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Sidetrip 4 - Montague Island / Barunguba

Nine kilometres by boat from Narooma lies Montague Island, a low rocky outcrop close to the edge of the continental shelf and start of the great abyss. For the past few days its distant presence had dominated the ocean horizon as we walked, and now we were going to visit it.

Accompanied by Liz and two friends from Canberra, Trish and Mike, we joined a group of people on a tour boat at the Narooma wharf, headed out though the imposing walls of the breakwater and powered over the big ocean swells to the island. As it is a declared Nature Reserve, only management staff, scientists and people on tours such as ours run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service can land on Montague. The surrounding waters, though, are a favourite place for fishermen and a many boats of varying size and shape bobbed about in the swell as we neared the island. From the clusters of boats, it was obvious where the fish were biting.

The narrow gap between the northern and
southern ends of the island

Montague Island profile

As we circled the island, we spotted a small group of Australian fur seals basking on the rocks. Several entered the water and frolicked around the boat as we watched. A short distance on, a lone New Zealand fur seal barely deigned to raise its head as we passed. Apparently the level of sociality is one distinguishing feature between these two species.

Australian fur seals basking on the rocks

Australian fur seal

Life's good

Solitary New Zealand fur seal

Disembarking on the island landing, Dean, our ranger guide, commenced his explanation of the geology, biology and history of Montague. Perhaps I should say Barunguba, as this was its name for thousands of years before a European renamed it after his rich English patron. Once part of the massive Dromedary volcano, the island is the remnant of a secondary volcanic cone that was once linked to the mainland. It was a fertile hunting ground for the local aboriginal tribes and they would journey to this spot to collect seabirds and their eggs, as well as for ceremonial purposes. Even after the seas rose at the end of the last great ice age and cut Barunguba off from the mainland, they continued to make this voyage in bark canoes. Their legends explain how Barunguba did not heed the call to return of his mother, Gulaga, or Mount Dromedary, the imposing mountain on the landward horizon, and remained forever separated from her by the sea.

Gulaga looking across the sea to Barunguba

The light house	Europeans, with a more practical bent, saw the island as an important link for a series of lighthouses to protect shipping lanes along the South Coast and built the lighthouse and attached keepers' cottages from local granite in 1881. Unfortunately, human habitation also led to the introduction of exotic weeds, the control of which remains an ongoing problem for the reserve managers.
	Head keeper's cottage	Storage shed with a view

Seabird breeding habitat	Pretty but unwelcome! Kikuyu and convolvulus, two of the weeds on the island	Farewell to Barunguba
The ranger-guided tour was excellent – giving an overview of the life of lighthouse keepers, a chance to visit the lighthouse and cottages, a tour through areas where fairy penguins, silver gulls and shearwaters breed in summer, and a demonstration of some of the management issues with weeds and the preservation of seabird breeding sites. The island is an important seabird rookery and management currently centres around protecting these. Thanks, Dean. As we returned to the mainland, we reflected on what we had learnt about Barunguba. We felt that we knew our companion of the past few days much better.


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