DAY 7 KINKA BEACH - A DAY TRIP TO GREAT KEPPEL ISLAND....

For our last day on the Capricorn Coast together we decided to do a day trip to Great Keppel Island for the day.  It has probably been a good seven years or more since we have been over there and well over 20 years since Barb had been, and it was to be a first for John...

We hadn't pre booked as we were uncertain on what the weather would be like.  We have had sit severe storms for most of the week and the previous two days, the winds were pretty shocking so our plan was to just get up Saturday morning and if the weather was good we would just go down to the marina and book a ticket then.

Fortunately we woke on Saturday morning to a lovely sunny day and very little wind although  that was due to come up during the day.  We figured that even if the wind did come up it would be blowing with us for the trip back home later in the day.... so to Roslyn Bay we headed, all excited about the day ahead...

Booking our tickets at Roslyn Bay..

Fish sculpture at Roslyn Bay...

We were going across today on the Freedom Adventurer, which also happened to be the cat we went across on the previous visit....

We were to go acroos to GKI on the Freedom Adventurer...

Getting ready to board the craft....

We were surprised at the number of folk heading over for the day.  The boat was pretty full.  Quite a few folk were taking over their dogs for a day's outing also...

And we are on our way...

The Freedom Fast Cats are a locally owned business and have been proudly owned and operated by the Allen Family for over 20 years.   Their involvement in maritime tourism dates back to the 1950s, when Lew Allen established the first resort on Quoin Island, off the shores of Gladstone.  Around this time Lew Allen bought a ferry called "Freedom 1", making the first of 26 vessels to be owned by the Allen Family

Interestingly in 1968 Max Allen, the son of Lew Allen started his own business and operated charter vessels and ferries along the Queensland coast, from Gladstone all the way up to the Torres Strait.  The company undertook many maritime activities including diving, and fishing charters, research support, surveying and salvages.  

Max Allen Crusies, which was what his business was originally called, became Freedom Fast Cats in 1999 running a daily ferry service to Great Keppel Island.   Today, Freedom Fast Cats is managed by Max Allen, his wife Carmel Allen and their son Max Allen Junior.  The family business currently runs five ferries and two glass bottom boats...

It was a nice smooth cruise out of the harbour and we really couldn't have asked for a nicer day.  Great Keppel Island is only a half hour ferry ride from the Marina - 30 kilometres north east of Rocky, and on a day like today we were there within half an hour....

It was a pleasant ride and the time passed way too quickly as it was so nice and relaxing to be out on the water...

 

Gorgeous day to be out on the water...

First sighting of the island...

Perfect day to be out on the water...

Two happy cruisers, we love to be out on the water... For both of us, it is our happy place, it is where we feel alive and all the cares of the world just melt away.  Any day near the water rejuvenates us and we come home feeling alive and refreshed...

Massive sandbags have been put in place to protect beaches on the island...

Beautiful white sand beaches of Great Keppel Island...

Great Keppel Island is the largest of the 18 islands in the Keppel Group on and Capricorn Coast and has 17 pristine beaches to explore.  The island is over 3500 acres and is rich with wild animals and Australian flora.  There are a web of hiking tracks across the island's interior to evocatively named spots such a Wreck Beach, Red Beach, Clam Bay, Butterfish Bay and Monkey Beach.  There are also walking tracks that lead to picnic spots and lookouts with incredible views of the Capricorn Coast.

 

The main beaches, closes to the resorts are Putney Beach and Fisherman's Beach.  At the end of this unique 2km stretch of pristine snads are ancient Aboriginal shell middens left by the Woppaburra peoples, the traditional owners of the Keppel Island Group.  Great Keppel Island is steeped in traditional history, with plenty to discover from cultural meeting grounds to plants like the soap tree, used as a fish poison for over 1000 years.  

Arriving on the island

 Freedom Fast Cats, do tours around the island, glass bottom boat tour and boom netting, so we couldn't have made a day of it on the boat, but we were just looking to chill out and explore the island a little...

Those of us that were just spending the day on the island departed the boat here, whilst the rest stayed on board and were heading for the glass bottom boat to view the incredible coloured coral and reef fish just off the island..

Barb and I on Great Keppel Island.

Steve and I on the beach

This piece of barefoot paradise is nestled in the world-heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and with it's beautify=ul white sandy beaches and pristine water, is is an unique natural attraction with safe swimming all year round.  We marveled at the clear clear water and were looking forward to a swim once we had a chance to grab some morning tea..

Amazing colours, pristine water and white sandy beaches..

There are licenced restaurants and bars overlooking both Putney and Fisherman's beach and we initially headed to Hideaway's Bar and Bisto for morning tea where we found a table which overlooked the water...

 

Steve was really intrigued by the amount of work that had been done to secure the beaches from further erosion...  Since we had been there last, a lot of the beach had been eaten away and where there was once quite a spit out to the water and the Hideaway Resort was some distance to the water, these days there is very little between it and the ocean, so the sandbags are definitely necessary to protect the buildings that are already there.  They were massive and we were very impressed at how well they were working....

