S-T-I-E Writes,W-R-I-T-E-S.
(19:44):
Next up, we're chatting toauthor and freelance writer
Celeste Mitchell about her newbook, Ultimate Beaches
Australia.
She has scoured the nation tocome up with the 80 best
beaches, from the big names tosome secret spots, world-class
surf breaks and rock pools forthe kids.
Welcome to the show, Celeste.
(20:05):
Thank you for having me, Kirsty.
So great to have you on TheWorld Awaits.
Let's start by tell us a bitabout your background and how
you came to be in the travelindustry.
I studied journalism, and so Istarted out in working in
magazines in Sydney for abouteight years, but that was more
in the teen entertainment worldon titles like Girlfriend and
Total Girl and TV Hits, so a bitof a different world.
(20:28):
But after a short stint intourism PR, I started
freelancing.
about 12 years ago now, and I'vebeen focused solely on travel
for at least 10 of those.
So I write for major titles likeEscape, An Australian Traveller,
Explore, and Travel and Luxuryin the Australian.
And tell us a little bit aboutwhat else you do now, because as
(20:48):
well as being an incrediblyprolific travel writer and
author, you also have a platformcalled Life Unhurried.
Yes.
So that was, I've launched LifeUnhurried with two friends and
business partners in 2018.
It's basically an onlineplatform focused on slowing down
and focused on how toincorporate more slow living and
(21:10):
slow travel practices.
And within that, we reallyfeature what we call slow stays.
So we've got a beautifuldirectory of accommodation where
you can stay in the type ofplaces where you know that you
can really go and switch off andunwind.
So that's a real passion projecton the side that I like to yeah,
keep balanced with the travelwriting.
And definitely an area I thinkmore and more people are looking
(21:33):
for these days.
So let's focus on your latestproject.
So what made you want to writethis particular book about
beaches?
I was really lucky, actually,because with Life Unhurried, we
actually have a coffee tablebook that we bought out that was
published by Hardy Grant in2022.
So after that book came out, afew months later, the publisher
(21:54):
offered me the opportunity towrite the next book in what they
call the Ultimate Series.
So you might have seen themaround.
There's quite a few out therenow, Ultimate Hikes, Ultimate
Camping, Ultimate Caravan Trips,and they've been doing really
well.
And they asked me about writingone about beaches.
And so I jumped at theopportunity, probably a little
bit naively as I had two verysmall children and a lot on my
(22:17):
plate.
But I just thought I grew up bythe beach.
I've always lived by the coast.
I absolutely love the beach.
I thought I knew the East Coastpretty well.
Turned out it was a prettydaunting task.
Australia is very large.
But in the end, I feel lucky tohave had a reason to travel to
all the places I had yet tovisit in the name of research.
Amazing.
(22:38):
And how many beaches are therein Australia?
Oh, there's over 10,000.
I was trying to narrow that downto 80.
So it was still quite a heftynumber that I had to come to in
the end.
And so I was very strategicabout it.
I had all my spreadsheets andwas trying to nut out how many
beaches per state I would dobecause they wanted it to be a
real even mix.
And then you're wanting to havea real mix of those big names,
(23:01):
but also some lesser knownbeaches and really, yeah, tried
to, it sounds like a big number,but trying to figure out 80 was
quite daunting.
Absolutely.
Particularly if there's 10,000,my gosh, who would have realized
that there were 10,000 beaches?
I wonder if I would love to hearfrom anyone to see how many
beaches people have ticked offtheir list.
What are some of the, let's talkthrough some of the spots then.
(23:23):
So what are some of the spotsthat you actually covered that
are maybe some of not such bigname beaches?
A lot of people would haveobviously heard or been to some
of the biggest names,particularly the ones that
always win those awards.
But what about some of thelesser known beaches?
Yeah, like you said, yeah, I wastrying to cover it because we
wanted a mix for everyone.
So there's a lot of familyfriendly beaches in there, but
(23:45):
also ones that are going toappeal more to surfers or
hikers.
And I'll just say that withinthat for every beach, it really
drills down to provideinformation on whether it's
accessible, what the patrolinformation is.
whether it's dog friendly, whathikes are nearby, surf breaks,
where to stay, and also gotthings about where to get the
best fish and chips or the bestice creams.
(24:07):
Apart from those big namebeaches, some of the ones that
come to mind for me are perhapssome of the harder to reach
spots that you might have tolike drive in on a longer four
wheel drive track or hike to getto.
So one was Blowhole Beach inSouth Australia.
And that's in Deep CreekNational Park, which is down on
the Florio Peninsula.
And so it's not a really longhike.
(24:27):
It's only a few kilometers.
But that, I don't know, there'sa feeling of achievement when
you get down to a place likethat.
And you also have that sense ofremoteness because it's not just
a beach that everyone can pullup.
in their car or jump off thetrain and go there.
That was a great one.
I also really love some of thesmaller island beaches.
One that's in the book is SunsetBeach on Middle Island, which is
(24:49):
in the Keppel group of islandson the Capricorn Coast.
It's only accessible by privateboat, but you can also get there
on a day trip.
So I think anything like thatwhere it's only accessible by
boat is certainly different tosome of your big Bondi's.
And also any of Tasmania'sbeaches, they're all so
different and just so quietcompared to what most people are
(25:09):
used to.
What are some of the differencesin some of these beaches?
So obviously, because a beachisn't just a beach, right?
Like you say, like some of themare really wild and rugged and
other ones are really pristinewith gin clear waters.
What are some of the mostdramatic beaches that have got
the most dramatic differences?
Oh, some that jumped to mindimmediately are places like
(25:31):
Rainbow Beach in Queensland,because you've got these
towering rainbow-coloured cliffsthat just run along the beach.
And that's just, that's whatimpresses you most about that
long stretch of sand.
And then in others that areenclosed within rocky headlands,
like there's a beautifulCabarita Beach on the Tweed
Coast in New South Wales.
Actually, Cabarita is quite along beach, but there's a tiny
(25:54):
little section of it that I talkabout in the book because that's
such a beautiful little spot.
You feel like you're reallycradled in there.
There's others that have theseincredible granite boulders, and
that's really what captures yourattention.
