Keppel Bay is a large, fairly shallow bay north of Gladstone and south of Yeppoon. Housing the Keppel Islands, including the very popular Great Keppel Island, it also hosts the Keppel Bay marina at Rosslyn Bay on the mainland. Since the winds were increasing and the seas were picking up, we opted to go into the marina instead of anchoring off Great Keppel Island, as originally planned. The shallow bay was full of turbulent brown water, with waves splashing and chopping up all over the place.
We arrived into Keppel Bay marina at Rosslyn Bay and tied Cool Change up just as the sun was setting into beautiful colours. As always, we high-tailed it to the showers and then set off to find a restaurant for dinner. We’d been almost two weeks out on the water, so I was looking forward to a night off cooking duty. We found a lovely little restaurant, ‘Beaches’ that was pumping for a Monday night.
The following days saw us tackling all those jobs you do when in a marina, like laundry and cleaning. I also defrosted the fridges and freezer while Matt worked on the padding for the edge of the new tender. We booked the courtesy car for our two hour slot and did a gigantic grocery shop. The town of Yeppoon, where all the shops are, was about 7 kilometres from the marina so having the use of a car was a godsend. Still, we ran out of time to get to the booze shop, so the next day we caught a bus back in to Yeppoon and lugged beer, cider and rum back to the boat.
I attended a few yoga classes in Rosslyn Bay and we walked up the very steep, but very short hill to get a great view of the marina. We came across a flock of cockies on our walk and Matt took the very cute photo below.
After three days we’d completed all our jobs, stocked the boat, seen the sights of Rosslyn Bay and Yeppoon, and were contemplating heading back out to the islands. But in sorting out the edges for the tender, Matt had borrowed a drill off a neighbouring yachtie, Drew, and hadn’t said thank you yet. He took a six-pack to Drew to say thanks, and that turned into drinks, and then an invitation to accompany him to the Capricornia Cruising Yacht Club. Matt came and got me and we all jumped in Drew’s tender, picking up his partner Brenny on the way.
Drew and Brenny were great company, and we enjoyed several drinks at the club while chatting to them and swapping boating stories. Returning to the boats, we accepted an invitation to tour Drew’s catamaran which he had designed and built himself. It was a gorgeous vessel, very spacious and modern. We stayed for a bottle of bubbles, and then for dinner, at which point Matt popped back to our boat to grab a bottle of red. This turned into several bottles of red, and then out came the whiskey and even our ‘limecello’ from Bundaberg. Suffice to stay, we stumbled the few steps back to our own boat.
We woke up to a wet, cold and windy day, and since neither of us were feeling especially great after our unexpected big night, we extended our stay at the marina. This turned out to be very fortuitous because the wind increased significantly over the weekend, and we spent a few quiet days chilling on the boat and Zooming with friends and family.
It also meant that we were still in town when our friends Bernard and Arlene arrived in Rosslyn Bay. We’d met Bernard and Arlene in Narooma with Matt’s Uncle Geoff and had been keeping in touch. They had been on a two month road trip in Northern Queensland and were on their way back down to NSW. Happily, our paths now crossed and it was lovely to see them again and hear all about their travels.
We took them on a day sail out to Great Keppel Island. Originally we aimed to grab a mooring off Pumpkin Island, but found that there wouldn’t be enough protection from the winds and swell, so we anchored at Leeke’s Beach off Great Keppel Island instead. We spent the afternoon exploring the estuary there and strolling along the beautiful beach, checking out the interesting rock formations and collecting shells. We also scored an abandoned or lost crab pot that was washed up on the beach. It was in excellent condition so we claimed it and took it back to the boat. It was a lovely day, ending with Bernard and Arlene taking us out to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Yeppoon. Thanks so much again, guys, it was lovely to see you.
The next day we left the Keppel Bay marina for good, heading back out to Great Keppel Island and this time anchoring off Svendsen’s Beach with lots of other yachts. It was a bit rolly so I had a snack for dinner and went to bed early. The swell increased overnight and made for a very uncomfortable night. I didn’t sleep much at all. The following morning the swell had increased alarmingly and the boat was rocking back and forwards quite violently. We decided to move around the corner and found that we were part of a mass exodus of boats, all with the same idea. It was calmer around at Fisherman’s Beach, but I wasn’t in a great mood. And then I spilt my coffee everywhere. Feeling tired, grumpy and unwell, I lost it. I wanted off the boat!
So we took the tinny over to the beach where it was lovely and warm and sunny and not the slightest bit rocky!! A very lazy day was spent lying on the beach napping, chilling and reading. Luckily there was a little café on the beach too, so we had coffee, then lunch and some cold beverages. Life was good again!
There were lots of walking tracks criss crossing the island, and so one day we walked inland to the old homestead and then around to Mount Wyndham for some spectacular views over the south and east coasts of the island. It felt great to be walking, stretching my legs on the steep tracks.
Another day, we took the tender to nearby Monkey Beach for a snorkel. After finding nothing much to see by the rocks near the beach, we followed the lead of the tourist boat already there, and swam over a large patch of coral in the middle of the bay. It was teeming with life and I found the huge clams that snapped shut as you swam over them particularly fascinating.
Great Keppel Island was lovely, but we’d not had the most comfortable nights on anchor. We can now see why this is most definitely ‘cat country.’ Additionally, we were both covered in sandfly bites, with Matt coming up in huge welts. I was more than ready to move on. Thankfully, a weather window was opening up, one that would be perfect for exploring the islands north of Keppel Bay. It was time to head to the 100 Magic Miles.
Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.
JoJo Jensen
Cool Change 