Willis Island and Hamilton Island: Paradise Down Under by Various Travel Authors on Creators.com

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Willis Island and Hamilton Island: Paradise Down Under

By Sharon Whitley Larsen

CRUISING OFF WILLIS ISLAND, Australia — Imagine living on a tiny, remote tropical island with only three other people — for six months. Everyone has fantasies about a Robinson Crusoe lifestyle, and that's just what some staff of the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology get to experience.

Located in the Coral Sea near the Great Barrier Reef, 250 miles off the eastern Queensland coast, Willis Island is one of three islets. Reportedly Australia's smallest inhabited island, it is about 600 yards long and 200 yards wide — some 19 acres.

Boasting pure white sand, clear blue water and gorgeous sunsets, it's also inhabited by turtles, crabs and thousands of birds. It was once described by the Chicago Tribune as "one of the strangest colonies in the world, a tiny speck in the vast Pacific Ocean." It has no hotel, no grocery store, no post office, no hospital.

"It takes a certain type of person who wants to live on an island like this for so long," noted Capt. John Foley on a video shown in my Royal Caribbean stateroom as the Rhapsody of the Seas cruised toward it. "It looks quite idyllic. The beach looks beautiful but it is difficult to walk on."

Willis Island is used today for launching weather balloons and tracking them via radar, an important contribution to the world's weather data.

Discovered in 1853 by a Capt. Pearson, who named it after the owners of his vessel, Cashmere, Willis Island was surveyed in 1860 by Capt. H.M. Denham, who buried a bottle containing a record of his visit.

In 1921 it became a wireless storm-warning station to help predict cyclones and hurricanes, which had devastated mainland coastal towns on several occasions, causing great damage and several fatalities.

Ever since then (even during World War II, a dangerous place to be with Japanese submarines in the area) people have lived here, usually a staff of four on a six-month rotation. Today it still serves as an important 24-hour weather station, with occasional passing cruise ship passengers photographing it and peering through binoculars. "There aren't many visitors except the occasional yacht, tourist dive boat or the Royal Australian Navy," pointed out Foley.

In October 1921, the captain of the steamer Innisfail and his small crew of sailors, carpenters and wireless operators dropped anchor off Willis Island in shark-infested waters.

"We were able to hear the screams of the birds, its only inhabitants," wrote ocean explorer John King Davis, the meteorological observer, in his 1923 book, "Willis Island: A Storm Warning Station in the Coral Sea." (He and two others were the first full-time inhabitants of the island, living here for six months, until April 1922.)

Over the next three weeks in the searing heat, the sun-baked crew constructed a tram line to haul the heavy loads off the lifeboat and unload building, medical and food supplies (enough provisions for the three men for six months). This included 400-gallon fresh-water tanks. They built living quarters and a wireless station.

On Nov. 7, the Commonwealth flag was hoisted over the wireless hut, and "a libation of 'Old Scotch' (borrowed from our medical stores) was carefully poured out and swallowed with gusto by those present after the flag had been saluted," Davis wrote.

After the Innisfail sailed for the mainland, only Davis and two staff members remained. Their jobs over the remaining five months were to monitor the weather and send Morse code reports to the mainland. They received very few news stories from the outside world.

Eric Riethmuller later did several tours of duty on Willis Island from 1928-1932, sometimes with just one other person and once for 18 months without leaving the island.

He recalled in a 1981 letter that there were hens for fresh eggs, and for a period when the water supply ran low, he bathed in the sea, didn't wash clothing, and for a month worked without clothing. One piece of mail addressed to "The Wireless Operators, Willis Island Observatory" took 14 months to reach them.

Later, coconut trees were planted, and recently a new weather station was built and updated equipment added.

Today the island's main office houses every form of communication, including computers with Internet access and satellite TV. Individual air-conditioned accommodations offer staff privacy. There's a comfortable recreation room, a hammock, workout area, DVD and book library, pool and pingpong tables. The staff can also fish, swim and snorkel, cook, listen to music and tend to the vegetable garden. They've been known throughout the years to also make their own local home brew, "The Booby Bird Bitter."

"Every six months a supply vessel comes in," added Foley. "And the RAAF flies over and drops fresh supplies." Once the staff had a craving for McDonald hamburgers, which were also deposited to them, still warm.

As our ship slowly sailed closer by the island's north side, passengers excitedly pulled out binoculars and cameras, flanking alongside the railing, snapping photos of the weather balloon launched into the clear air. The Willis Island staff spoke for several minutes on a radio broadcast to our ship, describing their work and the island's flora and fauna.

Although we couldn't stop here for a visit, we were able to tour another small island in the Coral Sea — private Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Our ship anchored offshore, with passengers taking tenders to the pier. Shore excursions included helicopter rides, scuba diving and snorkeling. Some lounged lazily on Catseye Beach, while others hiked some of the 12 miles of trails. No cars are allowed, and buggies (golf carts) can be rented. There's also a free island shuttle bus.

With gorgeous scenery and romantic charm, Hamilton Island, in the heart of the Whitsundays, is one of 74 tropical islands (only some are inhabited) in the Coral Sea between the Queensland Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. Air service and high-speed catamaran ferries are also available from the mainland.

The tiny island, about two square miles, with more than 70 percent carefully preserved in its natural state, has a picturesque marina, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants and a few resort hotels.

With some thousand permanent residents, it hosts more than 100,000 annual visitors. It has a bank, medical center, post office, general store, day-care center, chapel, relaxation center and observatory point.

Hamilton Island received worldwide notoriety recently when Tourism Queensland advertised "The Best Job in the World" — to hire someone to live here and promote the fun-in-the-sun lifestyle on a blog for six months — for a salary of $111,000. Ben Southall of England was selected from more than 34,000 applicants from 200 countries. And Beatle George Harrison, in a quest for sunshine and privacy, built his tropical oasis getaway on six acres here in the mid-1980s.

On these tiny tropical Australian islands, there are all kinds of Robinson Crusoes.

IF YOU GO

Royal Caribbean International, www.royalcaribbean.com

Hamilton Island, www.hamiltonisland.com.au

Tourism Queensland, www.queenslandholidays.com.au

Tropical North Queensland, www.tropicalaustralia.com.au

Sharon Whitley Larsen is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.