Tidepole Island

More commonly known as Sams Island sits in the middle of Dampier Harbour. The other day we filled the coffee flask and took morning tea over to the island to have a look around. It was quite amazing.


Sam Ostojich was an immigrant from Eastern Europe who found himself working in Karratha in 1965. Sam made a makeshift raft out of 44gal drums and on his days off he used to visit the island. He fell in love with the place and  on his days off he used to scavenge the islands around Dampier for rocks and driftwood and over the years he built himself a house on the island. 


At some stage Hammersly Iron granted him a 99 year Gentleman's lease. Fresh water was piped out to the island and that is where Sam lived for the rest of his life with his cat Tiger. He passed away in 2005 and he is buried alongside his cat on the island.

It is quite an amazing place to visit. There is some quite nice stonework decorated with shells Sam collected. A high wall around ‘the house’ protects it from the strong winds that blow here. An old bell sits at the front of the house where you land on the beach and I saw a sign which said “Please ring bell and wait”. What a peaceful  life Sam must have had on this island. I wonder just how many friends used to visit him of if by choice he had a solitary life.
We enjoyed sitting under the palms drinking our coffee, it was a very peaceful place. We could have been on a deserted island in the middle of an Ocean, except for the red earth beneath our feet.