Mulambin Beach & Great Keppel Island Qld 25-27 August 2019

Mulambin Beach & Great Keppel Island Qld 25-27 August 2019

Last time we came this way was in 2014 and we stayed at Kinka Beach, with which I was less than impressed, mostly because it's a mudflat hidden behind thick mangrove and scrub foliage. Mulabin is the next beach north, a distance of about 1/2 a kilometre. Now I'm not going to say that its a million percent better, but at least its readily accessible, and is more a flat tidal beach than a mudflat. Our stay was made all the better for staying at the 'new' NRMA Capricorn Yeppoon Holiday resort. It was obviously an old park, but had been done up really well. The most appealing thing to us is good sized sites with screening vegetation for privacy, and first-class amenities. It was just a peaceful relaxing kind of place.

Mulambin Beach from the south end. Mulambin Qld

About 8km up the road is Yeppoon itself, and the same sort of distance south takes you to the delightfully named Emu Park, one supposes from a one time abundance of the one and same birds. The only one we saw was a rusty metal one standing in the park.

Faux emu. Emu Park Qld

This red-tailed black cockatoo was real enough though, and there seem to be lots of them hanging around

Red-tailed black cockatoo. Emu Park Qld

 The places' original claim to fame was the singing-ship, a stylised sculpture depicting Cook's Endeavour and which not only 'sings' when the wind is right, but lights up at night as well. We have not witnessed either, but a local lady made a big fuss about the coloured lights and showed us pictures on her telephone. I think you need a good imagination to see a link or likeness between this and a square rigged barque from Whitby. But that's art I guess.

Singing Ship. Emu Park Qld

 What you don't need is much in the way of imagination to visualise the depiction of WW1 diggers in the sand dunes of the Middle East. This is a brand new War Memorial erected in the last few years and is in keeping with the current fashion of personalising the diggers rather than just erecting one of the standard issue soldiers-on-a-plinth.

The memorial starts with this 'window-picture' of diggers landing on the beach and charging up the embankment to take the position. Through the window is the actual shoreline of Emu Park giving it a realist look. Clever.

War Memorial. Emu Park, Qld

This is then followed by a boardwalk which leads up toward the top of the ridge, where you see these diggers in relief against the skyline.

War memorial. Emu Park Qld

 Further down the hill is a more traditional memorial, but it too is using the silhouette technique to depict the soldiers marching to the front.

War memorial. Emu Park Qld

Yesterday we took ourselves back 42 years and returned to Great Keppel Island, where we had spent our first real holiday together at the then wonderful Resort. Sadly the resort is no more, having been through several iterations in its life, it was closed in 2008 and continues to be the centre of controversy. Most of the original resort has disappeared and the new bits left have been smashed-up and the whole area is all chain-wire fenced off. To see it in ruins is very sad.

As close as I could get to an original looking bungalow like the one we stayed in. Great Keppel Island Qld

 However, when you turn round and start back to the beach, you can see what the fuss is about, this is a truly beautiful place and largely unspoiled. They say that the proposed $600 million development would save the entire central coast of Queensland from its current economic malaise, but would be the ruin of the island.

Looking out to the beach from the path to the old resort. Great Keppel Island Qld

Fishermans Beach. Great Keppel Island Qld

 I this what they want? These monsters roaring up and down the beach for years on end, systematically changing the shape, look and feel of the pristine landscape like these ones are doing?

From the once peaceful deck of the Hideaway Resort. Great Keppel Island Qld

Anyhow, we had a very pleasant day including a delicious surprise lunch meal from the Tropical Vibes Cafe, clothing and gift shop.