Tropical Vibes, Sailing Expeditions & A Not So Shy Beach Goer

Ahh welcome back to another week in the Keppel Islands! As we settle into week number 2, we weather out a bit of a blow at Leeks beach. After the winds settled, we decided it was time to dig out our shoes and give the hiking trails a crack.

Weird feeling putting on shoes after so long!

We wanted to hike past the Keppel homestead to the other side of the island. I think we were all pretty keen to get out and put our legs to work especially after being cooped up for those couple of windy days.

Unlike last time, it wasn’t only shoes we treated ourselves to on this trip. We even thought we would bring water and snacks. I know right! How prepared are we?!

Or maybe Bad Mickey and Trishie the Menace are wiser than their crew names suggest…

Our group of intrepid adventurers set off in search of higher ground. The island really is beautiful and it doesn’t seem like the trails are used very much at all. I guess the part none of our band of travellers thought of though, was how high Great Keppel Island really was.

And here we were thinking we were super prepared!

Turns out, you have to go up, up, up to get to the other side. So this is where we parted ways. Bad Mickey and Trishie headed off to explore another beach while the captain and I battled a steep rocky path over the island.

I am sure the path isn’t really that bad but I tell you what, the old sea legs got a bit of a shock! We were rewarded with a pretty amazing view at the top and it felt soooooo good to give our legs (and respiratory system) a workout! Of course on our way back we encountered more goats and peacocks – still the most random animals to inhabit an island.

With some wind expected one morning we thought we would make the most of it and go on an expedition out to Barren Island. Nathan and his parents would rarely venture out this far in their family boat so it was pretty cool to explore some new territory.

Plus it felt pretty damn good to hoist those sails!

The island was stunning and on the northern side, protected from the winds there was a mooring ball over the reef. We wasted no time in tying up and were pretty stoked to be sitting out here all by ourselves. Fishing lines were over the side in a matter of seconds and it didn’t take long for our captain to catch us dinner.

Of course I can’t forget to mention that Bad Mickey caught the bait that Nathan used to catch the meal…

A nice size coral trout and railway were on the menu so everyone was counting down the minutes until tea time!

The days just got warmer and more like summer from here on.

At the blink of an eye I had donned my summer attire.

HOORAY! No more winter clothes!

Sarongs are a must and I was sooooo ready for it! We paid Fisherman’s Beach and their cafe’ a visit on the way round to Long Beach to drop the anchor.

Now this is where things took a turn down a crazy road.

We were greeted one beautiful morning by a lone man walking along the beach to the rocks on the headland. Once reaching the headland he proceeded to lose the very little clothing he had on, scramble along the rocks and you know….. started playing with his very own little toy. I will leave the rest to your imagination but it was quite the exhibition and it went on ALL DAY. We obviously weren’t active viewers for the whole duration but we did see the crispy skin salmon he had become after a full day in the sun BUTT NAKED.

Naked beach man aside, we had a glorious last few days. We had a fire on the beach one night which had been a long time coming. Everyone really needs to experience that at some point in their lifetime.

Seriously, how great is a beach fire.

Some hard core sand worming ended in a couple of feeds of whiting, courtesy of the stella efforts of Bad Mickey.

I swear if more people knew about these slimey monsters lurking under the sand, beaches would be much quieter.

We also managed to give the bum of Merrion a bit of a scrub since the water was so clear! This then caught the attention of some fish life…. Good stuff though because it was Trishie’s turn to bring food to the table. A decent golden trevally fed us for dinner.

It was the beach that just kept on giving!

The Keppel Islands really showed us an amazing time. We couldn’t have asked for much better weather either. Some connections in the area also didn’t go astray. With an engine look over by a resident Witch Doctor and gifted lures and shears that could cut through steel from a friendly neighbourino named Pete, we were ready to continue the journey north armed and dangerous.

We had a cracker time with our crew members Bad Mickey and Trishie the Menace. Good times were had by all and it won’t be the last we see of that crazy pair. Now it is time for the captain and I to sail into the next chapter of our adventure.