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A Pirate Tale

which drove the ship aground. Men were murdered and women choring just off shore. The lake is a short walk from the beach.
taken prisoner. The shoreline is crusty with salt particles. There are signs of
previous habitation with a stone cooking area and remnants of
Naturally disagreements broke out between the pirates. Even- a building. Flinders Peak is 174m high. Salt was mined between
tually, 10 years later, Black Jack was killed by his own men. 1889-1890 with remnants of rail tracks still being visible.
His body has never been found... Nor has the pirate treasure!
Naturally, tales of a buried trove of riches has inspired treasure Black Jacks Bay faces the southern ocean. Between Cape Arid
seekers to visit the remote and lonely island. on the mainland and Middle Island lies the safe anchorage of
Goose Island. Named for the resident Cape Barren geese. These
Middle Island is beautiful. The stunning pink colour of Lake magnificent birds are large grey geese and are found on offshore
Hillier has featured in the Red Bull advertisement. It is a shal- islands in small flocks. There are several wrecks around Middle
low saline lake and the colour is caused by low levels of nutri- Island. The “Penguin” is visible in the clear blue water just off
ents and a combination of algae and bacteria. the sandy beach. Sea lions are still to be found on the rocky
outcrops. Sea eagles fly overhead and a pod of dolphins escorted
Coming from Africa I would expect to see flamingos but the us into Black Jacks Bay.
lake was devoid of all bird life.
We returned to the Duke of Orleans beach and made land-
Access to the island is restricted as it is a nature reserve. An fall as the sun was setting. A memorable day for our group of
application for a landing permit must be made well in advance explorers. A short while after that trip we were able to view the
with the tour leader accepting responsibility for the group. We island from a helicopter. We landed on the rocks near the beach.
left Esperance and travelled by road to the Duke of Orleans Bay Incredibly fortunate to have visited the island by sea and air.
beach launch site. The sun rose as we headed off in the aptly
named “Recheche Investigator” Life after Black Jack Andersons reign of terror continues with
the island still keeping her secrets!
Middle Island is 122 km South East of Esperance. It lies 9 km off
the Cape Arid coast. It is a long trip by sea even from the closer Visit Maureen Dickason at https://www.facebook.com/mau-
launch site. We spent the day exploring Middle Island after an- reen.dickason

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