28-
30 November 2016
With
strongish winds blowing predominantly from the east-south-east were comfortably
anchored off Fisherman’s Beach on Great Keppel Island’s western end and quite
happy to stay for as long as the weather dictated. With our eight year old
grandson, Kristian, on board we couldn’t ask for a better place to shelter for
a few days. We simply love GKI. This was our fourth visit on Our Dreamtime and on each occasion we
have had an amazing time.
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Great Keppel Island's golden sand beaches, clear water and abundant natural beauty make it one of our favourites. |
There
was certainly no problem finding things to do to keep our youngest crewmember
occupied. We started by continuing his introduction to the world underwater. He’d
had his introduction to snorkelling at Middle Percy Island and as this was to
be only his third foray with mask, snorkel and fins we commenced with a easy
session along the rocks and coral bordering Fisherman Beach’s southern point.
Our caution was probably not needed as he was very quickly chasing fish across
the bottom and exploring any crevice that looked like it may conceal marine
life. His weekly swimming lessons since infancy his mother has spent so much time taking him to have certainly paid off.
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Kristian couldn't wait to get in the water again. |
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Captain Rob, Master Kristian and Admiral Karen lined up for an underwater selfie at Fisherman's Beach. |
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Kristian has proved a natural underwater. |
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A school of fish - before Kristian scattered them |
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Karen snorkelling at Fisherman's Beach on Great Keppel Island. |
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Parrot fish |
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A nice clam amongst the coral at GKI. |
After
an hour and a half in the water Master Kristian may not have wanted a break but
the poor old Skipper and Admiral did. A suggestion of ice-cream from the small
store behind the beach rapidly convinced him a leisurely stroll along the glorious sand was a good
idea.
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Great Keppel Island's Fisherman's Beach is spectacular. |
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That's a mouthfull |
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Gardens outside the store on GKI. |
After lunch we very content with a quiet afternoon on board with Rob
downloading and sorting his underwater photos and Karen able to manage a bit of
reading while Kristian wrote his journal then watched a movie. Yep! Even on a
boat the TV can be a good child care tool. Later on, Matt and Debbie from La Jorja joined us on Our Dreamtime for another very enjoyable
sundowners session. Being a big fan of the crackers, cheeses and other snacks
Karen serves up, Master Kristian has quickly taken to this cruising tradition and
is usually an active participant in the conversation.
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Great Keppel Island sunset. |
We
enjoyed an awesome breakfast of mackerel in panko and eggs for breakfast on the stern
next morning but, having discovered the wonders to be found
below the sea’s surface, the plates were barely cleared away before not surprisingly, the ‘Can we go snorkelling now,’ question was
asked by the small man.
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Fresh spotty mackerel complete with roe done in panko for breakfast |
We
did manage to enforce a short wait to let our food settle before piling into
the dinghy. This time we ventured a little further afield round into Shelving
Beach in the next bay. After spending an hour snorkelling the northern side of the bay, Karen elected to relax under a tree with her book leaving
Rob and Kristian to explore the reef off the southern point.
We
found far more good coral here than on our previous morning’s dive but the real
highlight was the marine life. Fish were both plentiful and very colourful
while they were a good number of juvenile leopard sharks scattered on the
bottom amongst the coral. We spotted plenty of stingrays in the sand beside the
reef including a couple of very large examples well over two metres long.
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The clams have many vibrant colours |
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Competition for hiding spot can be fierce amongst the fish |
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One of many stingrays we saw swimming near the reef |
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This huge ray was well concealed in the sand until it raised its tail slightly |
The
biggest thrill though was watching Kristian swim with turtles for the first
time. The turtles we discovered seemed totally unconcerned by our presence as
they glided slowly through the clear water despite Kristian getting a little
closer than we would normally like a couple of times as his excitement got the
better of him. Even after almost two hours in the water, his enthusiasm didn’t
waiver and so it was finally a tiring Rob who called time on the session.
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Swimming with turtles is an experience unlikely to ever be forgotten |
After
such an active morning, our afternoon was virtually a repeat of the previous
day although instead of a movie, Kristian occupied himself with a fishing rod.
