With 300 kilometres of coastline, there are plenty of choices when it comes to exploring stretches of golden sand and coastal communities before arriving at the gateway to the Southern Great Barrier Reef
Almost half-way through 2020, with international and inter-state travel restrictions in place, exploring my ‘backyard’ was my only ‘travel’ option. In Queensland, with low transmission numbers, our initial 50-kilometre travel limit restriction was lifted in mid-May to 150 kilometres, and then from May 31, Queenslanders could travel unlimited throughout the State. In late June, I hatched a plan with a friend and great travel buddy, Catherine, to leave the river city behind and take a road trip from Brisbane to Yeppoon.
Exploring Yeppoon Road Ironpot Qld Scenic Beauty Unveiled />
Despite me being a Queenslander born and bred, there is much of my fabulous state I am guilty of not having yet explored. And there are no valid excuses as to why, in my 55 years, I have not visited Yeppoon and Agnes Waters. It took a global pandemic to get me out on the road and exploring these Queensland coastal towns.
File:iron Pot Mountain, Yeppoon.jpg
And I’m going to be honest here. As a travel writer, I haven’t been writing many travel stories. So, my lovely reader, yiou’ve been forewarned, this post is long.
If you prefer to skip to a particular place – use the table of contents (above) to ‘jump’ to your area of interest.
A road trip via a major highway is the quickest route from A to B. But not always the most scenic. These highways bypass country towns you’d normally pass through on the older road networks. You can make a detour and drop in on these smaller regional hubs, but you need to weigh up your time frame and what you want to see along the way.
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Travel time from my southside suburb of Coorparoo to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery (382 km) took around five hours via the M1. You could stopover and stay a night in blissful Noosa (just over a two-hour drive from Brisbane.) Or linger longer in Noosa as I did in September, but our goal was to be in Bundaberg before they closed the Bundy Rum Distillery at 4 pm (priorities right?!)
Driving non-stop to Bundy can be done in four hours – but a re-fuel and lunch break just outside Gympie added 45 minutes onto our travel time.
Bundaberg is full of surprises. I mention a few of them here and one night was not enough time to experience what this town, with its interesting blend of rural and coastal offers. So I am heading back there in early January for five nights – taking my teens and Mr 22 to experience Bundy. We’re booked into Bargara – and will hit the beach (either early or later in the day) to avoid the sting of the summer sun. I’m looking forward to a day trip to Lady Musgrave Island and fingers crossed, maybe see some turtle hatchlings at Mon Repos.
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The next morning, after a look-see at the Bert Hinkler Museum and a quick pitstop back to the Bundy Rum Distillery (to grab ‘more’ supplies for Keppel) we headed for Yeppoon to catch a 3.30 pm ferry from the marina over to Great Keppel Island. You can choose to either stay at Yeppoon, then head over to Keppel – we did it the other way round.
Unfortunately, we were under the pump for time and roadworks on the outskirts of Rocky placed pressure on us getting to the Marina in time to catch the last ferry of the day to the island. So we had to wave to Rockhampton as skirted the town centre. After interviewing Mary Li for a Two of Us article and reading her recently released book, Mary’s Last Dance, where she dedicated a few chapters to her childhood in Rockhampton, I’m intrigued by the town. (Rocky is on the list for another trip!)
We left Catherine’s car at a secure car park a few kms from the Marina and the owner dropped us with just minutes to spare!
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You may ask why infamous, especially if you are born after the 1980s. You young pups may not have heard of the “Get wrecked on Keppel” slogan adopted by travel brand Contiki tapping in on the reputation Keppel acquired as ‘the’ party island.
“Young people flocked to the 300-room resort for alcohol and legendary parties where clothes were optional and over 35’s were banned, ” writes Shayla Bulloch from a Queensland Times article
“It was best known for its steamy secrets but was a much-loved part of the region before its closure in 2008. Now The Hideaway remains behind barricaded fencing.”
