by Drew Lindsay
Skull Island is 3 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide, give or take a few hundred metres. It is a true coral atoll which had been growing steadily for millions of years. Captain Cook marked her in his maps but steered well clear as he moved slowly north, exploring the newly discovered Australia. He didn’t officially name the island because it was one of many and of no particular significance. He included it on his maps as one of the ‘low islands’ in the Cape Tribulation area.
Cape Tribulation held more pressing challenges for Captain Cook, including a hole in the side of his ship during an encounter with a coral reef which required extensive repairs in a creek further north, now known as Cooktown.
Skull Island had initially been a large expanse of dead coral reef, long before white men had been anywhere near Australia. Shifting tides and floating debris had slowly raised the island out of the sea. Nesting birds deposited fertiliser and plant seeds. Coconuts washed ashore and grew into huge trees. Most of the other low islands in the Coral Sea had similar coconut growth but these had been cut down over generations by the indigenous inhabitants. Skull Island was left untouched by the indigenous population. Captain Cook kept away because of a large coral reef which ringed the island and threatened safe passage of his ship.
The indigenous people kept away for entirely different reasons. Stories varied but it was clear that more than 50 Aboriginal men, women and children had been brutally massacred on the island, long before Captain Cook sighted it. They had been herded there on rafts during a violent clash between warring groups within the longstanding tribal occupants of that area and bashed to death with clubs. It was strongly rumoured that the spirits of the slaughtered victims roamed the palm fringed beaches and that some visitors to the island had simply vanished.
The island lay 48 kilometres off the coast of Australia in a direct line east from Rocky Point and 2 kilometres east of Batt Reef and the drop-off into the abyss beyond.
The Queensland Government were the official owners of Skull Island until 2008. By the end of 2009, ownership of the island was transferred to a large Chinese corporation who immediately shipped in a bulldozer and other earth moving equipment and created a runway to accommodate light aircraft. A large house was constructed on the highest point of the island at its southern tip.
The locals were up in arms that Skull Island had been sold. The new owners maintained strict security and secrecy. This was questioned by many, investigated by some, but never satisfactorily resolved. No-one was allowed to sail within the lagoon encircling the island or land on its shores, not that it was generally possible for anything larger than a small dingy to navigate the shallow and treacherous reef entirely surrounding the island and then only at high tide.
Rumour spread that one of the richest men in the world had bought the island and was setting up his own personal paradise. In order to get the heavy earth moving equipment onto the island, a channel had been cut through the coral reef and a sturdy jetty constructed. The owner installed detection equipment throughout the channel and ‘no trespassing’ signs at its entrance. Visitors were very firmly turned away. The island had its own power plant and desalination equipment.
Joy Mackay could not see Skull Island, even from the elevated position of her home. She could recognise however, the boat operated by the employees of the island’s owner as it made a regular trip into Port Douglas each Friday afternoon. They stayed in the Port for up to 2 hours, shopping for supplies she guessed, and headed back out to sea well prior to sun down.
This vessel and crew had apparently assisted in the search for her lost husband, so she was told by police. Joy also spent hours on a chartered boat looking for signs of her husband. She had not sighted the Skull Island boat once during that time.
Joy could recall her husband Winston referring on one occasion to friends, while a glass or two of wine had taken control of his tongue, that Skull Island was in an ‘inconvenient location.’ He had said no more about the matter and Joy had forgotten the statement until a few weeks ago. The statement troubled her for some reason but she had no idea why. Skull Island and its current inhabitants troubled her also but once again, she had nothing substantive to support her concerns. She knew that giving up all hope that her husband was alive was not an option. She clung to hope with every ounce of her slowly diminishing optimism. She also knew, as the police inspector had reminded her that Winston should never have ventured out into the sea alone in such a small vessel, on some vague impulse to fish. It wasn’t like him. None of it made any sense. She speculated that he may have become mildly senile. He was 75 years old after all and had lived a very hard working life. Joy dismissed the thought immediately. Winston was strong, smart and intelligent. He may have lost things occasionally and was continually locking himself out of his car with the keys inside, but everyone did that…..
Exactly one week after she had watched the large brown sedan cruise slowly twice past her home, she spotted it again. This time it was mid afternoon and she had gone to the Marina Mirage to search for a birthday gift for her granddaughter in Brisbane. The car was parked close to the northern entrance to the shopping centre. Ordinarily she wouldn’t have taken notice but this particular car had caught her attention a week before. There was no-one in the vehicle. She noted it was a Lincoln. She knew she was being stupid but wrote down the Far North Queensland number plate anyway, on the back of her hand.
“****”
Chapter Twelve