Great Keppel Island

Apologies in advance for the paucity of photographs (channeling Howard?) but too many of our activities were water-based to bring the camera along. We did purchase one of those disposable underwater cameras, however, the kids commandeered it early on and shot an entire roll of underwater sand pictures.

There's no harbour on Great Keppel; the ferry just runs straight onto the beach and lowers a gangplank down to the sand. Jeeps from the various different resorts meet the disembarking passengers so you don't have to drag your luggage to your accomodation. Aside from these jeeps, there are no cars on the island. Aside from the three or four resorts on Fisherman's beach, and a couple of houses all the way across the island, the entire island is uninhabited.

Geoff was there to meet us when the ferry arrived, anchoring his "tinnie" (aluminium skiff) just off the beach. The tinnie, perhaps in spite of my bit of doggerel: "she's not a tinnie she's an aluminie," was a huge hit with the kids and thus changed rapidly from the generic tinnie to the singular Tinnie.

We spent the first few days in a cabin at the village and then moved into an actual house at the other end of the beach. The Holiday Village is a neat collection of tents and bungalows set around a central outdoor "living room" with hammocks and a large communal dining table. While having a whole house was nice, we missed the community of the village and often found our way back for a ginger beer and some advice as to what to do next.

This being an island, the general program was pretty relaxed. Big decision each day was choice of bathing suit.

Our first snorkling trip, on Monkey Beach, just south of the the resorts set the tone for the rest of the trip: lots of brightly coloured coral. Compared to Hawaii, it seemed like there were more different kinds coral all mixed together. In addition, to coral and the usual reef denizens, we found a couple of giant clams. The largest was about 18 inches across and had the most amazing purple mantle. The clams, like all clams, are filter feeders, but they also enjoy a symbiotic relationship with algae which lives on the mantle and gives it the incredible purple colour. Also found a couple of stingrays lurking in a hole, and a turtle or two.

After our own attempts, we tagged along on one of the canoe tours run by the Village (use of a canoe was part of the house rental). The canoes had outriggers to keep them upright and little outboards instead of paddles. By hanging onto the pipes which connected the outriggers to the canoe, you could "snorkle" over a huge territory. Alternatively, by driving the canoe whilst everyone else hung on and snorkled you could fish for sharks.

We actually did find a good sized leopard shark, about 6 or 8 feet long. The canoe ahead of us saw it first. Very amusing to see six people get really excited through snorkles at the same time.

Manta Rays Before Breakfast

We did see a sea snake (possibly deadly) but nothing else large or exciting. I really wanted to find a truely giant giant clam and was a little crestfallen not to find any. The coral was pretty sparse but there were occasional clumps with the most remarkable colours: flourescent blue, lime green, and even hot pink. Too much chop and the current to stay for long, so we flippered back over the transom and headed back to Great Keppel.

Geoff knew every rock along the coast - "see that one, I hit it six years ago..." - so we had a great ride zigzagging right in under the cliffs and even going into a cave at one point. Tried another snorkling spot, "renowned for big fish," and didn't find any despite much anxious glancing.

Ah well, sometimes life is that way. We enjoyed a tour around most of the rest of the island, and stopped off at Red Beach for some surfing, first with Tinnie, then just bodysurfing after we'd anchored. Geoff claims to have surfed Red Beach with a five or six foot swell on one of those rare occasions when a storm lined up just right. In our case, the wind had dropped off until the water was glassy calm and we played in crystal clear 18-inch waves that were just a whisper of that five-foot day so long ago.

Refreshed, we clambered back in the boat and headed out past Coconut Point for home. As we rounded the point, I saw a large black mass dead ahead. I shouted and Geoff swerved the boat just at the same time. At first, I though it was a killer whale because there was one floppy fin above the surface, but the shape soon resolved into a huge manta ray. In fact, there were two manta rays both around 9 or 10 feet across.

I jumped in just as soon as we got the boat stopped and Tristan followed shortly after. The manta rays didn't seem to notice us at all. They were cruising gently up and down the point, swooping and turning. They allowed us to come in quite close, in fact, close enough to touch. Same soft leathery feel as the bat rays in Monterey Bay Acquarium, but a lot more of it.

After seeing that Tristan and I were not immediately devoured, Karin and Nicoline decided to come in the water after all and even Geoff, who had been content to drive the boat all morning, hopped into the water after I got out. Tristan was the last one out of the water. At one point, he was swimming after the smaller ray, while we watched the larger one swim after him. We were all giggling, what sort of noise would come out of the snorkle when Tris discovered his pursuer, but the ray veered off and Tris was none the wiser.

Flying Foxes

The second evening, one landed in a tree just above the table at which we were eating dinner. After landing, it crawled around the tree (upside down) and pelted us with half eaten fruit. Eventually, having run out of edible fruit, or perhaps finding that we were not paying it enough attention, it released its grip on the branch above us and dropped like a hairy little bomb. At the last instant it unfurled a set of 4-foot wings with a leathery slap and flapped off into the darkness. We were impressed.

Mt. Wyndham

Found the real-life Truffula tree. No Lorax in evidence. It is actually called a "grass tree."

It was really hot and the kids sucked the camelback dry long before we were back. When we finally did stagger back to the resort, we went directly to the most excessively air conditioned and outrageously expensive convenience store on the island, purchased 4 ice cold Cokes, and drank them on the spot.

Later on, we discovered Bundaberg Ginger Beer. It is a burly version of Ginger Ale.

Island Society

We showed up around 1:30 with some ice (precious commodity), toured Lydie's studio and then sat around in the front "parlour" to chat. On a tropical island, the front parlour is a nice big tent roof just above the beach. As the sun gradually moves westward, the party gradually shifts eastward so as to stay in the shade.

Since Carl and Lyndie still sail extensively around the nearby islands on a medium-sized catamaran, they were a fount of useful information.

Gangsta Birds

We were eating brekkie at the only place on the island with decent espresso (actually, the only place with espresso, period) when they made their appearance. First a kookaburra shows up and does the "authentic Australian wildlife" routine; laugh, pose on branch, etc. "Cool, we're seeing wildlife, how authentic," we think to ourselves.

Almost as if summoned, rainbow lorikeets started to appear, pushing and shoving for the best perching spots, for all the world like a gang of bikers. Within minutes, there were some 30 birds perched on the neighboring table. At first, we thought that the performance was purely for our benefit, but gradually events began to take a more sinister turn. The lorikeets invaded our table and they were absolutely fearless. The toughest old pegleg seagull is still basically a hit and run artist, but the lorikeet is a true, full on brawler. They absolutely refuse to be shooed out of the way. You have to push them bodily off the table. Oddly, they didn't try to get any of the food. It was as though they just wanted to scrap a bit. It was while we were trying to clear the table of lorikeets that the kookaburra swooped in and made off with the top of Nicoline's brekkie sandwich. This it promptly dropped and a huge bird battle ensued. While they were all thus distracted, we moved the remains of our brekkie inside.

Karin, windsurfing. Had to include some gratuitous resort activity. We actually did most of our sailing on a Hobie 16 courtesy of Jeff, the manager of the Holiday Village.

Geoff and Dianna Mercer, our generous hosts on Great Keppel Island.

Here we are on the ferry heading back for Yepoon. Somewhat melancholy because we're wearing shoes for first time in days, however, less irritated than in previous portraits because Tristan was taking the picture and only needed a couple of tries.

Tristan on the ferry ride back to Yepoon, already missing the simple island life. I'm pretty sure that he was trying to spin out a future as some sort of large animal snorkling tour guide, or anything else not involving division of fractions.