Tropical Island - Great Keppel Island, Australia
visited May 1, 2006
After a rushed half day in Gladstone, we left at dawn (I'm told - I wasn't awake for it) to get through the Narrows with the tide. This is important, as there is a crossing about halfway through the Narrows that is used to get cattle from the mainland to curtis island. This means it dries out at low tide. completely. So leaving with the tide was important. We made it through ok, and into the open sea for the 4 hour crossing to Keppel. This was the only bit of actual sailing with actual waves that we encountered on the whole trip, and it was actually very calm, really. Enough to send Kate to bed after taking a sea-sickness tablet though! And Ihave to admit that I was having trouble concentrating on anything by the time we got to Keppel. It would have been nicer if we could have had the engines off, but the wind just wasn't with us. That first evening we were anchored at Long Beach, and decided to walk over the island to the resort for a sunset drink, and, after parking the dinghy on the beach, set off on a likely looking walking track. The track led to another beach, then disappeared. Undanted, we pressed on, climbing around the rocks of the next point, to discover.... more rocks. I think we clawed our way around 4 rocky, oystered points and along several beaches before we found the resort. We were just in time for a sunset drink, but as we hadn't brought a torch, there was a suggestion that we should go straight back while it was still a little light. A few inquiries told us that it was actually very easy to get to Long Beach. It was at the other end of the airstrip. So not only did we not have to climb over rocks, but there was an enormous paved road between the resort and the boat. Grrr. We drank our large and decadent cocktails (and mocktails) sitting on a bench overlooking the beach while watching the sun sink down behind Yeppoon on the mainland. It was very pleasant. Then we walked back along the airstrip in the dark (which was a great chance for some amazing star-gazing) and discovered that the beach wasn't at the end of the airstrip. There was a path to it though. A windy, sandy, treacherous footpath through the trees with several forks. I wished I gained a better understanding of the difficulties my blind friends face in getting around, and wished sincerely that I had a white cane. We survived though, and did end up at the beach. Then we just had to wander along it until we tripped over the dinghy (did I mention there wasn't even a moon to help us?) and pointed it towards Cutting Edge's masthead light (just as well Dad thought to put it on before we left!). Our two days on Keppel were lovely. I taught Kate to snorkel. Once she was given some extra flotation (a jet-ski jacket), she even stopped using me to keep herself up, which was nice. Lucky I'm a strong swimmer - and have positive boyancy! It was good to be in the water again - I hadn't snorkelled for about 10 years, which is sad. And really noticeable when I couldn't hold my breath for nearly as long as I used to be able to. I remember free-diving to 17 metres in Tonga once, and this time I was having trouble holding my breath very long at all. Ah well. I'll just have to practice more. When I have the chance...