Hanson Bay Koala Sanctuary
Remarkable Rocks
(The one thing not named by the French)
Admiral's Arch
Hanson Bay
Clifford's Honey Farm
American River
Late ferry back
Late bus
Late to bed
Distance:
Total Distance:
The next morning we went out to the Hanson Bay Koala Sanctuary. Here the trees are filled with koalas, as well as a few interesting birds.
We were also informed about the island's Koalas.
Koalas are not native to the island. In fact there's a lot of animals here that have been introduced. It was used about 100 years ago as a sanctuary for all of the animals from the mainland we were steadily killing off. Some animals didn't do well, such as the Emu, all of which died. The Koalas, at first did quite well. They're very fussy about their food- they only eat certain species of eucalyptus, and even if those they need them to be growing a specific way so that they don't get killed by the toxicity of the leaves- this varies from region to region. Luckily the koalas found the right trees on the island and ate them. All of them. Suddenly there were 50,000 starving koalas on the island.
The problem was "solved" by culling them down to around 10,000. The eucalyptus regret and the koalas thrived again. This time there was another culling, but also they desexed a proportion of the population, reducing the probability of over population. This worked for some time. Then human chlamydia was introduced- the theory being similar to myxomatosis used on rabbits in the UK and Australia. However this has spread rapidly through the population, even spreading on the mainland.
They now get infected early in their life, eventually developing red eyes which become blind, leading to them starving to death at about 6 years old- far earlier than their usual life span of around 18 years. It's keeping much of the population in check, but in a cruel and debilitating way.
The island also has some problems with its native species- the kangaroo and wallaby. Combined they number around one million, having lots of food and no natural predators. Only starvation, disease, humans, and bush fires really control the populations. Bush fires sounded like a horrific incident for them. Our guide told us of one area in the west end of the island where a bush fire was chasing kangaroos towards the sea. At the cliffs the kangaroos would simply jump off and into the water. They're good swimmers, so I assume many survived. This didn't stop the local Great White Shark society turning up though. Apparently shots from helicopters had shown them lining up along the shore waiting for kangaroos to jump straight into the waiting jaws.
Incidentally, there are no Aboriginal presently native to the island. In fact, they don't talk about the place. The nation that used to live nearby on the main land has since moved into cities, leading normal western lives. Their ancestors would travel onto the island occasionally over 10,000 years ago when it was still attached to the main land. However, as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age the causeway was lost. It's possible people could have remained on the island and survived- it's large enough, being the third largest island in Australia. Yet there's no evidence to suggest they did.
Today the island is known to the Aboriginal as the Island of the Dead. It is believed that the spirits of the dead travel over the island to the far end before ascending to the heavens to become a star. Their culture doesn't speak of the dead after they've passed, though, so the island of the dead is not spoken of either. Aboriginal people will not speak of nor travel to the island- to them it effectively doesn't exist.
Next up were the Remarkable Rocks. These were created in granite during the underground metamorphosis stage, forming unusual shapes which were then forced to the surface. They are on the furthest end of the island and are the most often used site for photos advertising the island. They have weird and interesting shapes, with large spherical "bites" taken out. All sit on top of a large curved rock. Great place to clamber around with limited regard for ones own health.
The Remarkable Rocks are lucky to have their English name. Most of the island is named in French. The reason for this is that a British explorer arrived just 3 days before his French counterpart, claiming the island for the British Empire. There was some conjecture from the French, but it was decided in Europe that those three days were enough for it to be British. The French revenge, however, was that their explorer had sailed around all of the island and named nearly every feature he could see with a very French name- names that officially remained. Somehow he missed the collection of massive rocks that site on the top of the cliffs on the western end of the island though.
We stopped in at Admiral's Arch- an arch of rock that was surrounded by sealions and New Zealand seals.
After this was Hanson's Bay- another beautiful beach, famous for being in a national park, but one in which the government allowed a small, very expensive, hotel to be built next to. There's some rumours that the government of the day was given lots of money, maybe a bribe, to give the rights to those properties. For the cost of staying $20,000 per night was mentioned. No wonder they could afford a bribe. Some people have more money than sense.
In the 1880's Honey Bees were imported from the Italian province of Linguria. These thrived into a honey industry, so we made a trip to the Clifford Honey Farm. As well as various honey to try made from a variety of native plants they had sweets, soaps, candles, and even mead and beer.
Finally we were returning, reaching American River. This isn't a river, but it's not American either. It's a long inlet filled with sea water. Over 200 years ago (1802 I seem to remember) an American came here with one ship to hunt seals for a season. So skilled was he that he filled his ship, and set about building a second to fill with more skins to take home. This ship was named the "Independence", inevitably. Being the river where the American lived the name has stuck, despite some people complaining that it has nothing to do with America- they've still got the Stars and Stripes up there though.
Anyway, it's now full of fishermen and Pelicans.
Quick stop off at Penneshaw to buy fish and chips from a man in a caravan who had a mullet. Then onto the ferry, coach into town, and into Shakespeare's hostel.
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