Elephant Rocks in WesternAustralia.
which is just near Denmark onthe south coast of Western
Australia.
It's unlike any other beach thatI've seen in Australia.
(26:15):
So they can be all so variedwhen it comes to the vegetation
that's around there and how youaccess them as well.
Are there any that reallysurprised you that when you were
doing your research, you were,wow, I just never expected that?
One was, it's calledHuntingfield Bay on Magnetic
Island, which is an island justoff Townsville in North
(26:36):
Queensland.
Another one that you can onlyaccess by boat, but it actually
has this amazing, it's only incertain months of the year, but
it's got a waterfall that flowsdown onto the beach.
So it basically cascades downover all these granite boulders
down to the beach and createslike a pool of fresh water right
there on the sand.
So that was really incredible.
(26:57):
I haven't seen anything likethat.
The other was the watercolouralong the south coast of Western
Australia, especially there's aspot called Little Boat Harbour
Beach in Bremer Bay and justlike piercing blue turquoise
water and just no one elsethere.
And I think that was the biggestthing that stood out to me along
that section of coast.
(27:19):
I also love how beautiful andvaried the beaches on Kangaroo
Island are.
Like I think there's places thatyou just...
You know, I'd heard so many goodthings about Kangaroo Island and
you think of like nature and thewildlife and the food
experiences that you can havethere.
But there's so many incrediblebeaches on that island as well.
And I think even though this isone that I didn't get to
(27:40):
personally, some of the reallyremote beaches in Arnhem Land,
Lonely Beach is one that is inthe book.
And when you see the photos ofthat, you'll understand what
makes it special.
Yeah, and I think that's it,right?
The diversity in Australia onthe beaches and the fact that
You could probably be on some ofthose beaches and feel like
you're anywhere in the world.
Some of them are like theMaldives and others are the
(28:01):
Philippines or some reallyrugged surf spots somewhere.
They just seem so varied.
So what, this is like askingwho's your favorite child, but
do you have a favorite?
I know this is literally thequestion that everybody's asked
me, like whenever I've talkedabout working on this book I
think there's too many what Iwould say is I think the beaches
where I've been with the onesthat I love like that so much of
(28:24):
a beach experience can be whoyou're with and you know what
you're doing whether you're onholidays at that time camping on
the beach like that certainlyhas a huge impact on how you
feel about a beach and I findwith a lot of these small beach
towns it's a real nostalgic kindof feeling that people have for
these places as well beforethere might be places that they
visit every year Sawtelle is onethat's like that for me.
(28:47):
It's just south of Coffs Harbourand it's somewhere that we go to
visit friends at least once ayear.
I think because it's got thebeach, it's got rock pools, the
Bonneville Headlands there withthe back beach and then there's
an ocean pool and the creekflows in and it's just
beautiful.
It seems like it's amazing nomatter what the conditions are.
Agnes Water in Queensland isalso very cool.
(29:07):
Like it's just such a chilledout spot.
The campground's right on thesand.
It's the most northernmost beachwith surf and it's this really
gentle point break.
So it's great for kids, greatfor beginners.
And I also really love SouthGorge on Minjerrabara, North
Stradbroke Island.
It's just like this littlesliver of a beach and yeah, just
got these towering cliffs besideyou that are really beautiful.
(29:30):
I could go on and on.
I think Twilight Beach inEsperance also has to be seen in
real life.
The boulders that rise out ofthe water there are just
amazing.
And the one I mentioned before,Elephant Rocks, if you haven't
been there, like being able towalk down between those granite
boulders and get onto the beachthere is really special.
Amazing.
You're so making me want to havea beach getaway.
(29:52):
I'm going to have to ask you aquestion, backtrack a little
towards something you weresaying before, and you have to
excuse the accent, but You saidthat there were some beaches
that had the best fish andchips.
So I have to ask you, which one?
Which has?
I'm not going to repeat.
I'm not going to repeat myquestion.
Look, I couldn't tell.
It's not that I could tell youwhich beach had it.
(30:13):
It's more that like within thewhere possible, I've tried to
put in mentions of where to getthe best fish and chips or the
best ice cream.
I'd have to actually flickthrough the book to tell you
now, but I know that there'ssomething really cool actually
in Woolai in New South Wales.
They have an old school icecream truck.
And in summer, you can actuallytext them like, you know, that
(30:35):
when you want to have an icecream and they'll drive to you
so you can get your ice cream.
So I thought that was supercool.
Because that's such a neat part,isn't it, of a great part of
beach experiences too, is takingfood and being able to have
picnics.
Was there anywhere that was bestfor a little picnic spot, maybe
private little for couples,areas for couples?
(30:56):
Because we all know most beachesare obviously great for children
and there are a lot offamily-friendly beaches.
But what about places that are alittle more isolated or a little
better for couples?
I have a friend who will reallyhate me for talking about this
one, but Scottshead in New SouthWales, it is really great for
families.
But I think when you talk aboutpicnic spots or somewhere where
(31:16):
you're getting that freshseafood, we...
When we were there, we went andgot some oysters from a seafood
shop, which is literally out ofsome guy's house in a couple of
streets back from the beach.
And you go and pick up yourNambucca oysters and bring them
to the beachfront.
And there's this reallybeautiful table there that's
covered in mosaic tiles.
It's in the shape of a whaletail.
And you sit there overlookingthe water.
(31:37):
If you're there at sunset, youknow, you've got these pandanus
trees framing the scene,overlooking the water there.
Pour yourself some bubbles, havethe oysters.
And yeah, that was really primo.
Amazing.
That does, that sounds like anamazing experience.
And so what about with your lifeunharried hat on, what are some
of the topics for sort of somebeachside slow stays?
(32:01):
So some places where they'renear or right next to amazing
beaches where you can stay andthey don't have to be places in
your book.
Oh, no, that was one of mythings, favorite things about
the book, because I could putin, like, I wanted to really
focus on great beach shacks andthe ones that still exist that
are also really beautiful.
There's plenty of campgrounds inthe book.
(32:21):
I've definitely talked about,like, best campgrounds that are
on the beach, prime position,like that Agnes Water one that I
spoke about.
Or there's also a Reflections atScott's Head, the Big Four in
Sawtelle.
