Wedge Island's 'Gilligan' living dream life in SA, with rare marsupials, penguins and eagles for companyThere's no millionaire and his wife, nor shipwrecked crew. There might have been a movie star, but there's definitely a little bit of Gilligan and some skippers, too, on Wedge Island, South Australia.
Surviving for him is a lot easier than for the television series Gilligan's Island characters, but it still takes a bit of the professor's ingenuity to get by.ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie HamiltonThe black-footed rock-wallabies were introduced to Wedge Island in the 1970s to help save the species.Ron has been going to Wedge Island for the past 12 years, living there semi-permanently since about 2019.
He returned to making a living as a sign writer in Melbourne before he felt the draw of an island lifestyle again. There's an old homestead built of local stone, a shearing shed, and old horse buggies are windows to the island's agricultural past.ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie HamiltonABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie HamiltonHalf the island was made a national park in 1987 when three subdivisions were approved to provide 114 allotments.The rest of the island is privately owned, so it is off limits to the public, with the block owners helping care for its wilderness.
He has internet and communications installed, so he says it's easy to access that information, and marvels at how the early pioneers farmed on Wedge.A horse being brought ashore on Wedge Island.Everything taken on and off Wedge Island had to come by boat in the early days.Minimal footprint