Massive sand bags protecting the beach..

Views from our table at the Hideaway Bar and Bistro...

Barb enjoying a cool Lime Lemon and Bitters...

The kookaburras were super friendly and if you weren't careful you could very easily loose your lunch..

We all settled on a cold drink for our morning tea and we each couple shared a toasted banana bread.  It was much appreciated.  Whilst we were there, we enjoyed watching a Kite surfer as he zoomed backwards and forwards across the stretch of water in front of where we were seated.

We probably spent close to an hour just sitting here and chatting and enjoying our surroundings before we decided to head off and find a beach we could go swimming at.

Before leaving here, Barb and I both changed into our swim costumes and paid a visit to the toilets.  There were not terribly impressive as they were pretty old and not maintained at all.  They weren't especially clean and the waste paper basket was overflowing with  head of paper laying all over the floor....

We headed back along the inland path until we came to the second cafe which we felt was assocated with the Freedom Cats.  They had a great little gift store where Barb purchases a sarong to wrap around her togs as she had forgotten to bring one with her...

The walk along here was quite pretty with several flowering plants along the way.  We also discovered the Buoy Tree, which was adorned with decorations so of course we had to take some photos.

We checked out the menu here as we thought it might be a good spot to stop and have a bit to eat for lunch once we had  had our swim...

John is not a swimmer so he was quite happy to grab a coffee and just find a table to chill out at and read his tablet whilst the rest of us went for a swim...

We spied a large nest up in one of the trees....

We discovered the Buoy Tree

The Buoy Tree

Our lunch stop

Whilst the boys checked out the lunch menu, us girls headed into the gift shop.  This little gift shop had way more on offer than the gift shop back at the Hideaway Resort, and it was much better priced as well.  Barb found a sarong that she liked and bought it as he had nothing to put over her togs and we knew that once we had our swim, we would be in our togs for the rest of the day...  They had some pretty cool little knick knacks for sale also...

Knick Knacks from the gift shoppe...

quite a good range of swimwear...

Barb buying her sarong

Meanwhile whilst the rest of us headed for the water for a swim, John grabbed a beer and was quite content to sit in the shade with a good book to read...

Happy to enjoy a beer and read his book....

The rest of us were keen for a swim and the water looked beautiful.  The water was cool, but so very clear and even when we could no longer touch the bottom, we could see clearly see the floor of the ocean.  It is quite deceptive really.

Great Keppel Island  is really the perfect place to have a lazy relaxed day by the water, the sub-tropical waters around the island offer year round swimming without the need for stinger suits, unlike most of the islands along the Great Barrier Reef.  You can simply step foot right off the beach and immediately begin exploring remarkable diverse coral species and marine life.   We had forgotten to pack our snorkeling gear this time, but you can rest assured that we won't forget next time we come to visit...

We spent over an hour in the water, just lazing and floating about.  It was so refreshing and relaxing and it was hard for us to even want to hop out,  and we didn't until our bellies started to rumble and remind us that they really did need something to eat.

Steve and I decided to share the Hawaiian Burger, but rather than have it on a bun, we ordered it in a wrap.   It was delicious,  nicest burger we have had in a long time.  John and Barb chose to have toasted sandwiches.   And we all enjoyed a cool drink.

Ready for lunch

After our late lunch Steve decided to take a walk and explore some of the Shelving Beach and Monkey Beach on the other side of the island.  We walked up past the old Great Keppel Island resort which has all been fenced off.  It is sad to see considering that it was a thriving resort in it's hey day in the 1980's..

The old Great Keppel Island resort has been fenced off...

Beautiful white sands of Great Keppel Island..

One of the many walking tracks around the island

Whilst Steve went off exploring, the rest of us headed back to the Hideaway Resort as that was close to where we had to be picked up at departure time which was close to 4pm...  It was just after 3pm when we arrived back there, so we decided that we would enjoy an ice-cream whilst we waited for Steve to come back and we waited for the Freedom Cat to come back for us...

Enjoying an Magnum...

The Boat was back in by 3.45pm and it didn't take folk long to head out onto the beach to board...

All ready for us to board for our return to Yeppoon.

Steve back on the boat...

Even though the wind was up, the trip back wasn't too bad as we weren't heading back into the wind going home.   

Farewell to Great Keppel Island

We all felt a little sad leaving the island.  We have all had such a great day on the island, and have decided that we definitely need to go back again sooner rather than later.   

It was a quick trip back and before we knew it, we were heading back into Roslyn Bay Harbour...

Time to embark...

And with that, our day was over and we were back on dry land at the Marina at Roslyn Bay...

Our week has come to an end... we were heading back to the caravan park and we had planned to pack up our side walls off the awning,  and pack away all our outdoor furniture so that we didn't have to much to do the following morning...

We both had quite evenings in and an early night as we were all pretty tired from our day outdoors and in the sun.  

We were so glad that John and Barb had convinced us to take the weeks break and head down to the Coast to spend the week with them... Unfortunately all good things must come to an end....