Pelican Camp

Pelican Camp Site under Stunted Pandanus

Humpy Island Camp Site

Links**************************************************************************************************Phone Numbers
Camping Information For the Keppel Group .....................Marine Parks Roslyn Bay- 61 7 49336595
Pumpkin Island Weather --Phone 0409392007................................Pumpkin Island - 61 7 49394413
A good reference is "An Introduction to Sea-kayaking in Queensland" by Gerard Effeney

This is the story (or some of it) of our ten day trip to the Keppel Group. We paddled in a MERMAID and an OSPREY and found the combination carried all we needed. Our experience and skills are moderate. Vic Martin has paddled inside Fraser island many times and done some limited offshore paddling along the Sunshine Coast. We found both kayaks coped well with the huge loads with the extra weight improving stability. Despite the lay back paddling rate we seemed always to make better than expected times. Our primary rule was not to make crossings if the forecast was over 15 knots. Around the islands is sheltered and safe in most winds.

We paddled at the hottest time of the year but the breezes nearly always provided the air conditioning. Sun burn is a problem. Despite the heat we were never bothered by mosquitoes or sandflies and only saw a couple of horse flies. It was bliss not to bothered by the dingoes, sandflies and horseflies that plague Fraser Island , not to mention the 4WD's and the stern camping rules.(Some of this also applies to the Whitsunday Group also). We found the Keppel Group to be a sea kayakers paradise with Humpy Island as the best camping site. But the freehold PUMPKIN ISLAND is the gem .The islands managers, Quinton and lyn are welcoming, the coral has to be the most stunning and most accessible in the entire Keppel group. Walk off the beach and it is there. From Pumpkin there are great short paddles to North Keppel, Conicle and Corroboree Islands. For us the Keppel group offers something quite rare. The distance between Isolation and civilization is only a short paddle.

After a week waiting for a weather window, we drive onto the beach at Emu Park and unload the two kayaks from the roof racks. It is early January and the north easters have been blowing up to thirty-five knots encouraged by the blazing hot pre wet season temperatures of inland Australia. At 5.00 am, low tide, we start a first day pack. We place the kayaks well up the beach trying to predict where the tide might be by the time we finish cramming all our gear into the holds. Tides here range more than five metres so the water levels advance and retreat quickly compared with our home town two metre rise and fall.

We choose Emu Park to launch for several reasons. The beach is hard, allowing even 2WD vehicles access and as well launching is practical no matter what the tide. There are other advantages. The night before we stay at the Emu Park Caravan Park which also fronts the beach. The manager readily agrees to us leaving our vehicle inside the park for the duration of our expedition.

Our route to the Keppel Islands group is from Emu Park to Humpy Island via Pelican Island. This is to be our first big open water crossing and we are somewhat nervous. Wind forecasts are not ideal. However, we are eager to get going and agree to go as far as Pelican Island where we will decide to continue or camp. Packing the kayaks for the first time is chaotic. We have food for two weeks, two small folding chairs, a stretcher, tent, snorkeling gear, clothing and what seems like an awful lot of mangoes. Freshwater is a problem on the islands and we cram more than 30 litres in used wine bladders into the two kayaks along with eight litres of wine. Our safety gear includes an EPIRB and CDMA cell phone.

The in-coming tide beats us and we drag the kayaks higher up the beach to allow packing to continue. In the process a buckle is lost off a strap used for securing a rear hatch. The loss of this one small piece of plastic is a blow. The hatch cannot be secured properly. It we cannot find a replacement soon then today's crossing is off. The first puffs of the forecast twenty-five knots are pushing up the sea. In sea kayaking terms we are ‘cruisers' not ‘bruisers'. We cannot roll our kayaks and our reentry technique is a simple scramble over the tail of the kayak, a bit of a straddle over the rear deck, drop your bottom into the seat then fold in the legs. The whole technique could work very well if thoughts of lurking tiger sharks prevail. Our basic rule for the trip is not to do any open water crossings unless the wind forecast is 10-15 knots. Most days the forecast maximum does not occur until after midday so the hours paddle to Pelican Island in the face of 25 knots seems sensible.

A replacement buckle for the hatch strap is found on a hand bag and carved off. I launch Lorna in the Osprey and turn to the problem of getting the extraordinarily heavy Mermaid off the sand. By now there is a small but annoying break onto the beach kicked up by the more northerly wind. I look up to find Lorna heading back to the beach. She is having difficulty getting her skirt on and the cockpit is a bit wet. I take one of her water bladders, mop out the cockpit, get her skirt on and push her off again. The two kayaks kind of waddle out through the small break. Lorna cuts the point fine and finds herself looking at a rock suddenly rearing in her path. We clear the bay and settle in for the hours paddle to Pelican(4.6km).

