Great Keppel Island and Keppel Bay Marina

ByAmy

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Last Updated on November 18, 2019 by Amy

Departing Fraser Island we had strong southeasterly winds. We left Fraser around 8 am aiming for the Keppels. We played with the sails a little bit throughout the day, but by nighttime, we’d taken down our mainsail and just powered along with our genoa. The winds were that strong!

Keppel Bay Marina

We made it to Keppel Bay Marina in Yeppoon by noon the following day. We had a few packages waiting for us at the marina. Our primary issue was getting our freezer in proper working order. We found the marina incredibly helpful. They have a small chandlery, and because it’s outside of Yeppoon, a 2-hour courtesy car rental is included in the marina stay.

We did enjoy a short hike near the marina, exploring the entire Double Heads Section of the Capricorn Coast National Park.

Pebble Beach
The view over Keppel Bay Marina
The trail down into Pebble Beach.
Fan Rock information.
Fan Rock.
The view from Rosslyn Bay Lookout.
Looking back at Kemp Beach.
These plants are called kangaroo tails.

With the freezer finally working properly, we stayed two night in the marina to wash the boat and accomplish a few more projects. This is where David moved the compass, finishing our battery replacement project.  We also had a lovely dinner at Beaches Restaurant, which has a very cool ceiling.

Sails for a ceiling.

With that, we were ready for a very short jump to Great Keppel Island.

Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel Island is just five miles away from Yeppoon. There’s not much here – the big resort and airstrip closed about 10 years ago. There are still two small resorts here now with a variety of accommodation options.

As the winds are predominately southeast, we tucked into Leeke’s Bay and anchored just west of the creek entrance.

The next week was spent idyllically relaxing. We paddle boarded, walked on the beach, enjoyed sunsets, and just relaxed on the boat.   I paddled up the creek at high tide.  David and I walked the creek at low tide.

It’s a big creek!
The beach is absolutely littered with sand dollars.
Gorgeous shell I found. I think it’s a grey bonnet.
Leek’s homestead, a lot of sand even at high tide.
Ex-garden at Leek’s homestead.
The Leek’s homestead building.
Lady Gemini at the Leek’s homestead.
The water is very clear.
Paddling up the creek.
Starry Horizons at sunset.
Walking the beach, sunset and low tide.
Cute little light-blue solidier crab. Finger for scale. They leave little balls of sand near their holes in crazy patterns.
The beach at low tide. The sand is very hard packed.

There is a road leading out from the beach.  I walked the road out to the homestead and saw two peacocks!  What they were doing there I have no idea.

Peacocks!

Turning the other direction, we hiked up to the lookout at the peak, and then down to the resort.  We made our hike a loop by taking the goat trail back instead of up and over.  On the goat trail, we saw a wild echidna!

Our path.
The view from the 1st lookout.
Putney Beach.
Some of the beachside acoomodations.
The echidna! Australia’s version of the porcupine.

Transport and Accommodations in the Keppel Bay Islands

There is a ferry that operates daily service to Great Keppel Island, called Keppel Konnections.

Great Keppel Island Holiday Village and their next-door neighbor, Great Keppel Island Hideaway,  operate accommodations ranging from beachfront cabins to tents and dorms.

The nearby Pumpkin Island has an upscale resort with their own ferry service at least four times a week.

Watch the Video: Sailing Up Australia’s East Coast

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