Australian Country 24.4 (146) Aug/Sept 21 - Wild Islands

ESCAPE ROUTES

Wild at heart Even South Australians barely know these wild and windswept islands, much less their secrets.

BY RO DE R IC K E IME , P HOTO GR A PHY ISA AC FO R M AN/SATC & QUE NT IN C H ESTER /CO R A L EXPEDITIONS

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ESCAPE ROUTES

ESCAPE ROUTES

J

onas Woolford plunges his hand into the gelatinous mass and pulls out a handful of the featureless meat, throwing it deftly into the hot pan along with a couple of ice cubes. “The ice cubes will create the steam we need and I just put

the shell over the top like this,” he says, placing the clean abalone shell over the top of the now sizzling meat, “Anyone can do this at home, it’s very simple. All you need is 20 or 30 seconds ... and voila.”

Jonas passes me a generous chunk of the steamed greenlip abalone meat on a skewer and I pop the morsel into my mouth, releasing a burst of unfamiliar flavours. All at once, it’s nutty and buttery, a little bit chewy with a hint of smoke and a texture like fresh calamari.

Here on (the other) Flinders Island, we’re witnessing a new chapter of the island’s history as the Woolford family relocated to the island in 1979 to first farm sheep and, in 1987, establish Eyrewoolf Enterprises to harvest wild abalone. Named by Lieutenant Matthew Flinders in 1802 after his younger brother and shipmate, Samuel, the 3600-hectare landmass is our

THESE PAGES: Departing from Adelaide, the cruise provides many shore excursions including the Troubridge Island lighthouse and Kangaroo Island’s Antechamber Bay.

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westernmost landfall on Coral Expeditions’ wild islands and walks of South Australia itinerary aboard the 99-passenger expedition vessel, Coral Adventurer. australiancountry.com.au | 83

ESCAPE ROUTES

THESE PAGES: Western River Cove is another port of call on Kangaroo Island providing more opportunities for wildlife enounters. The chance to sample wild harvested abalone is a highlight of the visit to Flinders Island.

Beginning some time in the 1820s, the island was one of several used by sealers and whalers who took full advantage of the bounty of Australian sea lions and endemic wallabies, slaughtering them in their thousands. This sorry tale was repeated at numerous locations as far east as Kangaroo Island.

To add a twist to the tale, these waters were once the hunting ground of Australia’s only known pirate, Black Jack Anderson, a sealer-gone-rogue who ended his days on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago at the western end of the Bight.

Murdered by his own crew, his body and booty were never found.

One of these enterprising frontiersmen was Bill Bryant who set up a small outpost servicing ships and supplying fresh meat

beautifully presented and served to the table by cheery and

and produce he grew himself. A bay on the south east coast bears

diligent staff. The days of serve-yourself buffets aboard ships

his name and the remains of his cottage are probably the oldest

of any size are over. Coral Expeditions has enacted a SailSAFE

European ruins in the state. His wife, known simply as Black

protocol to deal with the ever-present threat of COVID-19. “Our

Charlotte, likely one of the kidnapped women from the mainland

plan focuses on prevention, to target a 100 per cent COVID

or even Tasmania, bore him three children and was crucial to

free environment on board,” Coral Expeditions Group GM,

the success of Bryant’s little operation. In fact, so successful was

Mark Fifield, wrote in a letter to passengers. “We implement a

he that the small fortune in gold sovereigns he amassed is still

three-tiered medical screening protocol and ensure everyone

concealed somewhere on the island. Or so the story goes.

on board has passed through this screening process. This

Our journey of discovery takes us past uninhabited Pearson Island, a neighbour of Flinders Island, and now a protected nature reserve and home to the endemic oh-so-cute rock

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In between islands, we are fed to repletion with gourmet meals from the studio kitchen. Portions are modest, but

prevention protocol is supported by strict onboard mitigation actions and an approved response plan.”

True. The doctor took our temperature every morning as our

wallaby. We dally in Coffin Bay, sampling what many believe

poached eggs and avocado were served. Whole cabins were set

to be Australia’s finest oysters. Coffin Bay oysters have, until

aside in case isolation was required and hand sanitiser flowed

recently, been the ubiquitous Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas),

like Champagne. Coral Expeditions is very keen to demonstrate

hatched in Tasmania and grown to maturity in the pristine

it is ready to resume cruising and with just 100 guests

waters of the protected bay. A lethal disease all but wiped out

(maximum) it’s relatively easy to keep potential infections at bay.

the Pacific oyster during the past 10 years, with stocks only

Eradication of another type has been completed on nearby

now beginning to recover. The native Angasi oyster (Ostrea

Reevesby Island in the Sir Joseph Banks Group. Once overrun

angasi) was completely fished out more than 100 years ago, but

by introduced rodents and other pests, Reevesby (yes, that’s

the delicious species is being revived with careful farming and

how it’s spelled) is now a story of recovery. Some years ago, a

reintroduced to its native habitat.

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ESCAPE ROUTES THESE PAGES: Coral Expeditions offers all the benefits of smaller-scale cruising, with closer moorings due to vessel size and fewer passenger numbers.

and appears to be flourishing. We even caught a fleeting glance of one of the furry little fellows darting for cover in the thick, prickly scrub. For more than 100 years, the island was farmed and even served as a horse stud where the Sawyer family planted crops and bred tough ponies for the British Indian Army. The old farmhouse and assorted relics are being maintained by a preservation society and is now a wildlife conservation park sheltering the stickies as well as a penguins, various seabirds and LOTS of snakes.

On our homeward leg we make a brief incursion on the 10-square kilometre Wedge Island and learn of its short but fascinating history. “Like Reevesby, Wedge has a fascinating history of farming, including as another site for breeding remount ponies for the British Indian Army,” our guide, the prolific local author and photographer, Quentin Chester, explains. “During WW2 it served as an RAAF radar station and a small lighthouse (first lit in 1911) still stands atop its 200m high cliffs on the south-eastern coast.” The wartime installation was one of several such top-secret stations along our coast that were on constant alert for the enemy warships and submarines known to be stalking shipping in our waters.

Apart from our island sorties, we venture ashore at Tumby Bay to inspect the numerous street art murals as well as meeting a sheep farmer, Andy Gilfillan, at Antechamber Bay on Kangaroo Island who is custodian of the oldest European dwelling in SA, dating from the 1820s.

Thanks to our other guide, Quentin’s partner, Dale Arnott, we learn of the many endangered bird, mammal and reptile species now safely protected on the various, feral-free islands.

Dale confesses to a fascination with lighthouses and gleefully shares her comprehensive knowledge of the famous sentinels that guided the fledgling colony’s shipping from the mid-19th century. Even with the added security of prominent lighthouses, ships foundered in their hundreds around South Australian shores. At least 800 ships are known to have wrecked along the coast, with Kangaroo Island being a particular hotspot, accounting for around 10 per cent of that total. We return to Outer Harbor, safe in the knowledge we were never in danger of joining that worrying statistic. Our master, Capt Andrew Rourke, spent the majority of his maritime career in the uniform of the Royal Australian Navy commanding ships in harm’s way. No such worries on this mission.

Cairns-based Coral Expeditions is Australia’s largest domestic small ship operator and runs a fleet of three ultramodern vessels, all currently involved with coastal cruising and with plans to return to international operations when restrictions permit. For details on current itineraries, visit coralexpeditions.com or phone 1800 079 545.

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