The Abrolhos Islands with Shine Aviation: Stunning snorkelling and the bloody story of the wreck of the Batavia.

A few hours before dawn on 4 June 1629, the Dutch East India Company ship the Batavia, struck Morning Reef off the Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. The Batavia was neither the first nor the last ship to come to grief in the treacherous waters off Australia's uncharted and unforgiving west coast but the tragic fate of her survivors has ensured she is the best known.

The story of the Batavia.

The Batavia set sail from The Netherlands in late October 1628, on her maiden voyage. She was the pride of the Dutch East India Company's fleet, purpose built to sail the Spice Islands' trade route between Europe and Java. She was carrying passengers and crew of 340 men, women and children, the vast majority of whom were Dutch East India Company sailors, or soldiers in the company's private army. She was also carrying a small fortune in silver coins.

The Batavia was doomed from the moment she struck the reef but it was not the shipwreck which took the lives of her passengers. In the days before she broke up, about 250 of those on board were ferried to nearby Beacon Island in the ship's longboat. Leaving these survivors to their fate without food or water, and abandoning several score more still aboard the sinking wreck, the Commander Francisco Pelsaert, the skipper Ariaen Jacobsz, and most of the ship's officers set out in the Batavia's longboat. Their ostensible purpose was to look for water on the Australian mainland. When they found none, they headed instead for Java, a journey across some 900 nautical miles of open sea.

The most senior Dutch East India Company employee left on Beacon Island was Jeronimous Cornelisz. In the next few months he and a band of followers conducted a reign of terror which saw some 125 men, women and children murdered.

Beacon Island -  'Batavia's Graveyard.'

On September 17 Pelsaert returned with a rescue ship, the Sardam, arriving in the middle of a battle between Cornelisz's men and a small group of mostly soldiers, led by Wiebbe Hayes. Hayes and his men were camped on nearby West Wallabi Island. Both sides raced to be the first to reach the Sardam: Cornelisz's men to take control of the rescue ship and Hayes to warn it. Hayes arrived first. Cornelisz and his followers were arrested and the few survivors left alive were rescued.

The great tragedy of the wreck of the Batavia is that Cornelisz very nearly didn't make it off the foundering ship. Forty men went down with the ship when she sank a few days after striking the reef. Cornelisz was one of those trapped until the very last. He floated ashore onto Beacon Island with part of the wreckage.

Before she struck the reef, the Batavia was already in danger. Led by Cornelisz and the skipper, Jacobsz, a group of Batavia's crew were planning a mutiny.  Lured by the prospect of the fortune in silver she was carrying, the mutineers planned to seize the ship, take the silver and live out their lives as pirates out of reach of the Dutch East India Company. It may have been the prospect of being found out as mutineers which led Cornelisz and his followers to begin their murdering rampages and to hatch their plan to seize any rescue ship.

When Pelsaert returned with the rescue ship he tried and executed most of the mutineers while still in the Abrolhos. He also marooned two men on the coast of Western Australia. If they survived they would have become the first Europeans to 'settle' Australia. Stories of light skinned aborigines surfaced from time to time over the years, leading to speculation that these men or survivors of other shipwrecks did survive to make their lives with aboriginal groups in the area.

Abrolhos Islands Fly & Flipper Tour with Shine Aviation

Has the story of the Batavia whetted your appetite to see the Abrolhos Islands? What if I threw in some of the best snorkelling I have ever done, and the chance to see whales, wallabies and nesting ospreys.

The Flight

"If you don't see it the first time, don't worry, I'll bring the plane around again."

With those words ringing in our ears I completely missed the stone fort built by Wiebbe Hayes and his men as we flew over West Wallabi Island.

True to his word Dylan, our pilot, brought the GA8 Airvan around for a second, lower, pass. This time everyone saw it. The fort is little more than four dry-stone walls but it is the oldest European structure built in Australia and seeing it was a rare privilege.

Dylan was exactly the sort of pilot you want on a flightseeing flight. He cared whether we had a great day or not and he flew low enough over each sight so that everyone on board got fantastic views.

As well as Wiebbe Hayes' fort we saw -

• Whales - So many migrating humpbacks that I finally gave up counting.