And there's really cute A-framesat a place called Esperance
Chalet Village in WA.
But when it comes to shacks,there's one called The Slow in
(32:42):
Woolai, which is right on thebeachfront.
Drop In Bendalong, which isright near Washerwoman's Beach.
That's one that I've got on theNew South Wales south coast.
I also stayed at a really coollittle shack called Tangerine
Dream, which is in Deep CreekNational Park in South
Australia.
And it's this real 70s vibe.
Original shack, you've got 70sdecor, record player and
(33:04):
fireplace inside.
But out the back, it's got afire pit and an outdoor bathtub.
And you're right near theentrance of the National Park.
So you can go do that great hikepast all the kangaroos, past all
the grass trees down to BlowholeBeach.
I also really love Arkoo House,which sits right on the sand in
Sisters Beach in Tasmania.
(33:24):
So that's up on the north coast.
And it's just like this reallybeautiful A-frame and the owners
that have it did an amazingrenovation on it.
And staying there was a reallyspecial spot to be that close to
the beach.
Yeah.
And that's the thing, like itwould make you slow down, right?
Because you're actually close tothe beach, but it sounds like
they're also really uniqueproperties like they, in
(33:46):
themselves, they've gotsomething quirky about them or
they're quite unique.
Is that what, is that what helpsmake it a slow stay?
Yeah, definitely looking forplaces where you'll naturally
want to unwind.
And some of the things, like Imentioned, a record player or
things, they might be off gridor they might not, but they're
generally more sustainablyminded.
They're places that encourageslowing down rituals.
(34:08):
So perhaps not having a TV, nothaving Wi-Fi, having to brew
your coffee on the stove, justlittle moments to remind you to
just slow down and enjoy andimmerse yourself in the place
where you are.
Amazing.
I'm sure we could talk aboutbeaches for hours and hours and
people will just have to gethold of your book too.
And we will put a link in theshow notes of where to get that.
(34:29):
But this is the question that weask, final question we ask all
of our guests, which is, what'sthe most bizarre thing that's
ever happened to you on yourtravels?
This one I had totally forgottenabout until I asked my husband
for help on this question.
He reminded me that after wewere married, we were really...
We somehow scored these amazingbusiness class flights on
(34:52):
points.
So we did this big trip over toEurope and we were flying home
on the business class Emiratesfrom London to Dubai.
And essentially there was apassenger who was very
demanding, wanted a lot ofchampagne.
And next minute she's pulled upsome random from another row.
She's got him in with her andproceeds to basically give him a
(35:12):
lap dance in the business classarea.
Yeah, that's probably up therewith Pretty Bizarre.
That is very bizarre.
Absolutely.
And I hope it didn't destroyyour business class experience.
Trying to relax.
It was interesting, that's forsure.
Oh, look, it's been so great tochat with you about your book
(35:34):
and these incredible, thank youfor so many incredible
recommendations for beaches.
And you're definitely the go-towhen it comes to my next beach
getaways.
That was Celeste Mitchell, theauthor of Ultimate Beaches
Australia and owner of LifeUnhurried.
And you can find out more atlifeunhurried.com.
Next week, we're back into ourregular schedule and we're
(35:54):
kicking off 2025 with a rundownof some of the great cruises
around the world.
And if you are enjoying ourpodcast, please leave a rating
and a review.
on Apple Podcasts.
Click onto our profile, scrolldown to the bottom to leave a
star rating, and if you are onSpotify, go to our main page and
click the three dots underneathour photo.
(36:15):
Or simply drop us a line athello at theworldawaits.au.
We love hearing from ourlisteners.
Thanks so much for joining us onthe World Awaits Winter Series.
See you next time.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
Click to subscribe anywhere youlisten to your favourite pods.
Thanks for listening.
See you next week.
Welcome to The World Away, travel tales to inspire
your wanderlust.
Hi there, welcome to our winterseries.
This week, we're taking you awayfrom the cold to some of
Australia's greatest islands andbeaches.
And for those who haven't heard,we have a trip to Thailand to
(00:20):
give away.
Our friends at Avani Hotels andResorts have partnered with us
to celebrate our 100th episode,kicking off the party with a
tropical holiday to give away.
You can win four nights for twopeople in a deluxe room at Avani
Plus Khao Lak with dailybreakfast and dinner, airport
transportation, and a Muay Thaiboxing class.
(00:44):
And all you have to do is go tothe World Awakes Instagram
competition post, like it andtag a friend and follow both the
World Awakes and Vani and you'rein for the win.
Entrance can be located anywherein the world and entries close
on the 31st of July.
First up, we're going to theidyllic Cocos Keeling Islands,
(01:05):
an atoll almost halfway betweenAustralia and Sri Lanka, where
the airport runway doubles as agolf course so infrequent are
its flights.
So Kirsty, I think the firstquestion has to be...
Where are the Cocos Keelings?
And are they really part ofAustralia?
I thought you were going to say,are they real?
You would wonder.
(01:25):
So it's literally in the middleof nowhere, so almost halfway
between Australia and Sri Lanka.
So to get there, you have to flyfrom Perth, and Virgin has two
flights a week.
And it is an Australianterritory, so you don't have to
have a passport.
So the Cocos Keeling is made upof 27 islands, but only two of
them are populated.
(01:46):
So West Island where the airportdoubles as a golf course because
the flights are so infrequent.
There's West Island and thenthere's also Home Island, which
is a half an hour ferry rideaway.
And that has about 600 peopleliving there, mostly Kakao
Malay.
And interestingly, tourismhasn't actually been around all
that long.
It only really started in the80s when the Kakao Malay
(02:08):
population voted to integratewith Australia.
Although the Queen did visit inthe 50s.
So there you have it.
Really?
Did she?
Oh my goodness.
Did she sail there, I wonder?
That would be fascinating tofind out.
Because it really is, you know,it is seriously remote from an
Australian point of view.
So, I mean, why do you go there?
(02:29):
Like, what do people expect whenthey go there?
Yeah, well, the perception's areally interesting one.
So I was sitting on the plane onthe flight over there next to
the only advanced open waterdiving instructor, Dita, and we
had a really nice chat.
