Ultimate Beaches: Australia

Celeste Mitchell has always lived by the beach, like 80 per cent of the Australian population. The freelance travel journalist and author of Life Unhurried (Hardie Grant), has spent the past decade of her career writing for some of Australia’s most widely-read travel titles, including ESCAPE, Travel + Luxury (The Australian), Australian Traveller, and QANTAS. Growing up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, her primary school days were spent playing sport and learning about the environment on the neighbouring beach, while high school saw her diving below the surface of the Whitsundays and getting her boat licence as part of her studies. As a traveller, she’s spent time on beaches around the globe and like so many Aussies, feels endlessly grateful for the clean, beautiful ocean on our doorstep. Whether hiking alongside it, surfing (badly), taking it all in with a picnic laid out, or splashing about in the shallows with her family, her favourite days are those spent on the sand.