Great Keppel Island - Day Trip - Bushwalk

Ringed by clear blue water, 17 white sandy beaches and numerous fringing reefs, Great Keppel is by ferry, just 30 minutes from the mainland.  Even better, Central Queensland is not often included in visitor itineraries and so Great Keppel is much less crowded than the Whitsundays and further north.  Walk around a couple of headlands and you might have the beach to yourself.

As locals, our routine for Great Keppel is normally based around bushwalking, or snorkelling.  It’s possible to do both in one day if you are a bit organised.  For the less energetic, sitting around the bar and having a splash in the sea might be a great option.

Upon landing

Each of the ferries servicing Keppel have ramps that allow you to walk straight off the ferry and onto the beach – you mightn’t even get your feet wet.  Once off the boat, it might be time for a coffee at Tropical Vibes, which is a smaller and more relaxed alterative to the island’s main bar and bistro, The Hideaway.

Weather

In my blog, Great Keppel Island – getting there, I suggested planning for your day out by first having a look at the BOM weather forecast.  The weather forecast, and wind conditions in particular, is not only important for the ferry, but for getting the most out of your day.  Basically it’s like this:

• Light winds from any direction up to about 10 knots, you can do as you please.  Over 10 knots and you really need to know the direction of the wind

• Wind from the north and northeast – Fisherman’s (the main beach), Long, Shelving, Monkey beach and even Clam Bay will be sheltered and are good options

• Wind from the east and southeast – Southern corner of Fisherman’s, Shelving, Monkey, Putney, Leeke’s, and Svendsen’s will be the best options

• Wind from the south – Southern Corner of Fisherman’s, Putney, Leeke’s and Svendsen’s

• Strong westerly winds will likely limit snorkelling opportunities, unless you arrange a beach drop-off to remote Wreck or Little Wreck Beach.

• The wind doesn’t affect bushwalking so much, but whether bushwalking or snorkelling, you need to slop on the sunscreen, slap on a hat and make sure you have plenty of water (especially in summer).

Bushwalking

You could spend a week bush and beach walking on Great Keppel Island, and there’d be still be plenty to continue with next visit.  The general rule is don’t try to circumnavigate the island in a day, and while it’s possible, even I was caught out on my one attempt.  More on that below.

Several of the tracks traverse ridges offering postcard views, before dropping down onto beaches of outstanding beauty.  Others are more direct, spilling out onto a deserted beach, sand squeaking beneath your feet and small black tip reef sharks patrolling the shallows.

While you don’t need to be an athlete, a reasonable level of fitness is needed to do these walks, and for a few a high fitness level.  If you are gasping for breath after climbing a few steps, then bushwalking on Great Keppel might not be for you, or perhaps just do beach walks on Fisherman’s or Putney.

You do need to take plenty of water.  On a cool day (by tropical standards), such as in Winter between about May and August, the beach can be very pleasant, but go inland and there may be no breeze at all.  You’ll feel every bit of the 25 or so degrees and in places you will be exerting yourself.  Layer your clothes if it’s cool when you depart,

It's essential to wear sunscreen and a broadbrimmed hat.  In summertime that’s probably obvious, but the cloud-free days of winter provide an opportunity for suffering sunburn that might end your holiday.  I like light-weight, loose-fitting, long sleeved cotton shirts – they dry easily and protect your upper body.  A pair of quick-drying shorts, slightly long in the leg will protect your thighs and upper legs, and will dry quickly if you get wet.  Rather than hiking boots, consider a decent pair of trail running shoes – the entry level Brooks Cascadia is popular amongst local hikers and trail-runners.  Gators will help keep sand from entering the shoe, and filling the toe-box – worthwhile preventing because the trapped sand will get under your toe-nails and lift them, months later, leading to them going black and falling off.

With that as background, let’s get walking:

Circuit – Monkey Beach via Long Beach

3 hours walking time, moderate

This is one of two walks that captures Australian bush, beautiful beaches, and the chance to swim on snorkel as you go round.  You should do it in a clockwise direction to avoid difficulties in finding the track off the beach

After alighting the ferry, have a coffee at Tropical Vibes, while getting organised.  Walk south until you reach the wire fencing surrounding the sadly, now defunct, old resort.  A bitumen road leads to your left.  Follow it past the Telstra Mobile Phone Tower and turn right.  If you start climbing a hill you have gone too far.

Follow the, now dirt, road, the Australian bush closes in.  Banksias, grevilleas and grass trees are shared by a canopy of gums and sheoaks.  At certain times of the year (spring typically) you might walk amongst thousands of blue tiger butterflies, a species that migrates north to south and back along the Queensland coast.

At first the trail is rutted with a clay base, but after a few hundred metres, the fallen needles of sheoaks create a soft mat, mottled by shards of light which penetrate the canopy above.  The trail then begins a steady rise, but it is still sound underfoot.  At last we reach the peak, enjoying the views atop what is actually a large sand dune.

Heading down the dune, the trail turns right, and then left before busting out onto one of the island’s most beautiful beaches.  The crystal clear water and gentle slope make it very safe for a swim, and if you look carefully you my see fish in the shallows or sometimes even a dugong.

Once you have taken that in, walk west (right if facing the ocean).  You’ll enjoy it more if you don’t rush.  An eagle, a big black shape in the water – maybe a school of baitfish or a large fish or stingray - things pop up.

Nearing the end of the beach, the white stand becomes interspersed with rounded stones, and walking higher you’ll see the track that crosses the isthmus to Monkey Beach.  The track becomes a boardwalk, and halfway along is the remains of an Aboriginal Shell midden, remnants of a culture that was cruelly displaced by particular white setters who could never claim ignorance, accident or cultural differences for their unspeakable actions.

Dropping down onto Monkey, you’ll be greeted by a rocky plateau embedded into the sand.  This is the remnants of the old reef line from a time when sea levels were higher.  Keep walking and the sand quality improves and the swimming and snorkelling opportunities become obvious.  The beach is quite easily accessed and so you may find you have company.  You can look up my snorkelling blog if you want to know more about snorkelling here.

The track off Monkey leaves in the far northern corner.  Rutted and quite steep it winds up the ridge.  This is the steepest part of the walk, and while track is obvious, you’ll know you are climbing.  After a couple of hundred metres you’ll reach the top of the ridge.  Be careful not to accidently take a right hand turn here or you will find yourself back on Long Beach!  The last section is mostly downhill, but can be rutted and in parts, moderately steep.  The trail takes a sharp right and turn at the bottom of one of the descents.  Be careful not to go straight ahead here or you will find yourself on Shelving Beach, and having to climb up again, or skirt around the rocks.  After a final decent you’ll emerge through some thick bush onto Great Keppel’s main beach, completing the loop.

At low tide it is possible to walk around the rocks from Monkey Beach to Shelving Beach and then to Fisherman’s.  The rocks are not flat and you have to wend your way up and down, and around big rock and crevasses.