The day of Great Keppel Island. Firstly, Carli did not get seasick..pretty happy with herself because for once she could actually enjoy her time on a boat.

A little side not about Great Keppel Island. A contiki resort was once the attraction of the island. Once the resort closed down, because the owner wanted to expand his empire, the tourism business was severly impacted. The tour we went on, cost us $135 and it was well worth the money. The locals have high hopes that once the resort eventually reopens (hopefully not as big as the owner wants to make it) that the tourism in their little piece of paradise will pick up. Of all the tours, I (Carli) have done, around islands ect. this was by far the best. I recommend that anyone who is planning a trip to an island, try out Great Keppel, especially if you want a quiet escape. It would be very sad, if one day the tourism in Great Keppel and Yeppoon ceased. It is an incredibly special place. On another note, I hope that it does stay as quiet and non commercial as it is, because that would ruin the serenity. How is the serenity???

The day started with a ferry ride across to Great Keppel. Our tour group consisted of, the two of us and a family of three. We were the only ones doing the wet activities, so it was basically a private tour. The glass bottom boat was the first activity and we saw stingrays, coral, fish and dolphins. It was very special. Carli got a good picture of the dolphins, then she dropped her lens cap in the water to feed the dolphins. The guys who took the tour were very friendly, lovely and mildly inappropriate.

After the glass bottom boat ride we went snorkelling. Which was amazing. The water was warm and because it was warm it was a little cloudy. The first thing we came across was the shell of a turtle. It's head and foot were still attached. The tour guys said that the tour the day before saw a shark eat the turtle. This made carli uneasy. Bec however, was brave as and she followed a stingray. The stingray knew she was following it and it turned around and looked at her, as if to say, 'What ya doin?" She quickly pretended to have no interest in it what so ever. Carli got out before Bec becasue she kept thinking about seasnakes. Apprarently, they can only survive for one and a half hours under water before they need air. They don't have very good sight and when they dart up for air they are vulnerable to air attacks. So they use snokellers as cover. Carli did not want a seasnake using her as cover. The snorkel for Carli was not relaxing and she could not do it slowly because she was so distracted by all the things that could possibly go wrong. At the start of the snorkel, We couldnt stop giggling and one of teh tour guys said, "you pay to come snorkelling and all you do is stay up the top and giggle." Carli kept trying to talk with the snorkel in her mouth. Bec had to explain, that she can't understand what Carli is saying.

The snorkel was followed by a BBQ lunch. The BBQ lunch was almost ruined when Carli dropped a tissue from the top level of the boat and it landed on the BBQ, narrowlly missing the sausages. She was incredibly embarrassed, Bec pissed herself laughing.

We then got to sit in the boomnet on the back of the boat. This was fun, except that we had just got dry and there was a cold wind. Bec nearly lost her togs.

When we arrioved back at the campsite, we walked to the beach and watched the sunset and the locals. Once again, words will not to justice to the beauty of that sunset and the magnificient view we had. The shoreline looked like a painting, with tiny moving humans. Living in Yeppoon would be a sensational experience.