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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Joe Hinchliffe

Damaged, deserted, dilapidated … what comes next for the Great Barrier Reef island resorts lying in ruins?

A palm tree leans towards the water on a tropical beach
The beach on Brampton Island, one of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Its resort has been shuttered since Cyclone Yasi hit it in 2011. Photograph: Michael James Brown/Alamy

Kerry Outerbridge motored his powerboat through coral reef ringing the lush, tropical island and alighted upon white sand.

Catamarans and jetskis lay strewn about the beach. Nothing but quiet emerged to greet him from the bungalows scattered among a grove of coconut trees. A plate of food sat on a kitchen table, mouldering.

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