Located 25 minutes by ferry off the Queensland coast, Stradbroke Island is an easy day trip from Brisbane. It's the second biggest sand island in the world after K'gari (more on that Australian island later). 

Just 11 kilometres long and two kilometres wide, Lord Howe, a two-hour flight east of Sydney, is explorable within a few days. Whenever you travel on this Australian island, you won't have to fear tourist crowds: only 400 visitors are permitted at a time.

There are hundreds of islands in the Great Barrier Reef area, offering everything from secluded campsites to five-star resorts. But, for convenience, outdoor adventures and, most importantly, koala spotting, Magnetic Island is hard to go past. 

With a whopping 509 kilometres of coastline, Kangaroo Island could have you exploring for weeks. To get there, take a 45-minute ferry ride from Cape Jervis, on the Fleurieu Peninsula — around 100 kilometres south of Adelaide. 

In total, The Whitsundays is made up of 74 islands. It's hard to choose the best, especially as each depends on what kind of holiday you're after. You can go camping on Whitehaven Beach or live it up at The InterContinental Resort on Hayman Island.

Rottnest Island is a 90-minute ferry ride from Barrack Street Jetty, Perth, or 25 minutes from Fremantle. Like Kangaroo Island, Rottnest has given a big dose of much-needed love to Australia's wild creatures, particularly quokkas.

Phillip Island's biggest drawcard is its penguin parade. Every night, at sunset, the island's resident little penguins return to their terrestrial homes, having spent the day out and about fishing. 

Bruny feels completely remote, yet it's just a 20-minute ferry ride from the coast and, with driving time added, 50 minutes from Hobart. The beauty of this proximity to the city is that, despite all the wilderness, you can find some top nosh.

World Heritage-listed K'gari (Fraser Island) is the biggest sand island in the world. There are 184,000 hectares of the stuff, made up of 72 colours and mostly in the form of magnificent dunes, much of which are covered in rainforest. 

You might have no idea where King Island is, but may have seen its cheese at the supermarket. King Island Dairy's decadent triple cream brie is an Aussie gourmet staple. But it's far from the only treat you'll be sampling in this lush place.

Bribie Island isn't that far from Brisbane (a little over one and a half hours) but is a haven for local wildlife. That's because this Australian island is home to the Pumicestone Passage, a protected marine park where you'll find dugongs, turtles and dolphins.

The Houtman Abrolhos isn't just an island, it's an archipelago. 122 isles make up the marvel, more or less clustered in three groups across 100 kilometres. They lie 60 kilometres off the Coral Coast, west of Geraldton, which is four hours north of Perth.