Chain Of Isles

Granite cliffs, white-sand beaches and clear blue waters typify the remote and ruggedly beautiful islands of theRecherche Archipelago, Western Australia.

- Jessica Watson

Aerial photos of the island’s most famous feature, a bright pink lake, are readily available online, but the island itself is far less accessible. Despite the frequent use of the images in tourist brochures, this destination is a long way off the average tourist’s beaten track.

As one of 105 islands and 1500 islets and submerged rocks that form the Recherche Archipelago, Middle Island sits off a remote and exposed stretch of Western Australia’s southern coastline, about 9km from Cape Arid. Powerful Southern Ocean swells, a near-relentless wind, the lack of a nearby harbour or landing facilities and the requirement for hard-to-get access permits make reaching this island an adventure.

After drying our feet and pulling on shoes, our landing party – of parks officers Brendan Williams and Stephen Butler, photographer David Dare Parker and myself – sets off towards a rocky headland with views of the island’s longest beach, which is covered in the fine white sand for which this part of WA’s coastline is known.

At the far end of the bay, partly submerged in the clear blue water, are the iron remnants of tug SS Penguin, one of many shipwrecks in the archipelago. Owned by the West Australian government and used as a survey vessel, the Penguin was, ironically, involved in other rescue and salvage efforts before being grounded in a storm herself in 1920.

It’s speculated that the area’s first wrecks might have been as early as the 1600s, when ships headed for the Spice Islands and were washed far off course by ferocious weather and their crews’ limited navigational abilities.