Monday, June 15th, Yeppoon.
Bob: Since we had to wait until Tuesday for our tour of Great Keppel Island, we decided to look at the seacoast around us and do some necessary chores. Yeppoon is part of the Capricorn Coast of Australia, so named because the area is located right around the Tropic of Capricorn. Yeppoon is a bit North of that line, so it is well and truly in the tropics and the warm, balmy weather even near the local winter solstice bore that out. Driving South along the coast, we first checked in at Rosslyn Bay where we had to sign up for our glass-bottom boat tour of Great Keppel Island the following day. The guy at the counter was pleasant and nice enough to give us both senior rates on our tickets, a slight discount. Australians over 65 have an official government-issued card and some places insisted on that card before giving a senior discount whereas other places were much more relaxed and just took Monika's word for it after she explained the situation. That chore done, we continued just down the coast a couple of kilometers to Bluff Point National Park, a tiny park enclosing a steep, rocky headland that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. Our map said there was a 2.3 kilometer hiking trail leading to some lookouts, and we decided to walk that. A pair of friendly Australian women at the picnic area advised us to walk the loop in a counter-clockwise direction to get the best views along the way, so we set off in the direction they suggested. |
Monika: We woke up to clear blue skies. My goal for the day was to swim in the Pacific Ocean. But high tide was not until the afternoon and we did want to drive out to the landing of the ferry to get tickets for the half day trip to Great Keppel Island with coral cruise. We drove through the little town of Yeppoon and on to the harbor. We reserved our seats, figured out where to park on the morrow and drove on along the coast. A little further on was a small National Park, Bluff Point NAP. It was a high cliff with a loop walk that had a few lookouts over the ocean and coast. Well, we were up for some walking, so we forged ahead through scrub forest. |
Bob: Setting off along the forested path, we climbed steadily and were soon rewarded by beautiful panoramic views of Mulambin Beach and Kinka Beach to our South. The beaches were huge, at least 1-2 kilometers long each, and shelved very, very gradually as we could see the high-tide mark almost 100 meters inland from the water's edge. A long causeway carrying the highway southwards separated the beaches from an eponymously named "Causeway Lake", formed by the causeway effectively damming the estuary, I think. Out in the distance we could see Rita Mada Point, the next headland jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. Continuing around Bluff Point, we came to two overlooks on the cliffs above the Pacific shore. Our map mentioned the possibility of seeing sea turtles, and we eagerly scanned the waters below for any sign of them. I finally saw one come up to breathe and briefly wave a flipper as he submerged, so we took some pictures of that general area in the hope of finding some on our pictures later. |
Monika: Our first lookout gave us a beautiful view of the beach to the south and the little town of Emu Park. In particular I enjoyed the wave patterns in the sand under and above the water line. With the water as clear as it was it was easy to discern. Trekking on we came to the top of the bluff and then to a little overlook above a rocky cliff. Bob thought he saw a turtle way down on the rocks. At the next overlook we were supposed to see turtles since it was Turtle overlook. We kept looking down into the clear water, but whether what we saw were turtles or rocks is a good question. You can look at the picture and judge for yourself. |
Bob: On our way from the overlooks back down to the parking lot we had great views northward along the shore. Kemp Beach, another long, sandy, gradually shelving beach stretched out for over a kilometer to Rosslyn Head, and we took pictures of that and the islands off the coast. Driving on to Emu Park, which according to the warning signs really does have wild emus running around, we stopped off to see the Singing Ship, a sculpture that actually does "sing" or whistle when the wind blows. The sculpture has carefully and artfully arranged organ pipes situated so that the wind blows across the openings and creates the tones. |
Monika: After this nice little interlude we drove on to Emu Park. Along the way there were even warning signs for emus, but I did not see one. Whether the signs were there for tourists amusement or actual warning signs is anyone's guess. Emu Park is a sleepy little tourist town. Its claim to fame is the Singing Ship, a sculpture looking like a ship with the masts and riggings such that they will make sounds when the wind blows. The wind was not blowing, so after having taken pictures we went in search of lunch. It was off season, so most places were closed. But we did find a little bakery that had a warm potato pie for Bob and a sausage in a roll (not to be confused with a sausage roll) for me. I also was looking for a beach towel, but there was no touristy type shop open. |
Bob: Driving back along a country lane to Yeppoon, we stopped at a library for an hour or so to check our email and then went grocery shopping at the local Woolworth's store. We returned home to drop the groceries off in the refrigerator, especially the eggs and meat, and then drove back into town so that Monika could try swimming in the Pacific Ocean. She seemed to enjoy that and I enjoyed wading in the water at the edge of the beach, so we both had fun. Back at our hotel, we watched the TV news as we had dinner and then watched Top Gear: Australian Version which was a lot of fun and wrapped up the day for us. |
Monika: We took an inland country road back to Yeppoon (still no emus) and looked for the library. I had been given a general direction, but that did not get us anywhere, so we took out the GPS. It showed us where the library was supposed to be, but even with the GPS it took us two tries to find the little house behind the trees with a small little library sign. The library had 5 internet stations and since only one was in use we both were able to sign on and do some work. I checked our accounts in America and Germany and Bob answered Email. After that we stopped at a Woolworth store for groceries After stowing the groceries we finally went for the main event for today: swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Bob insisted that we drive to the beach in the middle of the city, since he thought it would be safer. The water was not too cold and I thoroughly enjoyed walking out into the surf and finally plunging into the water. When I swam back to shore, I noticed that it took me a long time since by this time it was way past hight tide and so the tide was going out again. But since I knew I could stand up at any time I was not worried. Even Bob came into the water, although he got only his legs wet. But it was glorious, the sun was shining, the water was warm, and the surf mild. After I got out of the water, we walked along the beach so I would dry out a little. Afterwards we walked along the main drag of Yeppoon trying to find a beach towel for me. But this was a beach resort with boutique type shops and not a single T-shirt, beach towel shop. Oh well, foiled again. Back at our motel we had dinner and the walked again along the beach for some evening pictures. |
| Index |
| Prolog | Map of Australian Walkabout | Epilog |
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