Keppel Island was a good refresher course for us on how to rig our flopper stoppers. Lovely anchorage, but the residual swell from the past week of big weather just wraps around into every nook and cranny. We blast our way through the surf on our rubber dingy and walk on the flawless sandy beach. There is a bit of an estuary here and we are surprised to find three sailing vessels all intentionally aground, tucked into the mangroves, enjoying the solitude. The tides here are an amazing 16 to 19 foot difference from high tide to low tide, so they will float free on the next high tide.
The rolling is too much for us so the next morning we head off for Port Clinton on the main land. This proves to be a beautifully protected anchorage, as big as a lake, but calm. We get parked up with lots of afternoon left so Glen and I do the requisite trip to the beach to poke around a bit before "happiness hour" with Oso to watch the sunset. We are even able to set the whaler down in the water so we can tour down to the end of the inlet. This is a military area, so not much to see but mangroves and the water is very shallow.
Our next jaunt is to the Percy Island group, a short 50 mile day. The winds are non existent and the swell is undetectable. It's like cruising in a convertible, we have the top down, the tunes on and we are just rocking along. Another one of those days that let you know "Life is good!" But here is the butterfly and dragon fly part…. There must be a butterfly migration on as there are hundreds of them just flying along with the boat, black with white spots and some are yellow. I did see one huge dragonfly too; all just flying around out in the middle of the water. Magic.
We are the only two boats to anchor up at this neat little cove on South Percy Island. It is gorgeous. The swell is minimal, the water is a typical tropical blue and the sandy beach is calling our names. So why disappoint it? The beach is like a moonscape, hard packed sand, swirled into channels by the rapidly decreasing tide, with jagged black rocks piercing skyward. The next day, Anne, Bear, Glen and I head back in for a hike up the hills, it is hot and sunny and really interesting. Red sand stone gullies and tufted salt grass covered hills and of course the barren rock shore on the weather side, where the waves crash into flashes of white foam.
Somehow, after our walk, when we were taking off our shoes to ride the dingy back to the boats, we all got wet! Go figure! The sandy beach and the blue water just sucked Bear in and next Glen decided to experiment with water therapy for his feet which extended to his neck, Anne made the plunge and what the heck, I had a swim too. Pure luxury! Australia does have amazing swimming beaches, clean, hard sand that extends out to the dark blue depths and refreshing clear water. Swimming beaches in the south Pacific are very few and far between as most are rimmed with coral shelves that make swimming from a shoreline impossible. Salt water always thrills me, because I can actually float in it and therefore swim - wonderous.
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