Althorpe Island

As the sunrises at Marion bay on the southern tip of Yorke Peninsula we slowly make our way towards the Four Winds Charter Boat. Normally they take keen fishermen to the snapper grounds that abound in these waters. But today's charter represents a special pilgrimage for these two blokes...ex lighthouse keepers bound for Althorpe Island between Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. There are constant reminders of how dangerous these waters can be. The rudder post of the wreck the Willyama, can be seen as the rollers make their way passed Rhino Head and within minutes Haystack Island is in view. The reefs and islands have claimed many lives and as you approach the seal colony near Althorpe, you realise why. "There are two types of seals here, sea lions and New Zealand fur seals." Not far from here the vessel the Pareora went down, her captain and ten crew members lost in these treacherous waters. With the jetty in sight, reminders of that tragedy explain why lighthouse keepers like John Lawley were stationed here. "It's got a lot of nostalgia for me." John first came here as a nine year old when his dad was a lighthouse keeper. "It was a place of adventure really. I always remember that as a young child coming here, the adventure of coming to a place like this. I always get that same feeling coming back." It's a lifestyle which obviously runs in the bloke because John later returned as an adult, following in his father's footsteps as a lighthouse keeper.

And now with his mate Michael Lucieer a fellow keeper on Althorpe, the process of moving in emphasis the remoteness of this place. "We shift our supplies up to the top and that's ninety one metres high." That's the quick way but for John there's no escaping a climb which keepers have made ever since this lighthouse was built in 1879. Althorpe was first discovered by the French explorer Nicholas Baudin who named it Isles Vauban. Matthew Flinders also came across this amazing layer of limestone in 1802 and called it Omicron Island. But twelve years later it was renamed Althorpe after the Viscount of Althorpe in England, one of the Spencer family a distant ancestor of the late Princess Diana. Late last century fear of invasion by the Russians prompted the laying of a telegraph cable to Althorpe Island so those here could scan these waters and maintain contact with the mainland. "Coastguard Oyster Bay this is Althorpe Island we've been keeping a lookout for the yacht that hasn't radioed in, there's no sightings but we'll keep watch for that." Now the more likely invasion is by yachties sailing through way these waters. The lighthouse is now fully automated. Michael was one of the last keepers to work here in 1991 and now he and John are members of the Friends of Althorpe Island Conservation Park. As part of the group they attend to maintenance jobs on this spectacular and lonely rock in Investigator Strait. "What sort of special attributes to people need to survive on a remote place like this?" "I think handling isolation and just enjoying your own company really. "There's always something to do, you're kept busy. For me it's just spending time with nature, being out in the environment like this which is so spectacular." Stories abound about the people who made this their home and those who built all this. "So they built the jetty and then they employed sixty men to hand on slings there and dug a big cutting, you can hardly see it there anymore. You can definitely see a marking there and during that time they had a dispute and industrial dispute. Some of them were accused of not pulling their weight and so on. But they had the working men sleeping on the he beach here and a rock happened on the foreman's tent and subsequently killed him." "was that an accident?" "Well who knows Ron. Who knows. Officially it was an accident." "But even here there's danger?" "Yes and we as a group are conscious of safety. When you come to this Island you've got to really adhere to the paths and be careful of how you walk and where you walk." In its heyday three keepers lived here with their families. And when you look down from he lighthouse keepers cottages to the beach below, you get a sense of what it must have felt like to them. "It's one thing to stay here for a few days on holiday and quite another to live and work here. It's hard to imagine a more isolated place and in the past should things go wrong this winch with its flying fox to the jetty below was effectively your only lifeline."

For John the isolation offers a chance to reflect on past adventures as a nine year old, like the day he stumbled across the entrance to a blowhole at the top of this ocean cave. He lowered himself by rope into the chamber below, fell into the swirling sea and ultimately swam among the seals to safety. It was probably the sort of adventure best kept from his mother but out here even the most adventurous kid could not avoid the inevitable. "Well you had schoolwork you can't get away from that. "So your mother taught you?" "Indeed yes we had correspondence school and we also had school of the air. We used to get a package that lasted a fortnight and we'd try and get through the package in four or five days and then we'd take time off to go fishing or wandering around the island or hobbies and things like that." And when wandering around here you can't help but be struck by the views. To the south the rugged cliffs on the north coast of Kangaroo Island further west a distant lighthouse at Cape Borda and further still magnificent Wedge Island. To the North Innes National Park from Westcape all the way to Cape Spencer and beyond. It was enough to make a nine year old feel pretty special and pretty small all at the same time. "So you do get that broader perspective of existence in a place like this." We left John to enjoy all this by himself and we returned to the boys from Four Winds Charter who'd had some luck in our absence catching a harlequin fish. "Very nice eating, one of the best eating fish in the sea." To stay on the island you need to join the Friends of Althorpe Island Conservation Park. Membership is ten dollars. The Friends will then arrange a nominal fee for accommodation in one of the cottages and you'll need to bring your own linen and food. Four Winds Charter takes groups of eight to Althorpe Island at a total cost of $80 a head. They also have accommodation at Marion Bay on Yorke Peninsula for $90 a night for minimum of 6 people.

For more information you can email info@postcards.sa.com.au