On the rocks ... a charter boat off Montague Island.Credit: Tourism NSW
'High dive!" shouts Mark Westwood. "Seven for style, three for entry." The surfacing fur seal shows no sign of interest. I imagine them thinking: what do these humans know, pulling on artificial flippers and falling off the back of the boat like awkward fairy penguins hit by a wave?
I'm conscious of a certain inelegance in comparison as I struggle against the chill seeping through my titanium wetsuit. Hitting the water is a farce of flailing limbs and now gummy pink-and-purple jellyfish swirl around my legs and bob past the thin tube of my snorkel. When Mark, our nature guide, points out a Port Douglas shark feeding on the ocean floor, my extremities curl in self-preservation. But we're reassured it's harmless and attention is diverted to the multitude of seals. The soupy water fizzes with bubbles as they swirl around each other, breaking the surface and playfully dodging the human interlopers.
Montague Island, near Narooma on the South Coast, looms much larger than might be expected from its 82 hectares of protected nature reserve. Called Barunguba by the local Aborigines, it is traditionally a men's teaching place and home to important cultural traditions that continue in attenuated form today. It's also home to a formidable population of gulls and crested terns, romancing their mates along the walking trails and squawking when walkers break their concentration. The fur seals are less vocal; in spring they number up to a thousand, stretched out on the shores, looking like Bondi on a busy day.
A granite lighthouse drifts in and out of focus from virtually anywhere on the island. First lit in 1881, keepers would once tag-team through the night. Ten days off a year seems small consolation, though full automation by 1986 means staff now avoid the mounting sleep debt.
On the crossing from the mainland, I'm struck by the sight of orange lichen, rocks and bracken that cast the vista as an Edward Hopper painting. The island soars out of the ocean, a side vent from a long dormant mainland volcano. But that makes it sound rough; it is sparse but inspiringly grand.
While on the crossing a humpback breaches and everyone on our cruiser, the Sea Eagle, rushes to one side. The driver lowers an underwater microphone and we hear the plangent song of a whale as a cavernous mouth opens to collect krill. It is hard to believe these are "skinny" whales, adolescents preceding mothers and babies in the coming weeks. Their clockwork migration made them an easy target for slaughter in the past and numbers were perilously low by the 1963 moratorium.
These humpbacks will travel up to 25,000 kilometres - a humbling thought. Here we are, reliant on a powerful boat just to make a modest crossing of nine kilometres. Our limitations are driven home as a shy albatross glides away across the waves, unencumbered in its endless roaming.
After docking on the island, some visitors join tours and plant saplings as part of conservation efforts. Island researchers are aggressively eradicating kikuyu grass and the tours give visitors a chance to connect with the island.
The impulse for connection is a strong one. At one point we take turns hugging the lighthouse to feel the quality of local granite, studded with mica.
As an overnight guest I continue on to seal snorkelling and a late lunch in the head keeper's quarters. Built to last, on a high plateau next to the lighthouse, the cottage is warm and inviting, with five bedrooms and ample space for 12. It's easy to imagine this was once a regular home filled with children sitting around a two-way radio, their teacher in Dubbo. Less easy to understand is an infamous feud that led one of these families to ignore its only island neighbours for several weeks. Where would you go?
By the time evening rolls around, the island has taken on another cast. The day trippers have left and the setting sun triggers the lighthouse into action. The men flock around the barbecue to poke steaks. "It's like confession," observes one woman. The remark is apt given the relaxed openness the island seems to encourage.
Before eating, we wander to the end of the island to spy the nightly parade of little penguins. From behind a rock we see them, right on schedule. They clamber out of the water, small and weirdly human in their movements. One renegade loner scales a cliff, bobbing at the top and letting out a low call. None of the others seem to care though; they negotiate the rocky obstacle course in military march, shuffling past us and into the labyrinth of grassy burrows just beyond the slope. At one point they wander so close you could reach out and - come to your senses. We pause to let the hobbling traffic pass into the night.
After dinner someone has the bright idea of telling ghost stories but nothing can stop the sweet intrusion of sleep. Outside, the lighthouse traces its safe circumference across the sea.
"It is time to go and we are planning a mutiny," I notice the next day in the guest book. Did they know there's an entire army of penguins hidden in the grass, waiting to be rallied?
Lance Richardson travelled courtesy of Tourism NSW.
FAST FACTS
Getting there
Montague Island is accessible from Narooma, 350 kilometres south of Sydney. Access to the island is restricted to tour groups accompanied by a National Parks and Wildlife Service guide. Half-day tours operate morning and evening (three to four hours; season dependent). Cost is $130 for adults, $99 for children or $430 for a family of four. Bookings and information at Narooma Charters (0407 909 111) or the Narooma Visitors Centre (4476 2881) or see montagueisland.com.au.
Hosted overnight conservation tours are held regularly by Conservation Volunteers Australia. Participants stay in the restored head keeper's quarters and contribute to the long-term protection of the island through organised projects. Prices from $580 a person for two nights. Alternatively, self-guided stays for up to 12 people can be organised for two to four nights.
Things to do
Whale watching is offered by Narooma Charters from September to November. It also offers dive and snorkel charters, and reef fishing trips.
Snorkelling with seals is available to overnight guests only, arranged with a local charter operator (about $33 a person).
Sea kayaking in South Durras near Batemans Bay is a good break in the drive from Sydney. See bayandbeyond.com.au.
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