Day
three at Great Keppel Island again dawned bright and clear but the winds had
eased considerably making conditions on
the water even more pleasant. The Skipper and Master Kristian boarded our kayak
for some exploration around the spit along Putney Beach. Admiral Nanny arranged
to follow in the dinghy later and rendezvous for a swim on the beach at the
Hideaway Resort.
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Can we go yet? Can we go yet? |
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The erosion at the Hideaway Resort Tavern has got worse. We hope it will still be there on our next visit. |
Soon
after meeting up as planned, Kristian was fortunate enough to experience a
stand up paddle board for the first time. A lovely woman was running the hire equipment
there and her two young boys were both paddling around having a ball. When she
spotted K-man looking on enviously she generously invited him to have a go. We
had the camera ready to catch the funny, falling off footage but should have
known better. After one slight wobble, the sporty little bugger was soon
buzzing around all over the place as if he’d been boarding for years.
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Admiral Karen rendezvoused with the rest of the crew for a swim at Putney Beach. |
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Who could resist warm, clear water like this. |
The
it was time for a quick trip back to the boat where we secured the kayak and
re-loaded the snorkelling gear for a trip around to check out the reef off
Monkey Beach on the island’s south western corner.
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The return trip on the kayak was a bit faster. |
This
was by far the best snorkelling we experienced at GKI. The coral was excellent
with an abundance of colourful clams interspersed. Being a ‘Green’ conservation
zone, no fishing of any sort is permitted. The fish are clearly aware of this
protection as the entire area was thick with much larger examples than we had
seen in the other bays. They were also far less bashful and we found we could swim
up very close to them without a problem.
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The top fish appears to be asking 'What are you looking at". |
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Kristian photo bombing another shot. |
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The coral on the Monkey Beach reef looked very healthy |
Again
we were able to swim with turtles that let us get nice and close again for some
more great photos and video. However, Kristian
did inadvertently wake up one turtle that was snoozing on the bottom which
proved less inclined to hang around for a selfie.
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We will never tire of spending time with these guys on or under the water. |
A
real highlight was finding about a metre long Wobbegong Shark settled on the
bottom amongst the coral. It wasn’t until we dived down to have a closer look that
we realised it was laying nose to nose with a large crayfish that was hiding
under some coral. As it was a green zone, we unfortunately couldn’t grab the
cray to mornay later but it did make for some cool photos.
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A wobbegong shark laying on the bottom between the long feelers of a big crayfish |
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Our Great Keppel Island snorkelling spots - 1. Fisherman's Beach 2.Shelving Beach 3 Monkey Beach |
The
water was nice and warm with excellent clarity and a couple of hours flew by
while the three of us were immersed in exploring the reef. It was yet another
experience to cement Great Keppel Island as one of our favourite spots on the
Great Barrier Reef. The wind could have blown for a week and we wouldn’t have
minded staying put one little bit. However, the forecast showed we were in for some
very calm weather which would be a perfect opportunity to reef hop south rather
than sticking to the coast. This was a chance not to be missed so our time at
GKI was near an end – this time.
Back on the boat, Karen whipped up a cheesecake to take over to La Jorja for afternoon coffee. They too were going to make for the reefs so we had jointly decided on an early night ahead of the next day’s sailing.
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Cake and coffee on board La Jorja with Matt and Debbie. |
Aren’t
good intentions wonderful? Talk over coffee and cake of our plans for the next
few days stretched to a full blown conversation about the coming seasons and
before we knew it we were toasting our
long term sailing plans with beers and cider. Oh look that’s a lovely sunset we should open a bottle of wine.
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Our Dreamtime anchored not far off La Jorja's stern. |
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Then the drinks came out. |
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Nec minute! Goodnight from gorgeous Great Keppel Island. |
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Great reading again as usual. My wife Sam and I had our honeymoon on Great Keppel so I also share your love of that place. Can't wait for your next few posts as that'll be an area I'm keen to spend some time soon!!!
ReplyDeleteNeil Tuddenham
"The Doghouse"
Thanks Neil. We're so glad you're enjoying the blog. GKI is a place we'll keep going back to at every opportunity that's for sure. Stay tuned for our blogs about reef hopping south from GKI coming up soon. Cheers!
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