And he was obviously justtelling me all sorts of things
about the history of the placeand how remarkable it was.
(02:52):
But he was telling me a reallyfunny story about how a couple
came over and booked a dive withhim because the husband wanted
to go diving.
So he just, you know...
They just went over as a couplewith the woman's wife.
And she thought she was goingfor sort of this luxury resort
style holiday.
And this is just not the case.
So while it does look likesomething straight out of the
(03:14):
Maldives, a trip here is sort ofreally more about immersing in
the local culture.
And it's really all about theocean.
Everyone's livelihood depends onthe ocean.
And so ocean tourism is a reallybig thing.
And it is a spectacular place.
But not quite what this womanwas expecting.
So, Dita was sort of saying how,you know, it was really
(03:35):
interesting because, well,needless to say, it didn't go
down too well for the manbecause his wife wasn't very
happy and she demanded to leave.
So, she ended up going home andhe had one of the best diving
and fishing experiences of hislife.
Oh, my gosh.
That's phenomenal.
So, we know what the perceptionis about it, but, well, I mean,
(03:55):
what type of place actually isit?
You know, what's the vibe ofthis joint?
UNKNOWN (03:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
So it's very relaxed.
So it's really like going toyour favorite beach holiday
destination.
You know, when you go to thoseplaces when you're younger, when
you're a kid, you know howpeople go to holiday
destinations and it's likeeveryone knows each other and
it's just a really relaxed, coolbeach vibe.
It's really like that.
And so to paint a bit of apicture, like it's literally the
water is like powder blue waterand icing sugar like sand.
(04:23):
And I don't say that lightly.
Like, it literally looks likethat.
There are coconut groves withthese giant green palms where
they just fan out and, like,envelope you as you're walking
through.
And there's, like, giantcoconuts discarded on the
ground, like big skulls.
And palm-sized crabs, the crabsare just incredible.
(04:44):
Massive crabs just everywhere.
And there's chickens roamingfree.
And then...
the waters.
So in the water, obviously,there's just like kaleidoscopic
fish darting around between yourlegs.
And we went We went out once andwe were just walking along in
this like crystal clear gin likewater.
And this parrotfish was justdarted between my legs.
(05:06):
It was so bright.
It was so surreal and almostlike in such a surreal
situation.
I just felt because of this fishthat was so vibrantly coloured
and because you can see them allso clearly.
So it really feels reallyuntouched.
And the other cool thing aboutit is it's beautiful.
the vibe is kind of like there'sno traffic lights, right?
(05:28):
And everyone leaves their keysin their cars just in case
someone needs the car and alltheir homes are unlocked.
So when you hire a car, they sayto you, don't take the keys out
of the car.
So you take the car and it feelsvery unnatural, but you have to
leave the keys in the car justto say someone else just wants
to pick up the car and use thecar while they're on the island.
(05:50):
So, yeah, that's what it's like.
Oh, my goodness.
So, I mean, that soundsincredible.
What are the things, why do yougo there, if you actually know
why you're going there, unlikethat woman?
What are some of the things youcan do on the island, you know?
You did rave about the motorisedkayaks and biking around the
(06:14):
island.
So, yeah, run us through some ofthe activities on the Cocos
Killings.
Yeah, both of those things arereally amazing and a really good
way to get sort of the lay ofthe land.
And so we cycled around underthose amazing coconut trees and
then you just pop out at this,you know, glistening, beach that
(06:36):
feels like you've just beenabandoned on some island
somewhere, which you basicallyhave.
And we also went snorkeling onPula Marae, which is one of the
tiny little islands there.
And you There's 500 species offish here.
So basically, like I was sayingbefore about that parrotfish,
when you go snorkeling here, themarine life is just really
(07:00):
incredible.
It's just remarkable.
And when you walk up on theshore, there's these lipstick
red crabs that just pop out oftheir white little shells and
just scuttle around.
So as you're walking around onshore, all the shells seem to
move.
It was just bizarre.
I was thinking...
all these shells are justmoving.
And when you take a closer look,you can see like these little
(07:22):
lipstick red cranes justcrawling around underneath.
But probably for me, one of thebest parts about it, and I
always bang on about how I lovemeeting the people behind a
place.
And I honestly, genuinely, thatwas the best thing for me.
So meeting the locals.
So we went, we're reallyfortunate to take a tour on Home
Island.
So I think I said before, it'sabout a half an hour ferry ride
(07:44):
from West Island.
And There's a local, Zula Akia,who actually runs the local
visitor information centre.
And she took us, she's a fourthgeneration local, and she took
us to her mum's house on HomeIsland.
And we had, because they'regoing to start running cooking
classes this year.
So if anyone goes over there, goover to the visitor information
(08:06):
centre and just ask about thecooking lessons with her because
they're she hasn't started themyet, but we were sort of getting
a test run.
So she took us over there and wewent into her house, into her
kitchen and her dad was thereand her mum was there and she
was saying, oh, my dad catchesall the fish.
And then we just, and then, sothey, her dad catches everything
(08:27):
they eat, her dad catches thefish for the week.
And then she was saying that,you know, she wanted to cook and
wants to show people the localdishes to help keep the
traditions alive.
And that aspect of helping keepkeep local cultures and
traditions alive is really deepin that home island culture.
So she took us around on littlegolf cart things around the
(08:49):
island.
It's really tiny.
And we went and met this84-year-old called Waka Uden,
and he is the only person on theisland who makes sea salt, and
he weaves traditional baskets,these coconut baskets.
tree, from the coconut treeleaves.
So he just whipped one up and Iwas saying to her, how long
would that normally take tomake?
And she was like, oh, you know,if anyone else said it, it would
(09:10):
be like two hours.
And he was whipping thesebaskets up in about 10 minutes.
And I said to him, what I askedher to translate, because he
didn't speak English, ask himwhat, you know, how he felt
about keeping, he's the onlyperson doing it.
And he said, he's really beentrying to educate the younger
generation, but a lot of themjust aren't particularly
(09:31):
interested in it.
So it's just such a shame tothink that, you know, that that
tradition could be lost.
So, and you can actually buy hisbaskets if you do go over there
at the West Island VisitorsInformation Centre, or you can
buy them off him as well.
