Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel Island is truly great! It is a perfect mix of gorgeous bushland, pristine beaches, rocky headlands and stunning views. We met a lovely family who are cruising up the coast too - onboard their amazing boat, Juniper. They inspired us to be more adventurous than we would have normally been and to go for long walks throughout the island. A long-term resident (Svesden) has created a multitude of paths that take the adventurer to different spots. The paths are sometimes only marked with painted rocks or unique handcrafted signs. 

On one occasion, as we climbed along the rocky foreshore, we didn't realise that there was an inlet that we'd need to cross. Juniper's crew asked us twice from their dinghy as they motored past us if we needed a lift. A few hours later, after about 10Km of walking, we were on the other side - it would have taken about 30 seconds on the dinghy! We contemplated swimming back over on the return trip, but luckily Juniper's crew came to the rescue and we hitched a dinghy ride this time! 

Near the anchorage we stayed at, is a tree adorned with old buoys. It was like a magical, perpetual, nautical christmas tree. Just below it was a swing and a big jumping net - all created by the people who have passed through here.

The next day we all hiked across the island to the lighthouse. It was rated as a difficulty of 10 on a scale of 1-10. The 7 of us walked from midday until sunset - check out the prickles that I caught on the way! I was super impressed with the stamina of Juniper's kids - the youngest is only 4 and he made it without really complaining! We saw some amazing stuff together and thoroughly enjoyed their company. We're hoping to see them again further up the coast soon for more games of Settlers of Catan.  

The time came for us all to move on though and today we moved on to Keppel Bay Marina. It is our first time in a marina since we first bought Anhinga 3 years ago and our first time on this trip, of having to actually pay for accommodation!