Allison Wallace 11/9/21 Allison Wallace 11/9/21

A day trip to Great Keppel Island

I have visited a lot of Queensland islands in my travels but have focused on those further north in the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef. When it came to planning a dog-friendly holiday, it was a nice surprise to discover that Great Keppel Island welcomes pups – as does the passenger ferry to get there!

We visited on a daytrip from Yeppoon because while the island itself is dog-friendly, finding somewhere to stay there with our furry friend was a little harder.

Great Keppel is just a 30-minute ferry ride from the mainland, so we got on an early ferry to make the most of our day!

The ferry pulls up right on the beach, so sandy feet are the welcome mat. You’ll also be greeted by Fisherman’s Beach which is absolutely gorgeous.

The view looking west from the Lookout Trail.

On arrival at Fisherman’s Beach, we stored our snorkelling gear and decided to stretch our legs with a walk up the Lookout Trail. There are plenty of longer walks around the island but with only a day, we thought we would try just this one which is easily accessible from the beach.

The view looking east from the Lookout Trail.

This 2.6km trail didn’t take us more than an hour and it really isn’t that steep. We were rewarded with great views to the west of Great Keppel Island.

After working up a sweat on this walk, it was time to cool off. We asked where the best snorkelling was at the Water Activities hut and were told to head to Monkey Beach.

The walk to and from here would have taken us about 2 hours – time we didn’t have if we wanted to make the most of being in the water.

Luckily for us, the guys at the hut were super accommodating and took us – including Falcor – in the dive boat around to Monkey Point and promised to pick us up in time to get back on our 4pm ferry. What a treat for a dog that loves boat rides!

Setting up under a tree for some shade, we paddled out from the beach to the reef to admire all the fish! Falcor tried to swim and keep up with us so I headed back to the beach a bit earlier to relax and soak up some sun while Aiden snorkelled longer.

The water was crystal clear and warm so I could have spent hours exploring.

From Monkey Beach, there is a short inland track that takes you to Long Beach – voted one of the best beaches in Australia. We went and had a quick look before Aiden headed around the headland to try his luck at fishing.

There are only certain areas of the island where you can fish as the rest is protected marine park. Unfortunately for us, the tide really wasn’t right for fishing while we were there.

Given we spent the whole day on the beach at the mercy of the dive boat, we made it back to Fisherman’s and managed a beer and a snack at the Great Keppel Island Hideaway before dashing back to the ferry. We timed our return perfectly as a rain cloud opened up just before we returned.

After all that swimming and walking, we had one tired dog on the ferry home!

Great Keppel has 15 beaches to explore so we only saw a tiny bit of this island paradise. We will have to come back for a longer stay without the dog.

If you are looking for a personal adventure, Get Your Guide offers some great tours from Yeppoon.

Allison Wallace 8/22/21 Allison Wallace 8/22/21

The ultimate Magnetic Island escape

When planning a Queensland road trip with my dog, I was so excited to discover we could take the pup on the ferry across to Magnetic Island! What could be better for our water-loving family?

Affectionately known as Maggie, the island is a great place to just kick back and relax but there is also plenty to see and do!

Just eight kilometres off the mainland, this island is smack-bang in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef and boasts palm-fringed beaches, hiking trails and friendly rock wallabies. Holiday vibes sorted!

Getting there:

There are two ferries that will take you out to Maggie. A passenger-only ferry that takes just 20 minutes, and a vehicle ferry that takes about twice the time. We went with our car on the latter from Townsville with our dog able to get some fresh air on board – he loved his first experience on a boat bigger than a tinny!

If you don’t want to take your own car or have flown in from out of town, there are plenty of rentals available on the island and I would recommend having way as it is the best way to get around – though in peak seasons there is an excellent bus service.

The short ferry ride makes it possible to just visit for the day if you are short on time. Just make sure you book the early ferry in advance to make the most of it.

