Welcome to Beacon - a hopefully regular bulletin documenting my time as a volunteer caretaker on Deal Island, Tasmania.
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Along with my friend Apanie, I’m soon to be headed to Deal Island, Tasmania to undertake a 3-month stint as a volunteer caretaker for the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service.
The island is part of the Kent Group and lies in the Bass Straight, roughly halfway between the tip of Wilsons Promontory and Flinders Island. It’s Tassie’s northernmost national park and covers roughly 15 km².
I first heard of the existence of these types of opportunities about 15 years ago and it’s been on my mind since. In 2021 I got myself on the right mailing list1 and in 2022 the opportunity was advertised and I convinced Apanie (well, I only had to ask once!) to apply with me. I understand the process can be competitive, so I’m glad to have Apanie on board with all her remote and incident management experience, as well as her A+ attitude to life. I’m sure this is what got us over the line!
So the deal is, in exchange for volunteering as caretakers, we get free accommodation and the opportunity to live in one of the most remote and spectacular places in Australia. It’s an incredible opportunity to be fully immersed in nature and history.
We get free transit from Flinders Island to Deal Island and have a 700 kg allowance (including our body weight). At first, this seemed generous, but once we started to factor in things like steel caps and wetsuits (and of course, a minimum of 20 kg cheese) we quickly appreciated the constraint. The logistics of this have been a big and fun challenge. I’ll tell you all about it in the next installment.
As caretakers, we’ll be responsible for routine maintenance of heritage sites and the park’s assets, and providing visitor services. The only way to visit the island is by private boat (or kayak if you’re keen) - but that doesn’t necessarily mean visitors2 are few and far between. I have heard that over the summer period, there can be 8+ boats pulling in to harbour every day!
We’re headed down to Tassie at the end of this week for pre-deployment training and a bit of exploring. Our lift to Deal Island is early December, with return pickup scheduled for early March. And for the period between, it’ll just be us, kicking about on an island having the time of our lives!
Fingers crossed there’s enough mobile coverage for me to keep broadcasting.
If you do want to visit, I’ve had some good chats with Brian from Port Albert Charters who can arrange for transport to and from the island.