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Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 10:34 am
by Son of a Beach
For our 10th wedding anniversary, my wife and I spent four nights on Three Hummock Island off the NW tip of Tasmania from the 3rd to the 7th of January. The weather was superb (contributing to severe bushfires in other parts of the state). We did some easy day walks, diving (snorkelling), watched the shearwater (mutton bird) flock arrive back at the rookery, relaxed and basically just had a fantastic time on a wonderful island.
You can get a lot of information about the island, its history and the facilities there on its website at:
http://www.threehummockisland.com.auJohn and Beverly, who manage facilities there, are excellent hosts. They clearly have a great passion for the island and want to share that passion with visitors. They are doing a great job of looking after the place and they want to make sure that visitors enjoy their time there, and see and do as much as possible.
The flights to and from Wynyard (thanks to Seair) were a great part of the holiday and not just a commute, thanks to the brilliant views of Tasmania's spectacular coastline.
It was the first time my wife had ever been snorkelling, and that kind of thing is very much outside of her comfort zone. She ended up doing very well with a short snorkelling session every full day that we were there. I was very impressed with her when she got back in the water the day after we came very close to a 1.5m wingspan ray which really freaked her out.
Now for some photos...
- en route from Wynyard - Table Cape
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- en route from Wynyard - Boat Habour Beach
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- en route from Wynyard - The Nut, Stanley
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- Sand patterns near Stanley
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- Three Hummock Island
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- Eastern end of Home Beach including The Marbles
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- The settlement (as viewed just before landing) consists of three houses, a few sheds and an extensive vege garden.
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- View of Home Beach from The Homestead where we stayed for four nights
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- On the rocks near the jetty with Golden Beach in the background. The rock is granite with the largest feldspar crystals I've ever seen (up to about 10cm).
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- Cape Barren Geese (introduced) are everywhere on the island (this pair is at the north end of Golden Beach).
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- Walking along Home Beach towards The Marbles
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- Looking towards The Marbles
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- Standing on a rock near The Marbles
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- In the early mornings and in the evenings there were Kangaroos everywhere.
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- Granite near Burgess Point
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- Amongst the granite near Burgess Point
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- On a rock north end Spiers Bay
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- Ray - not sure if this is a Smooth Stingray or an Eagle Ray - about 1.5m wingspan, so not the largest I've seen but enough to seriously freak out my wife on her first proper snorkelling session
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- The Five Sisters at the south end of Spiers Bay
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- Even the coat rack had a real holiday look.
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- View from the top of South Hummock (highest point - but not very high). 3h 10m return (including detour to Granite Hill) walking solo in ridiculously unsuitable K-Mart canvas elastic side beach shoes. Still not sure why I didn't do this one barefoot, as it would have hurt my feet a lot less.
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- Panorama looking East from Granite Hill towards South Hummock
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- View of Home Beach and settlement from Granite Hill with Hunter Island in the background
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- Getting back into the water the day after the ray experience - very brave of her as it is way out of her comfort zone. I was proud of her.
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- Snorkelling
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- A few fish
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- Perfect weather - the view from the Homestead again
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- Fading sunset over Hunter Island while waiting for the Shearwaters (Mutton Birds) to return to the rookery under the protection of darkness
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- View of Home Beach and the settlement just after take off, en route Wynyard
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- The Nut and Stanley, en route Wynyard
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- Bushfires behind Sisters Beach / Rocky Cape area
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- Table Cape, en route Wynyard
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Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 11:13 am
by ULWalkingPhil
That would be a great place to go hammock camping.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 6:30 pm
by north-north-west
From the wings and snout it looks more like an Eagle Ray, but it's hard to be sure from that shot. I didn't think they got that big, either.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 6:42 pm
by Strider
north-north-west wrote:From the wings and snout it looks more like an Eagle Ray, but it's hard to be sure from that shot. I didn't think they got that big, either.
Definitely an Eagle Ray. They get that big....
