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Fisherman's Beach on Great Keppel IslandLike no other country I've been in, Australia has a backpacker circuit that seems to draw backpackers inexorably along from one hostel to the next, and from one activity to the next. My next few days highlighted this more than any so far, and it started when I arrived at Agnes Water, a kind of twin settlement with the neighbouring Town of 1770 (which is not as grand or historic as the name suggests... it's just where Captain Cook stopped for a picnic). There's one thing to do here, and that's the Scooteroo, where backpackers pay to don leathers and tour the town on choppers. It looks pretty cool, and it's sold on the premise that
everyone does it. I didn't, so I spent a happy day and a bit at a relaxed hostel making new friends - Rich from Staffordshire, Kim and Rebecca from Belfast and a group of their friends who I joined for a few rings of fire.
The reason I'd come to Agnes Water was to snorkel at Lady Musgrave Island, in the southern Great Barrier Reef, but bad weather thwarted my plans so an alternative was needed. Step forward Great Keppel Island. I knew of
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It's been a while since I sat and watched the sun set... the island but thought it would be overkill to do it as well as Fraser and the Whitsundays, but it was described to me as a quiet getaway with great snorkelling right off it's 17 pristine beaches, so I decided to give it a go. And boy, am I glad I did! Rich decided to join me as he moved north towards Airlie Beach, so we jumped in the car and drove north. The mainland base for GKI is Emu Park, a small town with one backpackers, which turned out to be one of the nicest hostels we'd stayed in... our room had four proper beds, an en-suite bathroom and a balcony overlooking the pool, all for the princely sum of $24 each! Bargain.
After a sociable evening chatting with other travellers over a barbecue, we boarded the ferry the next morning along with Roseanne from Holland, Olof and Johan from Sweden and Alex from Spain. Rich had decided to head over just for the day, but the rest of us would be spending one night on the island. Picture this... one holiday village sleeping 36 people in tents, cabins and twin rooms, hammocks, free tea and coffee, free
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Possums keep us company at dinner snorkelling kit and leafy grounds set right on the beach. To describe this place as quiet and relaxing doesn't do it justice... it's the perfect antidote to the Auzzie East Coast backpacker superhighway! After arriving and dumping our stuff, Rich, Rosanne and I walked the short track over to Shelving Beach, a small, sheltered bay with a fringing reef accessible straight from the beach. I was keen to test a new underwater housing for my small digital camera, but the visibility wasn't great due to weeks of unsettled weather. So I didn't get any good shots, but we spotted some manta rays and a turtle, as well as some interesting small reef fish. As Rich made his way back to the ferry, I returned to the hammock and whiled away a few hours before strolling along the beach and swimming in the cool, calm waters of Putney Beach. Dinner was spent playing cards and chatting, in the company of a few curious possums (who apparently poo in the outdoor sink every night... cheeky) and statuesque birds (if anybody knows the name of these birds, please let me know!).
The next morning, I grabbed my snorkel kit and walked out
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Reef life at Monkey Beach over the headland to Monkey Beach. I arrived on a beautiful, sweeping sandy beach with clear turqoise waters... and not a single other soul in sight! There were a few boats bobbing offshore and the Queensland coastline hung on the horizon, but for all intents and purposes, the beach was mine. The reefs on GKI aren't part of the Great Barrier Reef proper, but for accessibility they're pretty damn fine... I pursued a few manta rays, exchanged glances with scores of reef fish and swam along with some shoals, all without having to fight for elbow room with other snorkellers. I got in a bit more practice with my underwater camera, but visibility still wasn't brilliant and quite a bit of the coral was dead, so the results weren't brilliant. But I spent a happy few hours exploring the edge of the reef, with only the sound of my own breathing to keep me company. By lunch time a few other people had arrived at the beach, so I went for a stroll to the remains of an aboriginal midden, then made my way back to Fisherman's Beach and to the village for a few last hours of lounging in
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Feeding time at Cape Hillsborough a hammock (life is tough, eh?!).
I was sad to leave GKI, having tasted a few days of doing something off the main backpacker circuit. It was nearly time for me to re-join the crowds with a Whitsundays cruise at Airlie Beach, but just before doing that I had time to stop off at Mackay, a small town a few hours away from Airlie. The four hour drive was a tad harrowing, as Zak was repeatedly hit by kamikaze yellow butterflies... the dozen or so glued to the front grille were just a fraction of the hundreds that had fluttered haplessly across my path throughout the drive. I'd heard (from another blogger on TravelBlog, as it happens) about some wild wallabies that came down to a beach at Cape Hillsborough National Park to feed at sunrise every morning, so I climbed out of bed at 5am and drove down there. Sadly only three wallabies made an appearance, but two of them were an unusual species that I hadn't seen before, and they entertained as they hopped around the campsite trying to steal scraps of food. After that small diversion, I turned my compass north and set off for Airlie.
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NickTravelling
Nick Evans
The bird in Photo 10
Hi. Nice to see you're enjoying Queensland. The bird in Photo 10 is a curlew, or more specifically a Bush Stone Curlew. I hope you heard the sound they make, because it can get pretty loud.