Great Keppel Island, QLD – Day 2 | Dave and Fiona's Travels

Sunday 10th September 2023
Today we have decided on a big 20+ km hike around Great Keppel Island with a snorkel at Butterfish Bay. We left the Holiday Village at about 8.30am with the first stop being The Lighthouse which was about 8km away. It was a lovely day with a strong breeze. The trail started out very easy along a dirt road, then up to the 1st Lookout passed Leekes Beach. We then continued along the trail which became rocky, winding through dry forest, over creeks where we saw many birds, through farmland with some goats. We stopped at some beautiful lookouts overlooking, Svendsens Beach, Red Beach, Clam Bay and then finally looking towards the Lighthouse. The terrain was ever-changing and looking out to the lighthouse it was quite barren. We arrived at the Lighthouse after about 3 hours and 9km. It was a small unmanned structure which had been there since 1975. We the headed back up from the lighthouse, had a short stop for lunch and then headed over the spur to Wreck Beach. This was a long stretch of beach with some interesting crabs that scurried away as we continued walking towards them. We then walked over the sandy inland to Butterfish Bay where we enjoyed a short snorkel, only about 30mins today., We saw a variety of small fish, a zillion black sea cucumbers and some beautiful colourful coral. We then had a rest on the beach to enable our gear to dry and then were on our way again at about 3pm. We headed up the cliff and then down to Svendsen’s Beach and then followed an unmarked trail under advice from the owner of a resort at Svendsen’s. This cut off one f the hill climbs. We continued on for another couple of hours, arriving back at the Vilage at 5.30pm. It had been a very long walk – 21.5km. The scenery along the trail was amazing, the blue beaches, red rocky cliffs, the lighthouse and the beautiful coral reefs.

Without even stopping for a break, I headed straight down to watch the spectacular sunset on Fisherman’s Beach. It was amazing. We had a fantastic day and have covered a lot of the island, enjoying many of the views the island has to offer. We are pleasantly exhausted and looking forward to a restful night.

: The solar panels and generator that supports the islands power.

: ..Red Silky Oak Grevillea..

: Svendsen’s Bay – there are so many yachts anchored here..

: ..which way do we go?

: ..as we follow the very easy initial trail..

: ..billy goat gruff..

: ..there were so many of them in this pasture..

: ..a Spangled Drongo..

: ..a Golden Whistler..

: ..a Varied Triller..

: ..a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo..

: ..and a Laughing Kookaburra..

: ..a little skink..

: ..the mud flats..

: ..looking down to the beautiful colours of Leekes Beach..

: ..a hopper of some kind..

: ..these were the trail markers we followed today – they were created by the owner of Svendsen’s Resort..

: ..looking down to Svendsen’s Beach..

: ..another unusual jumping bug..

: ..as we continue along the rocky trail, it eventually became a single trail,.

: ..a Leaden Flycatcher..

: Looking out to Bald Rock..

: Red Beach on the left of the headland and the coral reef of Clam Bay on the right..

: ..such a stunning place..

: ..as we look towards the Lighthouse..

: ..and start the downhill trail..

: ..we continue to enjoy the views – this time the waves and white sand of Red Beach..

: ..looking towards the Lighthouse..

: ..as we arrive at the very small Lighthouse structure..

: ..the goats are everywhere..

: ..right on the cliff edge..

: ..another lovely view near the lighthouse..

: ..as we make our way back up the hill from the lighthouse – 80m elevation climb over a short distance, maybe 500m..

: ..another beautful glimpse of Red Beach..

: ..as David climbs the hill from the Lighthouse..

: ..and we enjoy our first glimpse of the beach before Wreck Bay, I named it Little Wreck Bay, I love the greenery..

: ..and we cross the spur to Wreck Beach..

: ..the cliff face is magnificent..

: ..as David is perched at the top of the rocky scree..

: ..a couple of Pied Oyster Catchers..

: ..as we walk the untrodden sands of Wreck Beach..

: ..this is one of the crabs that disappeared when we arrived..

: ..David’s patience prevailed and eventually these two Horned Ghost Crabs came out of the hole..

: ..as we continue along the beach, grateful for low tide, as the high tide mark is about 30m away and the soft sand would not have been much fun to hike..