Three Hummock Island

Three Hummock Island is an island with an area of 70 km² and a high point 237 m above sea-level, in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group which lies between north-west Tasmania and King Island. The island is named after its three most prominent hills, North, Middle and South Hummock; the latter being the highest. It is located near Hunter Island near the north-west coast of Tasmania. Part of the island is a nature reserve, with the rest a pastoral lease where farming took place from the mid 1800s to at least the mid 1970s. The focus of human settlement on the island is the homestead at Chimney Corner at the westernmost point. There is an automated lighthouse at Cape Rochon in the north-east, as well as roads, three airstrips, fencing and a wharf. Seasonal muttonbirding occurs in March and April.Brothers, Nigel; Pemberton, David; Pryor, Helen; & Halley, Vanessa. (2001). "Tasmania’s Offshore Islands: seabirds and other natural features". Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery: Hobart. ISBN 0-7246-4816-X]

Flora and fauna

Much of the island is composed of dense scrub dominated by "Leptospermum scoparium", "Melaleuca ericifolia" and "Banksia marginata", while 25% of the area is covered by "Eucalyptus nitida" woodland.

Breeding seabirds and shorebirds include Little Penguin, Short-tailed Shearwater, Pacific Gull, Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher and Hooded Plover. Mammals include the introduced Eastern Grey Kangaroo, feral cat and House Mouse. Feral sheep were recorded in a 1999 survey. Tiger Snakes are also present.

Alliston family

Author Eleanor Alliston wrote two books about the life of her family on the Three Hummock Island:
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000CN2W2 "Escape to an Island"]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0708918603 "Island Affair"]

The two books tell the story of how the Allistons emigrated from England after the end of World War II to start a new life alone on the island in the hope of providing a better and different childhood for their children. The books are compelling, with much between the lines left to readers' imaginations. The second book ends in 1984, the island having a population of two -- the author and her husband; their four children, who were brought up on the island, having left it, married with families and having a total of ten grandchildren.

The book "Island Affair" also contains an interesting mention of Garibaldi's visit to the island in 1852 while in exile from Italy as a captain of the trading vessel "Carmen".

References