Destination 600 kilometers North of Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef, a remote secluded island unspoiled by commercial tourism.
Accommodation
Haggerstone Island has three hand crafted private guest houses look out upon the sea. Each includes a bathroom, kitchenette and sundeck. Two of the huts are self contained and one is a more rustic hut with outside shower and toilet. Each guest house can accommodate up to four people. We cater for just 6-8 guests at any one time. There is daily room and laundry service
Getting There
To come to Haggerstone you must first fly to Cairns, North Queensland. From there we organise a twin engine, six seat private charter to the neighboring Hicks Island where we have an air strip. The two hour flight travels up the largely uninhabited coastline and terrain of Cape York and winds up over the northern Great Barrier Reef. Transfer to Haggerstone by boat from Hicks is approximately 20 minutes.
We do like the charter to depart in the early morning. If possible guests should reach Cairns the evening before. This will allow the plane to return with departing guests in time to reach afternoon flight connections. We can organise a later flight if the earlier connection cannot be met.
We would appreciate that guests restrict luggage to 15 kgs.
The Essentials:
Facilities
The main building is a spacious, native style open house. Its design is raw but functional. Sunbleached poles and open sides take advantage of cooling island breezes. Drift wood, collected on nearby shores, is used to support heavy polished benches and an array of relics, from the husk of a canoe from Papua New Guinea to an ancient wooden dinner gong and Balinese bed adds to the atmosphere. There is a main kitchen, two bathrooms, dining area and open fire on the front decks. There is no television, just relaxation, and the pleasure of reading in our library. The beach hut is a rustic driftwood construction with outside shower and toilet. The two round hand-crafted huts, similar in style to the main building feature a sundeck. All have a kitchenette equipped with a solar fridge.
A nine metre diesel jet boat allows access to shallow reef areas and mangrove rivers. Fresh cooked meals of seafood can be prepared in minutes on the boat. A six and seven metre long boat each powered by fifty horsepower Yamaha engines, are ideal for exploration. Our fishing equipment includes a complete range of rods, reels and handlines to suit both river and open sea. Masks, snorkels, and assorted diving gear are also available
Activities
The Island
Haggerstone is an incredibly private and remote and unspoiled Robinson Crusoe retreat. Situated 600 kms north of Cairns it lies within the northern great barrier reef and alongside a wild stretch of Cape York Peninsula.
Within a 60 km radius are thousands of reefs, from singular coral bommies to immense plateaus of living coral. The largest protected marine park in the world stretches from the coastline to beyond the outer barrier. Northwest along the coast the white sand hills of Shellbourne Bay plummet into the sea, concealing a moonscape of white sand hills, black lakes and intermittent jungle patches.
To the northeast, sundrenched extrusions of granite rise out of the sea. Called the Charles Hardy's Islands, they are covered with intermittent patches of grass, shrubs and ancient palms. In the mid 1800's a major sailing route ran through this area. Shipwrecks were common and their survivors were drawn to the Hardy's, where they waited and hoped for rescue. We have located an 1840's shipwreck complete with giant anchors, bronze keel bolts and other intriguing relics.
Nor-nor-west the waterways of Bird Island are sanctuary to rays, turtles, crocodiles, fish and innumerable sea and land birds. Its shallows, lined with tall mangrove forest, come to life with the rising tide.
The underwater sea cliffs of the outer barrier reef east of Haggerstone, drop 1000 to 2000 feet to the sea floor; they form an unforgettable sight. Just outside this outer reef lies Raine Island, the largest green turtle nesting site in the world and home to thousands of sea birds.
Haggerstone wild life was first studied in the late 1800's. McGilvray found in excess of 50 bird species on and around the island. The Island and its two sand cays have attracted a population of both sea and land birds. The lush tropical forest and lowland palm jungle have always stood out from its somewhat drier companion islands. The orchard is on the delta of a small creek which runs in the wet season. The rich loam, leaf compost and tropical climate make this area ideal for growing. The wet season from Xmas to March transforms the island into wetland jungle. As the rains ease the island retains its tropical appearance until August when the trees begin to shed their foliage. Two lagoons directly off the beach have prolific marine life.
An Excerpt from Roy Turner’s Journal
We came to Haggerstone in April 1985. A 70 ton barge unloaded poles, timber, fruit trees, chickens and an old tractor. The island was jungle covered, uninhabited and hundreds of miles from what we knew as civilisation.
We were not to know we would spend nearly six years alone on the island. We were virtual strangers and we came from backgrounds that were worlds apart. Anna was English, well travelled and held a Bachelor of Human Sciences degree. She was a capable potter and had a very patient and practical attitude to survival. By coincidence, Anna had walked the beach of Haggerstone Island some eight years before the barge arrival. She had joined her father, John Heyer, to locate the Pandora wreck and Haggerstone was an exploratory stop.
My childhood and youth were spent on a sheep and cattle property in Gippsland, Victoria. At age 17, all I could really do well was shear a sheep and play a guitar. I was a keen hunter and the love of hunting and music was too strong to hold me on the property. I spent seven years in New Guinea, crocodile shooting and playing music. I then based myself in Cairns, North Queensland and continued doing what I loved most - hunting, fishing and playing music. However, I had developed an interest to build houses and so I began. My direction in design and building was definitely rustic native and led to the desire to create a Robinson Crusoe style abode in the wild.
Many years later, here we are on Haggerstone near the Great Barrier Reef. It is now a home in the wilderness and by our standards truly palatial. We tend to forget that we lived in a tent for a year and carried water by bucket for two.