And you can also taste his seasalt at the main restaurant on
West Island, which is calledSalty's Cafe, which is run by
another local family.
(09:52):
Everything's run by locals andeveryone's got more than one
job.
So, you know, people do, peoplemight be interested have, you
know, they might be the localelectrician and then they also
run a dive centre or something.
So yeah, so that's...
And then back on West Island, Ialso met another really
remarkable woman called EmmaWasher and she runs the Big
(10:16):
Barge Art Centre.
So this is this boat that thisgiant moored barge, which her
father completely restored withthe locals on a...
And they...
They've got it now permanentlymoored on this completely
isolated island on West Island.
And it's literally like, youknow, just metres from the
(10:38):
water.
And it's...
Basically, she's turned it intoan art centre.
So she uses debris, 100% marinedebris that's washed up on the
atoll, to make art.
So things like thongs andtoothbrushes and plastics.
And she said that there's justnot a lot of education in
(10:59):
neighbouring nations aboutdiscarding of rubbish in the
ocean.
So she wants to make sure thatshe can collect it.
And she runs workshops.
So if you're a visitor, you canmake something from the marine
debris and take it home withyou.
Yeah, I mean, that's incrediblethat, you know, that they are
getting, you know, debris andrubbish in from other parts of
(11:19):
the world.
Because when you look at it onthe map, it's quite close to, I
mean, it's much closer toIndonesia than it is to
Australia.
So I was going to ask when youwere talking about running over
all those incredible crabs andstuff, what's the food like when
you go to that cooking school?
You know, is that, like, whatare you eating when you're
there?
Because you are Miles fromnowhere, I don't think there's
(11:40):
any sheep or cattle kickingaround the place, are there?
No, and this is the thing.
I mean, it's because of thenature of the islands, you know,
they don't grow much there.
So predominantly, it's all aboutlocal fish.
There's chickens running aroundeverywhere, to be honest.
But we had, yeah, a lot of Thefood's remarkable, and we had a
(12:05):
lot of– there are a lot of sortof Malay dishes, you know, rice
and chicken and fish andchicken, beautiful dishes and
samosas and things like thatthat we had when we were there.
Yeah.
Oh, that sounds fantastic.
And, look, I have to ask, whatis the weather like?
(12:25):
You've got these amazingbeaches, but you are in the
middle of the ocean, and thathas got to play– It's got to
play some effect upon thesetiny, tiny landmass.
So tell us about the weather,Kirsty.
So when I was on the plane withDieter, he was telling me that
there's a running joke thatsummer's winter and winter's
summer because the weather onlychanges by two degrees.
(12:46):
So it's really beautiful andwarm all year round.
But unseasonably, and just myluck, when we got there, it was
literally like we had about afew hours and then it just
started raining.
It just literally poured withrain.
And it doesn't typically rainwhen you're there like this.
(13:09):
It was in November.
And it does sort of have a bitof an impact on you obviously
getting out to do with the boatsjust because of the weather.
But it didn't stop us sort ofgetting out about– and I'll tell
you, it was really funnywatching the local kids because
clearly this is an indication ofhow much rain they must get.
When it was really– raining alot outside the golf um the golf
(13:32):
club which is just like a tinylittle shack um on the next to
the runway because that's thegolf course the um There was a
little puddle that sort of onthe road, there was a bit of
like a lot of water that hadpulled there.
And all the kids grabbed likeskimboards and whatever they
could find, little boogieboards.
And they were so excited aboutthe rain.
(13:53):
And I was thinking so different,you know, when it rains at home.
And they ran outside and theyliterally were dragging each
other around on these boards.
And then they were sitting inthe puddles.
And when we were driving aroundthe corner, they were screaming
out and yelling And I said tothe person we were with, the
local, what are they doing?
(14:13):
And, you know, why are theyyelling at us?
Are they just so excited?
She said, no, they want us tospeed up and splash them.
But she said, it's not going tohappen because there's a
30-kilometer limit around thewhole island and everyone
adheres to it because it's sucha community feel.
It's like literally everyone's abig family.
So because there aren't thatmany people.
There's like 100 people, 120people that live on West Island
(14:35):
and they're all running tourismbusinesses and, you know, as I
said before, like Home Island isa larger population of Kako
Malay, but West Island is wherea lot of the tourism operators
are based.
And so she was saying, no onewill do it.
But, you know, we tried to get alittle, give them a little
splash, but it wasn't, yeah, youhave to stick to that 30k speed
limit.
But these kids were just soexcited about the rain.
(14:58):
But If it's not raining, the onething you really want to do,
which we were going to do but wecouldn't because of the rain,
was go to Direction Island.
And that's where apparently themarine life is just really
abundant.
And it's said to be by many,many people that go there and
the locals that it's likeswimming in an aquarium.
It's just that magical, thediving there.
(15:20):
And it's renowned for being,yeah, a really remarkable dive
spot.
So it sounds incredible.
Who– I mean, who's best suitedto this island?
Clearly not the woman in theanecdote at the beginning
because she was looking forfive-star hotels, wasn't she?
Yeah, I think her husband justmight have talked it up because
(15:41):
he definitely wanted to gothere.
So, yeah, look, I do think itsuits most travellers.
I mean, if you want a luxuryresort type holiday, then, you
know, Dita's right in that it'snot, you know, there's some
lovely accommodation, butthere's not flashy resorts.
For a family holiday, you justwould have an amazing time.
Like, I would love to havetaken, I mean, my kids are
(16:01):
older, but, you know, kids atany age, you just get back to
basics and connect wheneveryou're travelling And because
this place is really literallyjust back to basics, no one
wears shoes.
I mean, I was talking to Mel,the PR person, for the Cocos
Keeling, who was, who was withus a lot of the time when we
were there.
And she, they'd lived there fora few years and she, they were
(16:25):
going to be moving back tomainland.
She was saying, you know, thather, her son, her three-year-old
son had never worn shoes.
So they just don't wear, no onewears shoes.
No, like it's just the weather'swarm.
It's just safe.
No one wears shoes.
And you just walk around andthere's, but for couples also,
they're, are some reallybeautiful private snorkelling
(16:45):
spots and they're neverovercrowded because you can only
have, I think it's 140 or 144people there at one time.
