BAZflyer: Sweers Island

Mention Sweers Island and the response might well be; where the bloody hell is that? Certainly as places go this place is not exactly on the beaten track to anywhere. In fact, it is a rather small island in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria located some 30 km off the coast, directly north of Burketown. So just what was it that attracted the Bazflyers to spend a few days here?
If any judgement of the island was to be made on first encounters it had to be good. After a smooth touchdown on the dusty dirt airstrip the Comanche’s propellor had hardly stopped before we were being welcomed by Tex and Lyn the island’s only two permanent locals. Oh, and I almost forgot to include their two Boarder Collie dogs.
Sweers is quintessentially a ‘blokes’ paradise, deservedly famous for it’s fishing. However, with golden beaches, forests, mangroves and rocky cliffs to explore, which provide homes to a myriad of wildlife including Dolphins, Turtles, Dugongs and over one hundred bird species, there’s also lots here for the non-fisher people to do.
Almost in a primeval way, time while on Sweers Island, is regulated by the coming up and going down of the sun. There’s no television, internet or mobile phone reception as such. Apart from the simply constructed accommodation buildings on the island, this is a place that has remained relatively unchanged since it was first visited by Matthew Flinders during his 1801-03 circumnavigation of Australia. It could be said that getting to Sweers Island is a journey off the beaten track but leaving it becomes harder by the day. Perhaps that explains why it has been home for Tex and Lyn for more than 30 years.
Tex and Lyn with Sarah (left)