Pelican is a wild island. The camp site is really only big enough for one tent but more could fit, all be it uncomfortably. Importantly, it is best to time a landing close to a high tide when the kayaks can touch down on the wisp of sand on the western end. Low tide means landing on rocks. There is no water or facilities of any kind. With winds continuing to rise, we decide to camp and we stay for two nights. The camp site is exposed both to N.E. and S.E. winds. This keeps it cool and insect free but the tent needs tying down well. A tent is important. Shade is sparse and in January showers and storms occur anytime. Two nights on the island seem a good idea. The forecast is for rising winds and storms and the oysters are thick on the rocks. Sipping wine, sitting on our small spit of sand, we watch one of nature's great sound and light shows. The night is wild. Wind from the north at thirty knots suddenly reverses to the south at forty. Towels, clothes and plastic bags are hastily gathered in. Sometime in the early morning it is calm. At daybreak we start to pack and we are on the water under grey skies anxiously looking at the wind lines.

The open water crossing to Humpy Island is about 10 kilometres. I tell Lorna to expect to be on the water for up to four hours. If we get a strong head wind it will be at least that. The crossing takes us about two hours but the current takes us northward closer to Great Keppel and we spend almost and hour against wind and tide climbing back up to Humpy. Leaving Pelican, the long ocean swells push though at about a metre. They are on our starboard quarter and enough to make the paddling interesting. The wind-lines dissipate without effect and by half way the seas reduce to a chop as a weak south easter pipes in. The current is clearly taking us northward. We have been paddling a course northward of Humpy to compensate for an expected N.E. wind. This plus the S.E wind ensures we are now a fair way off course. By turning directly to Humpy Island our progress is too slow so it seems better to ferry across the current then paddle up to Humpy in its lee. This is a good idea but in the end the rising wind is the greatest opponent.

Reaching Humpy, we feel we are ‘over the hump' and what a place it is. Humpy Island is a national park with probably the best camping in the Keppel Islands. Bore water showers and toilets, tables and good shady camp sites under the casuarinas make it hard to leave. Luckily, the best place for kayakers to camp is probably the worst for the boaties. This is at the eastern end of the beach. Here we bring the kayaks within a short distance of the camp site. The place is popular with boaties and booking a camping site before going is encouraged by Marine Parks. We haven't but there is plenty of room. Our camp site looks rarely used and we guess the last people there may have been Kate Yoemans and partner and Natureline's Kerry Richards during her epic paddle to Cape York in early 2003.

We launch mid morning from Great Keppel and pass by Middle Island and Miall, then strike out across the six kilometre gap of open sea to Sloping Island. From Sloping we cross to North Keppel leaving Pumpkin in the distance to the right. The south west corner of North Keppel houses the Department of Education's camp with many huts and outbuildings. A sign on the beach suggests that we should enter only if we really have a problem. A short distance north brings us to Considine Beach camp ground but at this time of the year the area is very hot and lacking shade. Bore water showers and composting toilets service the camp site.

However, our real goal is Conicle Island. This is the northern most island in the Keppel group. Conicle is a speck of an island with a sandy skirt on the southern side balanced by ramparts of rock on the open, northern side. The camp site is very pleasant and those luxurious picnic tables are present. We explore nearby Corroboree Island and after two nights the weather reports look threatening. We toy with the idea of returning to Miall Island. With our holiday time getting short it is an all weather paddle from here to Great Keppel should we need to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

Lazily we pass along North Keppel and finds ourselves diverting to Mazie Bay. The last of the Keppel Island Aborigines lived here before being herded to the mainland. By now the winds are gusting above fifteen knots. Considine Beach is the only place where they allow camping on North Keppel and this does not appeal to us so we decide to paddle a short way down to Pumpkin Island. It is lucky we do. Pumpkin is a hidden gem. As we paddle to the sheltered beach mothers with children greet us as they laze in the warm water. Small houses are nestled in the trees. This looks good. "Can we camp on the island?" "Go up over the hill and see Quinton." "Yes, we welcome campers". We stay for three nights. Pumpkin Island is privately owned.

The camp site is on a windy point. We are grateful for the breeze. We have a table, freshwater, toilet and shower. The tent site is shady and right on the water.At sunset we watch the black tipped reef sharks forage along the shore on the incoming tide.Pumpkin Island is a low key resort with most comfortable cabins set cosily in the trees. It really comprises three fragments separated at high tide. Between two, a shallow channel harbours exquisite coral gardens teeming with brilliant fish and clams. As the water deepens towards the open sea, the corals become larger and more spectacular along with schools of colourful fish. The display is stunning and equal to the best reef anywhere. So for three days we snorkel over the reefs and paddle and walk around the islands including trips to North Keppel but we are running out of time. The wet season breaks in Queensland and we listen to the flood reports as we bask in the sun.

At last the winds and rain reach us. The wind is too high for us to paddle to Miall and Great Keppel so we decide to put the kayaks aboard a 55' charter cat. ferrying guest to the mainland. The forcast is for 35 knots from the S.E. We cross in perfect calm to Roslyn Bay half regretting not paddling in such beautiful weather. The south easter kicks in late with reports of forty knots. We would have made it O.K. but better to be sure than sorry. Ten days in Kayak heaven is over. We are returning next winter.