If anyone has read the book "The Beach" (not the movie which was *&%$#!), they can understand the need to find that island as close to paradise as they can find. Schouten Island is that for me at this point in time. It has rugged mountains, white sand, abundance of varied wildlife and a feeling remoteness. There is no ferry service to the island you just gotta kinda find your own way there, our charter turned out to be AWESOME.
- THE boat
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Once on the island we checked out the huts and the caretakers were in residence at Moreys Bay, so we headed over to Crocketts Bay to set up camp. Out our front doors we had Freycinet for views, and out the back Bear Hill. I didnt hear any complaints from my companions. With perfect weather ILUVSWTAS, Rob and I set off up Bear Hill to unfolding views in every direction. Once on top we had a short break and left Rob to head back to camp.
- Rob on "The Bear"
We had great fun finding our way down the granite boulders, apart from a slight slip by myself (something to remind me of Schouten). Then headed for Daedalus through rock and thigh deep grass. Once on top we faced our next goal , Story 1.4km away.
- Story from Daedalus
Picking our way along the ridge to the foot of the mountain was thirsty work and I began to cramp and feel dehydrated. Having little water left I kept pushing on. I was suffering on the climb of Story until I found a sink sized rock pool of recent rain water which I guzzled down early. With renewed strength I pushe on to the summit where ILUV was waiting. We then pick our way down heading north towards camp when we picked up some cairns and followed then to a col, then lost them. We headed for about 1km in the general direction of camp when we picked up some tapes, which we followed. Then after 300m we turned around and followed them in the correct direction. Walking into camp on dusk I was very happy as I wanted to bag these 2 peaks, but also wanted to do the same circuit as Keith Lancaster had done years before. More challenging than I had expected, in a good way.
The next day I had a relaxing day taking ot easy by the beach fishing, with a short excursion to the waterfall on the island. We saw dolphins, a ray and eagles while we relaxed.
My 48 hours on the island were so enjoyable, I cant recommend a visit highly enough. But please dont tell anyone!
