It's a remote slice of heaven for fishers, but Sweers Island and its resort remains steadfastly closed awaiting further easing of pandemic declared areas.
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The beautiful island in the heart of the Gulf of Carpentaria is officially part of Mornington Shire Council which has had strict lockdown conditions with its mainly Indigenous population.
Out on Sweers Island however, there is only a permanent population of two people - the couple Lyn and Tex Battle who run the Resort.
Normally this would be peak season but tourists remain off limits to the island despite a change in restrictions as of today.
"We're hoping that by July we might be able to open," Lyn Battle said.
"We've got a backlog, this should be our busiest time of the year. It's pretty awful."
Lyn said they were not accepting new bookings at the moment but they are thinking about what the COVID rules mean when they do reopen with accommodation ranging from two-bed cabins to six-bed family rooms.
"We can fit 27 people, we are going to take single groups but we haven't set a limit on size," she said.
"We're open planned and we don't want to put a cross on the floor or anything like that. They all use the the same kitchen, they all use the same ute to get to the beach unless they walk. Each group is assigned a boat."
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Their season normally runs to mid October but they will consider a slightly longer season this year.
"We'll be under pressure to go as late as we can and we will," Lyn said.
"It depends on the weather. It's the build up to the wet season. It gets hot, it gets stormy and it's unpredictable."
The Battles' supplies come by truck from Cairns to Karumba and then by barge via Mornington Island.
"What we did at the start (of the pandemic) is cut it back from once a week to once every two weeks," she said.
"The barge crew are good, they've got the gloves, we just backed the ute on and they load it. We chat from a distance."
During season the Battles don't leave the island so the isolation is nothing new to them.
They were anticipating a good season in March thinking the virus was limited to overseas and more people might travel to Australian destinations.
"The staff all arrived, we were expecting visitors in late March then over the course of a weekend it all changed," Lyn said.
"Staff were lucky to get home. We couldn't get them on Jobkeeper."
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