• Beacon Island - This was where most of the survivors of the wreck lived until they were murdered one by one by Cornelisz and his followers.

• The spot where the Batavia struck the reef and sunk - What is left of the Batavia is now in a museum in Fremantle but we were able to make out the outline of where she rested for three hundred years before being found and raised.

• Other islands in the Abrolhos Group and the stunning tourqoise blue waters surrounding them - Many of the islands are dotted with brightly coloured fishermen's shacks. The shacks look like scattered lego from the air. 

Fishermen's shacks on one of the Abrolhos Islands

Can you see the fishermen's shacks? Imagine living, even for a few months, on an island as small as this.

East Wallabi Island

An hour so so after taking off from Geraldton we landed on East Wallabi Island. Wiebbe Hayes and his group spent some time here before wading across to West Wallabi Island at low tide.  This was the 'flipper' part of our  Fly & Flipper Tour. We had been kitted out with snorkels, masks and flippers before we left while those of us planning to snorkel also hired wet suits. In early August, on an overcast day, I wasn't taking any chances on being cold.

The snorkelling was nothing short of stunning. The coral is less than 100 metres off the beach and has some of the most vibrant colours I have seen.  Since doing the Fly & Flipper tour I have snorkelled on the Ningaloo Reef at both Exmouth and Coral Bay. The Abrolhos coral was infinitely more colourful, especially around the left hand side of the coral outcrop Dylan directed us to.

The bay where I went snorkelling. It had an aura of Robinson Crusoe about it.

A short walk after lunch rounded out a perfect day. Dylan guided us along a path to where he hoped to find some of the tammar wallabies which inhabit the island. As if on queue we found several of the little creatures grazing on low bushes. Further along we saw more migrating whales and watched an osprey, sitting in a huge nest right next to the shore.

Tammar Wallabies on East Wallabi Island

Can you see the Osprey?

Fast facts and my tips

• The coral is stunning. Any swimmer of moderate ability can reach it from the beach, but don't be concerned if snorkelling isn't your thing. David didn't go snorkelling and he still had a great day. 

• Brush up a little on the story of the Batavia before you go. The Museum of Geraldton has a great Shipwrecks Gallery with an extensive display on the Batavia, as does the WA Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle, near Perth. There are also a few books on the story including the very readable 'Batavia's Graveyard' by Mike Dash. 

• Shine Aviation's Fly & Flipper Tour departs from Geraldton (a four hour drive north of Perth) at 10 a.m and returns at 4.15 p.m. Morning tea, lunch and snorkelling equipment is included. The cost is $360 for adults and $290 for children between 3 and 12 years. There is a half day version if you are short of time. 

•  For up to date times, prices and other tours with Shine Aviation click - here.

Would I recommend Shine Aviation?

Yes - without a moment's hesitation. The Fly & Flipper Tour was one of the best flightseeing tours we have ever done.

Note: I have read several different accounts of the story of the Batavia. None of them agree exactly on the numbers of people who were on the ship when it left the Netherlands, how many made it to Beacon Island, or how many were murdered by Cornelisz and his followers. 

Other blog posts on Western Australia - 

The Kimberley

• Berkeley River Lodge: A wilderness resort in the Kimberley.

• Amalia Gorge: Would you go swimming with a crocodile?

• Zebedee Springs and Chamberlain Gorge: Disappointment in the Kimberley

• Wille Creek Pearl Farm & The Perfect Pearl

• El Questro Station Bungalows: The best kept secret in the Kimberley

The Coral Coast

• Where to stay in Geraldton - Mantra Geraldton
• Hutt Lagoon: A pink lake you can drive to
• Pinnacles and Stromatolites: Ancient formations and living fossils

The South West: Perth to Esperance

• Springtime tulips at Araluen Botanic Park, Western Australia
• Wildflowers in Western Australia: Kings Park, Perth
• Fraser Suites, Perth - a review
• The National ANZAC Centre, Albany
• Albany Harbourside Apartments and Houses
• 7 things to do in Amazing Albany
• 2 Weeks in Western Australia: A road trip itinerary

Note: David and I received a media discount on the Fly & Flipper Tour.

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