Rumble family put $25m price tag on Pumpkin Island
The Rumble family have put Pumpkin Island and its eco resort near Yeppoon on the Southern Great Barrier Reef up for sale after 17 years of ownership.
Having paid just $1.3 million for the 6-hectare leasehold property in 2003, when they bought it from previous long-time owners Roger and Merle Mason, the Rumbles are hoping to sell it for around $25 million.
Pumpkin Island is one of three Great Barrier Reef properties owned by the family’s Sojourn Properties and operated as holiday accommodation under their Sojourn Retreats banner.
The family also own Elysian Retreat in the Whitsundays and a beach house at Zilzie.
Sojourn was founded by South African-born John and Sonja Rumble. The running of the business was passed down to their son Wayne and his wife Laureth.
In 2008, the Rumbles upgraded the self-catering cottages and bungalows on Pumpkin Island and between 2012 and 2015 they leased the whole island to Queensland brewery Castlemaine Perkins, which renamed it XXXX Island as a promotional campaign for their beer.
As with many other tourism businesses reliant on interstate and international travellers, Pumpkin Island was hit hard by COVID-19.
“Even though we are open we have no business,” Laureth Rumble told The Courier-Mail last month.
The Rumbles said they were selling to pursue new ventures and move closer to family in New Zealand.
Rare chance
Pumpkin Island is being offered for sale by Deborah Cullen and Pat O’Driscoll of Knight Frank.
The most recent Queensland island sale was Dunk Island, bought last year for $30 million by controversial investment company Mayfair 101.
“The buyer will be purchasing an entire island – rather than just a parcel of land on an island – on a rolling lease current until 2046, which is an opportunity that only presents itself once in a blue moon,” Ms Cullen said.
Included in the sale is accommodation for up to 34 guests in five self-contained ocean-front cottages and two bungalows.
There are also staff and manager accommodation, a helicopter pad and a custom-built, 36-passenger catamaran.
The island is off grid and powered by solar and wind-generated energy.
It can be accessed via a short boat ride from Keppel Bay Marina.
Mr O’Driscoll said the property offered the potential for further development or redevelopment.
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