Sailing Around Australia; The Great in Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel Island, Queensland

29/8/2015 The Great in Great Keppel Island

The word great seems to be used quite often these days. We had a great time, they are a great team, that was great etc.. etc… By using the term great so much, are we in fact diminishing the value of the word?

With this in mind, we approached Great Keppel Island on our sailing around Australia adventures, expecting something very special. Special enough for Captain Cook to insert the word Great into the name of the place.

To test whether Great Keppel is another example of Great being used too often, we were looking forward to rating the Island against our expectation. To start, I dug out the dictionary and found the meaning of the word Great when used as an adjective.

What I found says that “Great” can have 3 meanings;

1.of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above average.

1.1 In terms of extent and amount, we found that Great Keppel Island is the largest Island in the Keppels group.

So, yes score 1 for being great (or Greater).

1.2 Intensity; The atmosphere on great Keppel Island can be described as anything but intense. There is a very relaxed holiday, tropical Island and beach vibe here. Most of the other boaties we have met here are all very relaxed and almost lazy about when they might move on. The weather has helped that as well, with no wind to speak of and glass like conditions in the anchorages for over a week now.

Next it could be argued that Great Keppel Island is quite well developed with a number of holiday rental cottages and the island hideaway village providing non-obtrusive accommodation. The downside is that there is a resort among the palm trees, but it remains closed, boarded up and fenced off. So no we don't think Great Keppel has intensity.

2.of ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average.

2.1 Ability; Great Keppel Island scores well in ease of access, being a pleasant day sail from Pancake creek in the south, or only 7 nautical miles from the Rosslyn bay marina. Also a variety of beautiful anchorages suited to all wind direction and conditions are on offer.

2.2 Quality; The water is so clear we could count the grains of sand on the sea floor, if we had the time.

We have been swimming and snorkelling in warm water.Within a few swimming strokes from our boat there is a coral reef, with fish, turtles, clams and other life on display in living Technicolour. A short dinghy ride away there is a disused underwater observatory which provides fantastic snorkelling with a huge number and variety of fish life.

The beaches are sandy, cream coloured and firm. The hinterland is steep and provides magnificent vistas from the well marked walking trails.

There are only a couple of shops on the island (that’s a plus in any mans book). The small bar and bistro is open air shed type structure with tables on top of the sand dune providing million dollar views to the north and the west.

2.3 Eminence; Great Keppel Island anchorages, water clarity, coral reefs, sandy beaches and sea life make this perhaps the best anchorage that we have stayed at on our sailing around Australia adventures so far. We have stayed in over 100 places and we would rate this place on top, pushing our previous favourite; Quindalup Western Australia, to second.

3. used before a noun to emphasize a particular description of someone or something.

Captain Cook, named Keppel Bay in 1770. We think he actually got it pretty right in incorporating the Great into Great Keppel Island.