Forgotten treasure

Elicia Kennedy returns to WA's Albrolhos Islands, and discovers more about the island's rich and grisly history.

Steeped in history and with some of the best marine life off the WA coast, I assumed the Abrolhos Islands would be the holiday destination of choice for anyone living along the mid-west coast of WA. How wrong I was. While this is our second sojourn out to the Abrolhos, 40nm from Geraldton, most locals have never visited any of the 122 islands. Unfortunately, unless you have a boat or know a professional fisherman with a hut, there is no accommodation to cater for the tourist crowd. That these islands are restricted to privileged sailors and fishermen seems unfair. But it also means it’s yet to be spoiled by development and throngs of visitors.

Wallabi Island

On this visit, West Wallabi Island was top of our destination list. We overlooked it last time, but having read some more Abrolhos history we were determined not to skip it again. It is here in 1629 that a courageous Dutch soldier named Wiebbe Hayes led a group of men to defeat the mutineers that had wreaked havoc since their ship, The Batavia, ran aground. In what is one of the bloodiest chapters in WA history, the mutineers systematically killed and tortured 129 men, women and children.

As we stepped ashore, what astounded me was that the relics left behind could have been mistaken for being just decades old. Two stone fireplaces sat atop a limestone ledge on the island’s eastern side. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine the fear Wiebbe Hayes and his men must have felt huddled there on a cold June night as they waited for the mutineers to attack. Further inland was a shelter and fort also built from limestone, as well as two wells, still collecting water as they did 380 years ago. While these are the oldest structures ever built by Europeans in Australia, there were no fancy boardwalks or fences to keep tourists out, as is so often the case these days. A few small signs and a handful of posts marking a walk trail were all that pointed to this remarkable part of our country’s history.

East Wallabi Island

West Wallabi’s cousin, East Wallabi, is just over a kilometre away. It is one of three islands with an airstrip, and where we picked up visitors keen to join us on our holiday. East Wallabi is also one of the few islands out here that is not a coral atoll and its large sand dunes provide a welcome buffer to the prevailing SW wind. Turtle Bay, at its northern end, seems to be a “must do” location for all visiting yachts, no doubt in part due to its lovely long sandy beach. To us it soon became known as the “bay of plenty”, for the feast of seafood it unfailingly offered up. While a number of the popular bays have two swing moorings, Turtle Bay has six. It’s also a spectacular snorkelling spot. Coral rises vertically from the seabed, like hills under the sea, and is teeming with fish. It’s also a good place to drop the craypot, with plenty of rock lobster sheltering among the hidey holes.

Unfortunately after a couple of days feasting on lobster the swell turned against us. Turtle Bay faces almost due north so any swell from this direction funnels straight into the bay and washes right back out again, making boiling a kettle a feat, let alone getting a wink of sleep.

Middle Group

With a few fish fillets in the fridge, we thought we’d try our luck grabbing the single swing mooring on Leo Island, a fish protection area. Leo is amongst the Middle or Easter group of islands, about 12nm SSE of the Wallabi Islands across Middle Channel.

It was a nervous motor into this lagoon. It’s littered with coral outcrops and I was sent forward to help pick a safe passage through the reef. We’d been told never to sail at dawn or dusk into these anchorages and for good reason. Even with the sun directly overhead, spotting the hundreds of bommies lurking just below the surface requires an eagle eye.

Leo is one of a few Abrolhos Islands with a small lake. Remarkably, this one is also home to a huge potato cod. Last time this cod managed to allude us, though it’s a wonder how in a pond this size. So this time we not only headed ashore with our snorkels and goggles, but also a delicious slab of mackerel. It did the job. Just minutes after dangling the fillet into the water, the cod appeared, devoured our offering and allowed us to accompany it in a couple of laps around the pool.

If not for the need to catch fish for dinner, we would have stayed at Leo Island for weeks, many do. But with dinner on our minds we motored carefully back through the narrow coral-fringed passage and set a course for nearby Morley Island.

Morley Island

Morley is literally a stone’s throw from a second atoll, Wooded Island. A channel rushes between the two and provides a snorkel experience like no other. The southern end of the passage is both shallow and narrow, and as soon as I set foot into the water the strong current pulled me straight out into the channel, which was a little disconcerting at first. There were fish everywhere, including the biggest herring I’ve ever laid eyes apon. The deeper the hole became the bigger the fish, and I spotted countless groper and huge snapper just ambling along the sea floor. We drifted across this sea aquarium at least four times and each swim was as exciting as the moment we jumped in.

Pelsaert Island

If I had to choose my favourite Abrolhos Island, Pelsaert is it. Getting there is easy in Abrolhos terms, with channel markers to guide you all the way, after crossing Zeewijk Channel. Unfortunately there is not a detailed chart for this island group so a vigilant watch is vital. The anchorage area stretches over a kilometre of sand and is about four metres deep. Hundreds of thousands of terns and common and lesser noddies nest ashore and at sunset a seemingly endless stream soared past, leaving us to wonder where they were going and when they’d be back. In stark contrast to our sandy anchorage, a field of coral stretches for at least three kilometres from the island’s western flank to the outer reef. It’s so close to the surface that from the paddle ski I could reach down and touch the coral fingers and fronds.

Emboldened by the sandy bottom I put my shark fears aside and swam daily to shore. And on the first such trip I made a wonderful new friend in a seal pup. He was shy at first, but it seemed he couldn’t resist the urge to play and before long we were somersaulting and playing follow-the-leader all the way up the beach. It’ll be one of the most remarkable swims of my life.

There aren’t romantic palm-lined beaches, refuelling jetties or convenience stores out here. But if you are dying to escape the busy world, with little more to worry about than which seafood to have for tea, the Abrolhos Islands can’t be beaten.

FACTS AND FURTHER INFO

Charts and other reading

Chart Aus 751

State department charts: Wallabi Group WA 999, Easter Group WA 998

Mike Dash's Batavia's Graveyard

Hugh Edward's Islands of Angry Ghosts

Western Australian Cruising Guide

General Info

The Abrolhos is made up of three islands groups, Wallabi, Middle and Pelsaert - stretching over 100km. During the lobster fishing season, March to June, fishermen take up temporary residence on 22 of the islands.

There are no facilities and boats must carry enough food, water and fuel for the duration of their stay.

Light aircraft fly most week days to the three airstrips from Geraldton. Take extra care not to disturb nesting birds when going ashore.

Western rock lobster may only be caught using pots. A number of reef observation areas exist where fishing is prohibited.