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 6:49 pm
by Son of a Beach
Apparently Smooth Stingrays get to 2m (which I didn't realise until looking it up the other day), are quite placid, and often sit on the bottom with their tail pointing straight up like the one we saw. Eagle rays get much bigger and are also quite placid, and have long thin tails like the one we saw.
The ray we saw at Three Hummock Island had covered most of its skin with sand, so I couldn't tell what colour it was or if it had any particular pattern or markings on it.
(I once watched a nearly 3m eagle ray swim right under me in less than 2m of water down at Coles Bay.)
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Fri 11 Jan, 2013 7:54 pm
by corvus
Nice one
SoaB it has been on my to do list for many years
corvus
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Sat 12 Jan, 2013 10:56 pm
by Nuts
Looks great Nik!!
iv'e had my kayak out around Robins/Walker, the area is teeming with sea life. Must get to 3 Hummock one day, chickened out on the crossing, the tides are pretty edgy around those islands.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Sun 13 Jan, 2013 2:28 pm
by Son of a Beach
Yes, they warned us that the tidal flow can be as much as 8 knots through those passages and many people have got into strife because of that, even in small motorboats.
I did notice that the marine charts suggest it is only up to 2 knots though.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Mon 14 Jan, 2013 11:23 am
by stepbystep
Thanks for sharing Nik, looks to be a great getaway, and congrats on the anniversary
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Tue 15 Jan, 2013 11:07 pm
by ofuros
Great island get-away, Son of a beach.
Looks like you had some great weather too......
You sparked a few long forgotten memories......
Chased mutton birds in my younger days on that very island,
tiger snake heaven in the rookeries. As you said the returning shearwaters at dusk is something to behold.
Glimpses of fast moving pods of dolphins offshore & free diving for crays & abalone in our spare time.
Lots of secluded bays to explore.
Thanks for sharing those pics.....its a very special place, overlooked by many.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Wed 16 Jan, 2013 8:42 pm
by Nick S
Thanks for posting Nik, never really noticed that corner of Tassie before.
Looks like a chilled out place for a holiday. You see many lobster or abalone?
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Thu 17 Jan, 2013 7:49 am
by Son of a Beach
I saw a lot of large abalone. I didn't see any crays, but I wasn't really looking for them. I don't scuba and didn't have a weight belt.
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Mon 21 Jan, 2013 2:45 pm
by Overlandman
Brought back some memories, I had a few trips over to THI during the 80's / 90's when I was Flying.
Spent some time with Eleanor & John Alliston, plenty of stories there, got both of Eleanor's books, great reading.
Glad you had an enjoyable trip.
Regards Overlandman
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Mon 04 Feb, 2013 7:29 am
by Robbins1
hi SoaB,
first post here. Can't carry a pack anymore due to dodgy old knees but sea kayaking is my passion and I have spent many, many weeks paddling around the Robbins / Walker, Three Hummock, Hunter and Albatross Islands area.
It is an area that not many people even think about getting to - truly a jewel in Tasmania's crown. Shepherds Bay on Hunter Island must be the best kept secret - easily rivals Wineglass Bay and there are no b....y tourists
Love the forum - takes me back to the days when I could lug a pack on my back,
cheers
Iain
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Mon 20 Jun, 2022 4:14 pm
by myrtlegirl
I went to THI shortly after seeing SoaB's post. A really good trip, lots of beach combing, snorkelling, walking. We stayed in the accommodation.
I'm wondering if anyone has camped at other areas on the island for a few days, such as Mermaid Bay up the N end or West or East Telegraph beaches? Initial enquiries some years ago suggested you needed permission and this probably wouldn't be given, but without giving too much away I've since heard from a reputable source that this may not be the case.
PM me rather than post here.
Cheers,
myrtlegirl
Re: Three Hummock Island (many photos)
Posted:
Mon 20 Jun, 2022 6:31 pm
by tastrax
...and if folks would like to help with some conservation on the island then there is always this Wildcare group that visits annually (or maybe twice a year?). Lots of sea spurge to pull!!
https://wildcaretas.org.au/branches/wil ... ck-island/