Our arrival on Australia’s untouched ‘most magnificent’ island is a game changer

In their role as caretakers of Three Hummock Island – an eco-reserve located off the north-western tip of Tasmania in the wind-lashed Hunter Island group – Melaynie and Casey Spinks deal with a maximum of eight guests at any one time, tailoring a stay in the historic homestead (established c. 1910) into an exclusive, castaway experience.

Imagine the couple’s discombobulation, then, when the passengers from Aurora Expeditions’ Douglas Mawson alight from Zodiacs and march towards the whitewashed homestead, where a roaring fire pit and copious cups of tea await.

“We think it’s probably a record for the number of people at once on the island,” Casey tells me. “If there’s 20 people on the island at a time, that’s a big day for us – but with 120, it was a shock to see everyone walking up the track.”

It’s a highlight of Douglas Mawson’s inaugural journey, setting sail from Hobart and originally slated as a circumnavigation of Tasmania. But with the proposed journey up Tasmania’s west coast aborted due to wild, Roaring Forties-tossed seas, the cruise becomes somewhat of a potluck, with a flexible itinerary along the eastern and northern Tasmanian coastlines and spontaneous landings determined by sea conditions.

So there was jubilation when it was announced that the scheduled landing on Three Hummock Island – named by Matthew Flinders in 1798 after its three hump-like protrusions - would indeed take place, giving passengers the opportunity to stretch their legs on one of Tasmania’s 334 offshore islands.

For the Spinkses, it’s also a day of great anticipation as they welcome the first cruise ship to visit the island. It’s a fitting collaboration with sustainably minded Aurora Expeditions, with many of the passengers interested in nature and keen to explore untouched destinations.

After a quick introduction to Mel and Casey outside the homestead (“Beware near that sign,” Casey points out, “there’s a tiger snake that hangs out there”), passengers splinter off according to interests. The keenest bushwalkers will tackle the 237-metre climb up South Hummock – the highest point of the island; others will focus on birdwatching along Home Beach; while my group is taking a leisurely stroll to Spiers Bay, on the north-western coastline overlooking Bass Strait.

Forging up a cleared hill past honking Cape Barren geese, grazing kangaroos and a quirky sculpture of two men and a dog perched on a boulder, we follow a track meticulously mown by Casey to a viewpoint where a plaque commemorates the lives of two former residents, John and Eleanor Alliston.

Running the island