So you can never have moretourists than that there at one
time.
So because of that, you know,there's lots of quiet places to
go for couples and the beachesare literally your own.
The food's amazing.
Like I explained before, there'sa really local sort of casual
(17:07):
cafe style restaurants andthey're right on the water, run
by the locals, everything's runby locals.
And I think our last day reallysort of summed it up for me.
So we Our flight was cancelledand so, you know, when the
flights are cancelled, I mean,there's nowhere to go because
you...
And a whole lot of people havecome in from Christmas Islands
(17:29):
because the way the flight goes,it came from Christmas Island,
then Cocos Killing and then backto Perth.
So...
There was an influx of peoplewho already had been booked in
our accommodation, so wecouldn't stay where we were
staying.
So literally, it was like it wasan event of some kind or a
festival or something.
All these locals just come outof their houses.
(17:51):
Everyone just rallies around andthey just take you to their
home.
So I stayed with this gorgeouscouple who'd moved here So the
lifestyle, I just ended upliving there.
And they just gave me theirspare room.
I stayed in their spare room.
They make you a cup of tea.
They're happy to just make youanything you want to eat.
It's just a real sense ofcommunity.
(18:11):
And experiencing that, beingthere when that flight was
cancelled and watching thatcommunity rally around you, and
literally everyone just came outof their homes and were just
like, right.
We were lining up and they werejust ticking our names off and
going, you go with Fred, you gowith Mary, you go with this
person, you go with that person.
It was just remarkable.
And, you know, I think thatreally sums up what it's like
(18:35):
being there.
Like everyone knows everyone.
Everyone treats you well.
Like, they love having touriststhere.
They respect you.
They're grateful to having youthere.
They want to show you what aremarkable place this is, and it
really is.
And because, you know, like Isaid before, their livelihood is
all about the ocean, so it'sabout getting tourists out on
(18:56):
the ocean.
But there's just a true sense ofcommunity, and you will feel
that from the minute that youget there, and you will
certainly feel that when youleave.
Oh, it sounds just incredible.
That's such a great note to endon.
And if you want to hear more orlearn more about the travelling
in the Cocos Keelings, you canread Kirsty's story in the
(19:18):
latest issue of Vacations andTravel magazine.
And to learn more about theatoll, go to
cocoskeelingisland.com.au.
That was my co-host, KirstyBedford, talking about her
recent visit to the CocosKeeling Islands.
You can see some footage of hertrip on her Instagram at Kirstie
Writes.
That's K-I-R-S-T-I-E Writes,W-R-I-T-E-S.
(19:44):
Next up, we're chatting toauthor and freelance writer
Celeste Mitchell about her newbook, Ultimate Beaches
Australia.
She has scoured the nation tocome up with the 80 best
beaches, from the big names tosome secret spots, world-class
surf breaks and rock pools forthe kids.
Welcome to the show, Celeste.
(20:05):
Thank you for having me, Kirsty.
So great to have you on TheWorld Awaits.
Let's start by tell us a bitabout your background and how
you came to be in the travelindustry.
I studied journalism, and so Istarted out in working in
magazines in Sydney for abouteight years, but that was more
in the teen entertainment worldon titles like Girlfriend and
Total Girl and TV Hits, so a bitof a different world.
(20:28):
But after a short stint intourism PR, I started
freelancing.
about 12 years ago now, and I'vebeen focused solely on travel
for at least 10 of those.
So I write for major titles likeEscape, An Australian Traveller,
Explore, and Travel and Luxuryin the Australian.
And tell us a little bit aboutwhat else you do now, because as
(20:48):
well as being an incrediblyprolific travel writer and
author, you also have a platformcalled Life Unhurried.
Yes.
So that was, I've launched LifeUnhurried with two friends and
business partners in 2018.
It's basically an onlineplatform focused on slowing down
and focused on how toincorporate more slow living and
(21:10):
slow travel practices.
And within that, we reallyfeature what we call slow stays.
So we've got a beautifuldirectory of accommodation where
you can stay in the type ofplaces where you know that you
can really go and switch off andunwind.
So that's a real passion projecton the side that I like to yeah,
keep balanced with the travelwriting.
And definitely an area I thinkmore and more people are looking
(21:33):
for these days.
So let's focus on your latestproject.
So what made you want to writethis particular book about
beaches?
I was really lucky, actually,because with Life Unhurried, we
actually have a coffee tablebook that we bought out that was
published by Hardy Grant in2022.
So after that book came out, afew months later, the publisher
(21:54):
offered me the opportunity towrite the next book in what they
call the Ultimate Series.
So you might have seen themaround.
There's quite a few out therenow, Ultimate Hikes, Ultimate
Camping, Ultimate Caravan Trips,and they've been doing really
well.
And they asked me about writingone about beaches.
And so I jumped at theopportunity, probably a little
bit naively as I had two verysmall children and a lot on my
(22:17):
plate.
But I just thought I grew up bythe beach.
I've always lived by the coast.
I absolutely love the beach.
I thought I knew the East Coastpretty well.
Turned out it was a prettydaunting task.
Australia is very large.
But in the end, I feel lucky tohave had a reason to travel to
all the places I had yet tovisit in the name of research.
Amazing.
(22:38):
And how many beaches are therein Australia?
Oh, there's over 10,000.
I was trying to narrow that downto 80.
So it was still quite a heftynumber that I had to come to in
the end.
And so I was very strategicabout it.
I had all my spreadsheets andwas trying to nut out how many
beaches per state I would dobecause they wanted it to be a
real even mix.
And then you're wanting to havea real mix of those big names,
(23:01):
but also some lesser knownbeaches and really, yeah, tried
to, it sounds like a big number,but trying to figure out 80 was
quite daunting.
Absolutely.
Particularly if there's 10,000,my gosh, who would have realized
that there were 10,000 beaches?
I wonder if I would love to hearfrom anyone to see how many
beaches people have ticked offtheir list.
What are some of the, let's talkthrough some of the spots then.
(23:23):
So what are some of the spotsthat you actually covered that
are maybe some of not such bigname beaches?
A lot of people would haveobviously heard or been to some
of the biggest names,particularly the ones that
always win those awards.
