East Coast Cruising

We left Gladstone and headed for the fresh air of Great Keppel Island. Couldn't believe our eyes when we got there, the water was so crystal clear and the air so fresh! Great Keppel is about 45 miles from Gladstone and about 6 miles out to sea from Yeppoon on the mainland. We anchored on the north side and spent two days relaxing in the beach. The sea is getting warmer as we move north and is now refreshingly nice. The kids were happy making sand castles, swimming and running around. It was a nice relaxing time. The wind turned north so for the last night all the boats went around to the other side to anchor on the south beach. We stopped at the resort anchorage for a couple of hours and had a look around - good island for a cheap holiday they have lots of budget accommodation with Tee Pee tents, cabins etc as well as the resort and food is cheap. They say Great Keppel has the best swimming beaches of all the islands and I believe it! We got to do some snorkelling too and make our first beach fire.
We met up with Cath and Donald on 'Bliss' who we had left in Gladstone and we all spent a very lazy day on the south beach drinking beer and G and Ts. We headed off early the next morning back to the coast to anchor at Port Clinton. Port Clinton is not a port as such, in fact it is probably the most isolated anchorage on the mainland we have been too because for miles around it is army land and therefore civilisation is about 60 k away in any direction. Because of this it is very beautiful and untouched however it is a creek system and is known for crocodiles - no swimming here! All the anchorages on the mainland in Queensland are creeks and full of mud flats and mangroves and crocs they are eerie places! We only stayed here overnight then the next day early left for Pearl Beach which is only 5 miles away - described as the most beautiful beach anchorage on the east coast in our Cruising Book. It is surrounded by mountains, white sands and islands and is stunning. Not being a creek or tucked away and just an open sea anchorage it was prone to swell and we spent a rough night rolling around. It was worth it though as the water was clear and swimmable and no crocs and the scenery was amazing. We took the dinghy and went into a cave in the cliffs - the kids thought this was pretty cool and wanted to swim in it, as the waves were bashing against the rocks - I don't think so!
From here we sailed to the Percy Isles which is about 60 miles out to sea and the furthest we have been out from the mainland. The seas are different up here because the Great Barrier Reef, which starts around Gladstone, stops a lot of swell, so that the sailing is really pleasant and not much tipping, that together with the weather makes for fantastic sailing. The weather is getting hotter as we move up. We are definitely down to T-shirts and shorts during the day and at night no jumper has been needed yet. It's actually quite humid. Got to 28 a couple of days ago.
Will download photos of the Percy Isles and then catch up to date with the blog so look out for next blog in a day or two!