Lying close to the Middle East and always strategically important, it was taken by many great powers including Greece. Rome and Egypt. The long reign of the French Lusignan dynasty brought prosperity and Roman Catholicism. In 1570 the Turks took the island.

It became a UK Crown Colony after World War II Independence came in 1960, but intercommunal strife increased and in 1974 an unsuccessful Greek coup prompted a Turkish invasion. The island was divided. It is now possible to cross the border, but violence and negotiation alternate and rules can change overnight.

However, north or south, the islanders are warmly welcoming and Cyprus has many attractions. The southeast with its raucous resorts also has archaeological sites and sunsets from Aphrodite’s ‘birthplace’ at the Rock of Remios. Pafos, though surrounded by development, remains a charming town. To the northwest is the remote Akanas Peninsula, with further isolated regions along the coastal hinterland, the magnificent Troodos region has forested mountains, lost villages, painted churches, unique wildlife and winegrowing.

In the North, small resorts cluster around the beautiful harbour town of Kyrenia. Famagusta is full of ruined Gothic churches inside its golden stone walls; outside lies a haunted, wired-off modern town, The rocky coast and bristling Kyrenia range hold unspoilt beaches and villages, classical sites, monasteries and Crusader castles.

Lefkosia (Nicosia) is the world’s only divided capital, Inside the massive Venetian fortifications, both sides – the cosmopolitan south and the north with its dusty lanes – are fascinating. Both have streets which end in a wall fluttering with defiant flags.

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Discovered in 1609, these islands were settled and owned by a single family from 1827 until the Australian Government forcibly acquired them in 1978 for a payment of over $6 million.

Lying 2,770 km (1,732 ml) northwest of Perth, the 27 coral islands are formed into two large, heavily vegetated atolls. Not only are they the only atolls that Darwin ever visited, but the coral ecosystem remains intact and you can still see in their pristine condition exactly why they played such an important part in his theory of evolution.

North Keeling, set apart from the other islands, isn’t even inhabited; but you can see extreme rarities like the Cocos buff-banded rail, robber land crabs, and both green and hawksbill turtles among other wonders, under its protection as Pulu Keeling National Park, covering both North Keeling and its surrounding waters.

The 600 or so Cocos (Keeling) islanders live on Home and West Islands, both given over to copra and coconut plantations that only add to their tropical glamour. There is no tourist industry at all. Instead, there are facilities for visitors, sponsored by islanders who take an almost personal interest in everyone who comes.

If you happen to be there, you’re genuinely welcome to participate in the school fete, sports day, or concert night; and you’d be unwise not to join in quiz night at the Cocos Club, or not to watch the annual Ardmona Cup Aussie Rules football match. The tradition of hospitality is both Australian and Malay, representing the origins of the tight-knit community.

The islanders, as much as the islands themselves, have retained a form of unpolluted innocence, and share a mutual respect that visitors immediately respond to. These islands are a dreamscape worthy of Gauguin.

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The islands were separated from the mainland so long ago that much of their flora and fauna has evolved here, making the islands of great ecological importance. Due to their geographical isolation, the islanders have also had little outside influence, and arriving on Socotra is like stepping back in time.

The culture on Socotra is very different from the ways of the modern world. Until the airport was built in 1999, the only way to get here was by boat, and during the monsoon season the strong winds and high seas made the island inaccessible.

Most Socotris still live without electricity, running water or a paved road. Until 1990 the island still had a barter economy, and even today most people in the mountainous areas still live in caves. The main island is a little over 130 km (80 mi) long and around 35 km (21 mi) wide.

Socotra is a place of contrasting landscapes, with the turquoise lagoon at Qalansiya and the white sand dunes at Ras Moroi, the flower-filled alpine meadows of the Haghier Mountains and the desolate cave-riddled plateau of the interior. Rising to over 1,500 m (4,921 ft), the Haghier Mountains loom over Hadibo, the island’s capital, and dominate the skyline.

The red granite peaks are peppered with silver lichens which grow thickly on the bare rocks above the tree line. Streams bubble down from the misty heights, teeming with lively fish and freshwater crabs. Limestone plateau spread east and west, providing alkaline soils for the iconic Dragon’s Blood Tree for which the islands are famous. The locals collect the blood-red resin, known as cinnabar, from the tree by making incisions in the bark.

In the ancient world, it was used to enhance the colour of precious stones and glass, and as a pigment in paints, and had various medicinal qualities. The long isolation of the Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique endemic flora and fauna.

There are no fewer than 300 plant species, 113 insect species, 24 reptile species and six bird species that can be found nowhere else in the world. Botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora in the world, and steps are being taken by the government to protect this unique and spectacular habitat.

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From the 8th century BC, Corfu was subject to a succession of powers, though it never became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Venice held it for 200 years, then Napoleon seized it, and for some years it was a British Protectorate. Long a favourite with travelers, its quiet, idiosyncratic life is lovingly recorded in the books of Lawrence and Gerald Durrell. Now despite some indiscriminate tourist development, it remains bewitching.

Corfu Town is a lovely place, a blend of splendid Italianate buildings; narrow alleyways and grand, French-influenced arcades. There are museums and fine churches, including the Church of Ayios Spyridhon, where the mummified body of the island’s patron saint lies in a glass-fronted coffin. (It is paraded through the town several times a year.) A popular excursion is to the photogenic islets of Vlaherna and Pondikonissi.

North from Corfu Town, brash or prestigious resorts are interspersed with fishing harbours and backed by magnificent scenery. Southwards lie the site of the ancient capital, Corcyra, and some large resorts.

Then a winding coastal road reaches some quieter beaches. The west coast boasts long stretches of glorious sand, a backdrop of green mountains – and some of the largest hotel conglomerations. Even here, more peaceful coves can be reached by boat, or a scramble on foot.

Inland, traditional villages offer shade and good food. Corfiot cuisine, unusually, has no Turkish influence, and often seems more Italian than Greek. A stroll and a climb in scented mountain air amid ancient olive trees rewards with views over ethereal greenness towards the heavenly blue sea.

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