Where to stay:

Maggie has a wide range of accommodation options to choose from. There is everything from dog-friendly Airbnb’s like the one we stayed in to 5-star resorts.

The first choice is actually to decide where on the island you want to be. The main towns are Arcadia, Horseshoe Bay, Nelly Bay, Picnic Bay and Florence Bay and honestly, it really isn’t that far to drive between them but sometimes it is nice to just walk around!

Nelly Bay is where the ferry lands most of the large accommodation can be found here and Horseshoe Bay has plenty of restaurants and cafes and great sunset views.

We stayed in Picnic Bay on the southern end of the island, looking back towards the mainland. Our Airbnb was walking distance to a long jetty perfect for fishing, a beach where we could swim and a couple of restaurants. We had some incredible authentic Italian at Mamma Roma and I would definitely recommend you try it!

Things to do:

Walking is a big thing on Maggie and we made the most of it! There were a few walks we didn’t experience on the island as we don’t like to leave the dog at home too much so that meant the National Parks were off the agenda.

There is a walking track that goes from Picnic Bay all the way to Geoffrey Bay along the coast. It doesn’t offer much shade so best to do early morning or late afternoon but you get some incredible views and you can always jump in the water at points along the way if you get hot!

On the northern end of Geoffrey Bay, there are some large boulders and if you look a bit closer, you will see a whole family of small rock wallabies living there! We didn’t get too close as who knows if they have ever seen a border collie before so we played it safe. They were adorable though and apparently a lot more active around sunset when you can head along with a bag of feed to give them a treat.

We stopped for lunch on the walk back at a fabulous fish and chip shop in Nelly Bay – SOS which translates as “Stuffed on Seafood”. It was a tough decision but landed on a crab sandwich which was stuffed full of crab and tasty sauce.

We came back to Geoffrey Bay later in the trip with the car to try some snorkelling. Make sure you time it with high tide to get the best clarity here. There is a self-guided snorkel trail marked out here that points out remnants of shipwreck and some giant clams. You will see the white floats that outline the trail and stop you from swimming too far out.

You can take a tour that visits places only accessible by water for those super private beach experiences too!

When you are tired from all the active activities, it’s time for some refreshment and my favourite spot on the island for a beer is at the Base Backpackers. The reasons for this are simple – The Island Bar has a massive outdoor area (dog-friendly) and the best ocean views to soak up while drinking. We also came back here for burgers one night at dinner – they were epic!

Aiden was pretty happy to spend late afternoons casting a line off the jetty in Picnic Bay while we watched the sun go down. We left empty handed of course it was a very peaceful way to finish the day.

My favourite day was when we headed to Radical Bay. After scouring the maps and seeing this beach was not National Park and was 4WD access only, we packed the car for a day of adventure and sun and were not disappointed.

If you don’t have a 4WD, definitely do not attempt to drive to Radical Bay – the track is seriously challenging, and we had a high-clearance vehicle! You can get there by boat and we did see a few intrepid hikers coming across from Horseshoe Bay later in the day but when we arrived, we had the place to ourselves.

As we pulled up, we were greeted with paradise. Golden sand and clear turquoise tropical water surrounded by large boulder-strewn headlands, the perfect remote location. Falcor was pretty happy and ran straight into the ocean for a swim.

We spent the day swimming, exploring and relaxing. It felt like our own private paradise.

Radical Bay is a Marine National Park Green Zone so no fishing on this day but we did head out with a snorkel, but the water was a bit silty and visibility wasn’t great.

Dinner after a day in the sun was at Thai Again near Nelly Bay. This is the only Thai restaurant on the island and tucked out of the way in a beautiful old building decorated in plenty of fairy lights, first impressions were good. The food delivered and I had one of the best (and most spicy!) Laksa’s I have had in a long time.

Magnetic Island isn’t a bustling metropolis which makes it the perfect spot to sit back, take stock and relax in nature. It was a fabulous dog-friendly escape.