But what about some of thelesser known beaches?
Yeah, like you said, yeah, I wastrying to cover it because we
wanted a mix for everyone.
So there's a lot of familyfriendly beaches in there, but
(23:45):
also ones that are going toappeal more to surfers or
hikers.
And I'll just say that withinthat for every beach, it really
drills down to provideinformation on whether it's
accessible, what the patrolinformation is.
whether it's dog friendly, whathikes are nearby, surf breaks,
where to stay, and also gotthings about where to get the
best fish and chips or the bestice creams.
(24:07):
Apart from those big namebeaches, some of the ones that
come to mind for me are perhapssome of the harder to reach
spots that you might have tolike drive in on a longer four
wheel drive track or hike to getto.
So one was Blowhole Beach inSouth Australia.
And that's in Deep CreekNational Park, which is down on
the Florio Peninsula.
And so it's not a really longhike.
(24:27):
It's only a few kilometers.
But that, I don't know, there'sa feeling of achievement when
you get down to a place likethat.
And you also have that sense ofremoteness because it's not just
a beach that everyone can pullup.
in their car or jump off thetrain and go there.
That was a great one.
I also really love some of thesmaller island beaches.
One that's in the book is SunsetBeach on Middle Island, which is
(24:49):
in the Keppel group of islandson the Capricorn Coast.
It's only accessible by privateboat, but you can also get there
on a day trip.
So I think anything like thatwhere it's only accessible by
boat is certainly different tosome of your big Bondi's.
And also any of Tasmania'sbeaches, they're all so
different and just so quietcompared to what most people are
(25:09):
used to.
What are some of the differencesin some of these beaches?
So obviously, because a beachisn't just a beach, right?
Like you say, like some of themare really wild and rugged and
other ones are really pristinewith gin clear waters.
What are some of the mostdramatic beaches that have got
the most dramatic differences?
Oh, some that jumped to mindimmediately are places like
(25:31):
Rainbow Beach in Queensland,because you've got these
towering rainbow-coloured cliffsthat just run along the beach.
And that's just, that's whatimpresses you most about that
long stretch of sand.
And then in others that areenclosed within rocky headlands,
like there's a beautifulCabarita Beach on the Tweed
Coast in New South Wales.
Actually, Cabarita is quite along beach, but there's a tiny
(25:54):
little section of it that I talkabout in the book because that's
such a beautiful little spot.
You feel like you're reallycradled in there.
There's others that have theseincredible granite boulders, and
that's really what captures yourattention.
Elephant Rocks in WesternAustralia.
which is just near Denmark onthe south coast of Western
Australia.
It's unlike any other beach thatI've seen in Australia.
(26:15):
So they can be all so variedwhen it comes to the vegetation
that's around there and how youaccess them as well.
Are there any that reallysurprised you that when you were
doing your research, you were,wow, I just never expected that?
One was, it's calledHuntingfield Bay on Magnetic
Island, which is an island justoff Townsville in North
(26:36):
Queensland.
Another one that you can onlyaccess by boat, but it actually
has this amazing, it's only incertain months of the year, but
it's got a waterfall that flowsdown onto the beach.
So it basically cascades downover all these granite boulders
down to the beach and createslike a pool of fresh water right
there on the sand.
So that was really incredible.
(26:57):
I haven't seen anything likethat.
The other was the watercolouralong the south coast of Western
Australia, especially there's aspot called Little Boat Harbour
Beach in Bremer Bay and justlike piercing blue turquoise
water and just no one elsethere.
And I think that was the biggestthing that stood out to me along
that section of coast.
(27:19):
I also love how beautiful andvaried the beaches on Kangaroo
Island are.
Like I think there's places thatyou just...
You know, I'd heard so many goodthings about Kangaroo Island and
you think of like nature and thewildlife and the food
experiences that you can havethere.
But there's so many incrediblebeaches on that island as well.
And I think even though this isone that I didn't get to
(27:40):
personally, some of the reallyremote beaches in Arnhem Land,
Lonely Beach is one that is inthe book.
And when you see the photos ofthat, you'll understand what
makes it special.
Yeah, and I think that's it,right?
The diversity in Australia onthe beaches and the fact that
You could probably be on some ofthose beaches and feel like
you're anywhere in the world.
Some of them are like theMaldives and others are the
(28:01):
Philippines or some reallyrugged surf spots somewhere.
They just seem so varied.
So what, this is like askingwho's your favorite child, but
do you have a favorite?
I know this is literally thequestion that everybody's asked
me, like whenever I've talkedabout working on this book I
think there's too many what Iwould say is I think the beaches
where I've been with the onesthat I love like that so much of
(28:24):
a beach experience can be whoyou're with and you know what
you're doing whether you're onholidays at that time camping on
the beach like that certainlyhas a huge impact on how you
feel about a beach and I findwith a lot of these small beach
towns it's a real nostalgic kindof feeling that people have for
these places as well beforethere might be places that they
visit every year Sawtelle is onethat's like that for me.
(28:47):
It's just south of Coffs Harbourand it's somewhere that we go to
visit friends at least once ayear.
I think because it's got thebeach, it's got rock pools, the
Bonneville Headlands there withthe back beach and then there's
an ocean pool and the creekflows in and it's just
beautiful.
It seems like it's amazing nomatter what the conditions are.
Agnes Water in Queensland isalso very cool.
(29:07):
Like it's just such a chilledout spot.
The campground's right on thesand.
It's the most northernmost beachwith surf and it's this really
gentle point break.
So it's great for kids, greatfor beginners.
And I also really love SouthGorge on Minjerrabara, North
Stradbroke Island.
It's just like this littlesliver of a beach and yeah, just
got these towering cliffs besideyou that are really beautiful.
(29:30):
I could go on and on.
I think Twilight Beach inEsperance also has to be seen in
real life.
The boulders that rise out ofthe water there are just
amazing.
And the one I mentioned before,Elephant Rocks, if you haven't
been there, like being able towalk down between those granite
boulders and get onto the beachthere is really special.
Amazing.
You're so making me want to havea beach getaway.
(29:52):
I'm going to have to ask you aquestion, backtrack a little
towards something you weresaying before, and you have to
excuse the accent, but You saidthat there were some beaches
that had the best fish andchips.