Yeppoon Road, Ironpot, Qld 4701
Mid-January 1992, my friend, Brenda (who I originally met at the University of Massachusetts) had left Boston in the middle of a freezing cold winter, arriving in steamy, humid Brisbane in the middle of summer. We flew to Rocky (yes, there is a regional airport in Rockhampton – if road trippin’ non-stop for 10 hours from Brissie isn’t desirable.)
We caught the flyer over to Keppel Island, 15 km off the coast of Yeppoon. Brenda had not seen the sun in hmmm, I don’t know how long and was enjoying the warm rays. She ignored my suggestion to cover up her milky-white legs. That night, she had a nasty case of sunburn, her legs so badly sunburnt, they blistered for days! No partying on Keppel for my sunburnt friend, who learned the hard way how harsh the sun in Aus can be. (Aussies also forget!)
The pick-up point is at Rosslyn Bay where we board the Keppel Konnections Ferry Catherine and I are sun-sensible Queenslanders and it’s also winter – we sit inside.
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Apart from those who choose to moor on a yacht, or camp there are roughly 300 tourist beds available on Keppel. We booked two nights in a beach cabin at the Great Keppel Island Hideaway the largest accommodation provider on the island. The other commercial accommodation properties include Great Keppel Island Holiday Village, Keppel Lodge, and Svendsen’s Beach Retreat.
The Keppel flyer lands at Fishermen’s beach. Passengers depart down the gangplank onto the white sand. We wander towards reception to check into our cabin. (Luggage is offloaded onto a truck to be collected at a designated pick up point later on.)
Keppel has 17 beaches to explore (not all of them are accessible on foot.) A day cruise is recommended – the Keppel Explorer – which takes you to many of the inaccessible beaches. But unfortunately, due to Covid and inclement weather, this tour was not operating on the days we were at Keppel.
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There’s a number of hiking trails on the island if you enjoy walking, including Leeke’s Beach Circuit (3.8km return) The Lighthouse (15.4 km return) Butterfish Bay (13km return.)
The morning of our first full day, we decided to hike up Mount Wyndham for a view from the lookout (175 metres.) This circuit takes approximately three hours return.
Friends who were staying in a boat moored in the bay at Svendsen’s Beach recommended we check out their side of the island. So after the lookout, we headed for Svendsen’s. Admittedly, we didn’t think this one through and were not wearing the best shoes for hiking 12km (18, 880 steps) to and from this gorgeous little inlet. The bush track was rough in parts, but doable (despite our footwear!)
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On the path near to Svendsen’s, we walked through a section where hundreds of Monarch and Blue Tiger butterflies were resting. A kaleidoscope of fluttering wings circled in the air around us, saying hello, just before we arrived at the gorgeous cove. We flopped onto a couple of lounges under shade (set up for guests who stay in Svendsen’s Beach retreat? Maybe?) and I removed those offending shoes.
We helped ourselves to some chilled water in an open kitchenette area. Rehydrated, we considered returning to our cabin via Leeke’s Beach. A couple of hikers wandered past (with better footwear than us) and Catherine asked them what they thought about walking back via Leeke’s Beach – a slightly shorter route. In a strong European accent, the guy suggested we could do it, demonstrating we would have to hold our daypack above our heads because the tide was coming in.
Sunset drinks @greatkeppelislandhideaway on the squeaky white sands of Long Beach on the island’s southern side was our reward for the day’s exertion.
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The sunset like the night before did not disappoint as it dipped below the mainland, casting shadows over Pumpkin Island This 6.1-hectare island (450 meters long and 150 metres wide) in Keppel Bay is a privately owned island where guests can stay in one of seven eco-friendly self-catering units. Something I’d be keen to experience when I can gather a group of friends (up to 34) who’d like the unique experience of being alone on an island!
We ate at the beachfront Bar and Bistro. (Menu offers basic pub-style meals – hearty and filling and is fully licensed – check out our happy cocktails from the first afternoon.)
I imagine the diving and snorkeling on the fringing reefs off Keppel Island is amazing. After all, Keppel is part of the