So I have to ask you, which one?
Which has?
I'm not going to repeat.
I'm not going to repeat myquestion.
Look, I couldn't tell.
It's not that I could tell youwhich beach had it.
(30:13):
It's more that like within thewhere possible, I've tried to
put in mentions of where to getthe best fish and chips or the
best ice cream.
I'd have to actually flickthrough the book to tell you
now, but I know that there'ssomething really cool actually
in Woolai in New South Wales.
They have an old school icecream truck.
And in summer, you can actuallytext them like, you know, that
(30:35):
when you want to have an icecream and they'll drive to you
so you can get your ice cream.
So I thought that was supercool.
Because that's such a neat part,isn't it, of a great part of
beach experiences too, is takingfood and being able to have
picnics.
Was there anywhere that was bestfor a little picnic spot, maybe
private little for couples,areas for couples?
(30:56):
Because we all know most beachesare obviously great for children
and there are a lot offamily-friendly beaches.
But what about places that are alittle more isolated or a little
better for couples?
I have a friend who will reallyhate me for talking about this
one, but Scottshead in New SouthWales, it is really great for
families.
But I think when you talk aboutpicnic spots or somewhere where
(31:16):
you're getting that freshseafood, we...
When we were there, we went andgot some oysters from a seafood
shop, which is literally out ofsome guy's house in a couple of
streets back from the beach.
And you go and pick up yourNambucca oysters and bring them
to the beachfront.
And there's this reallybeautiful table there that's
covered in mosaic tiles.
It's in the shape of a whaletail.
And you sit there overlookingthe water.
(31:37):
If you're there at sunset, youknow, you've got these pandanus
trees framing the scene,overlooking the water there.
Pour yourself some bubbles, havethe oysters.
And yeah, that was really primo.
Amazing.
That does, that sounds like anamazing experience.
And so what about with your lifeunharried hat on, what are some
of the topics for sort of somebeachside slow stays?
(32:01):
So some places where they'renear or right next to amazing
beaches where you can stay andthey don't have to be places in
your book.
Oh, no, that was one of mythings, favorite things about
the book, because I could putin, like, I wanted to really
focus on great beach shacks andthe ones that still exist that
are also really beautiful.
There's plenty of campgrounds inthe book.
(32:21):
I've definitely talked about,like, best campgrounds that are
on the beach, prime position,like that Agnes Water one that I
spoke about.
Or there's also a Reflections atScott's Head, the Big Four in
Sawtelle.
And there's really cute A-framesat a place called Esperance
Chalet Village in WA.
But when it comes to shacks,there's one called The Slow in
(32:42):
Woolai, which is right on thebeachfront.
Drop In Bendalong, which isright near Washerwoman's Beach.
That's one that I've got on theNew South Wales south coast.
I also stayed at a really coollittle shack called Tangerine
Dream, which is in Deep CreekNational Park in South
Australia.
And it's this real 70s vibe.
Original shack, you've got 70sdecor, record player and
(33:04):
fireplace inside.
But out the back, it's got afire pit and an outdoor bathtub.
And you're right near theentrance of the National Park.
So you can go do that great hikepast all the kangaroos, past all
the grass trees down to BlowholeBeach.
I also really love Arkoo House,which sits right on the sand in
Sisters Beach in Tasmania.
(33:24):
So that's up on the north coast.
And it's just like this reallybeautiful A-frame and the owners
that have it did an amazingrenovation on it.
And staying there was a reallyspecial spot to be that close to
the beach.
Yeah.
And that's the thing, like itwould make you slow down, right?
Because you're actually close tothe beach, but it sounds like
they're also really uniqueproperties like they, in
(33:46):
themselves, they've gotsomething quirky about them or
they're quite unique.
Is that what, is that what helpsmake it a slow stay?
Yeah, definitely looking forplaces where you'll naturally
want to unwind.
And some of the things, like Imentioned, a record player or
things, they might be off gridor they might not, but they're
generally more sustainablyminded.
They're places that encourageslowing down rituals.
(34:08):
So perhaps not having a TV, nothaving Wi-Fi, having to brew
your coffee on the stove, justlittle moments to remind you to
just slow down and enjoy andimmerse yourself in the place
where you are.
Amazing.
I'm sure we could talk aboutbeaches for hours and hours and
people will just have to gethold of your book too.
And we will put a link in theshow notes of where to get that.
(34:29):
But this is the question that weask, final question we ask all
of our guests, which is, what'sthe most bizarre thing that's
ever happened to you on yourtravels?
This one I had totally forgottenabout until I asked my husband
for help on this question.
He reminded me that after wewere married, we were really...
We somehow scored these amazingbusiness class flights on
(34:52):
points.
So we did this big trip over toEurope and we were flying home
on the business class Emiratesfrom London to Dubai.
And essentially there was apassenger who was very
demanding, wanted a lot ofchampagne.
And next minute she's pulled upsome random from another row.
She's got him in with her andproceeds to basically give him a
(35:12):
lap dance in the business classarea.
Yeah, that's probably up therewith Pretty Bizarre.
That is very bizarre.
Absolutely.
And I hope it didn't destroyyour business class experience.
Trying to relax.
It was interesting, that's forsure.
Oh, look, it's been so great tochat with you about your book
(35:34):
and these incredible, thank youfor so many incredible
recommendations for beaches.
And you're definitely the go-towhen it comes to my next beach
getaways.
That was Celeste Mitchell, theauthor of Ultimate Beaches
Australia and owner of LifeUnhurried.
And you can find out more atlifeunhurried.com.
Next week, we're back into ourregular schedule and we're
(35:54):
kicking off 2025 with a rundownof some of the great cruises
around the world.
And if you are enjoying ourpodcast, please leave a rating
and a review.
on Apple Podcasts.
Click onto our profile, scrolldown to the bottom to leave a
star rating, and if you are onSpotify, go to our main page and
click the three dots underneathour photo.
(36:15):
Or simply drop us a line athello at theworldawaits.au.
We love hearing from ourlisteners.
Thanks so much for joining us onthe World Awaits Winter Series.
See you next time.
That's a wrap for The WorldAwaits this week.
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