K’Gari Island – Around Kingfisher Bay Resort

We stayed four nights on K’Gari at the Kingfisher Bay Resort. The highlight of our trip was the Beauty Spots Day Tour, but the other days we enjoyed some quieter activities around the resort. There a number of short walks and a variety of ranger-led activities.

Sunday morning we took the Beerillbee Track which winds up through the bush above the resort to the Great Sandy Northern Lookout. We then exited the resort area through the dingo gate, selecting some stout branches to ward off any dingoes and headed down towards Dundonga Creek. There was plenty of birdlife through this area.

Once down at the creek we headed towards the sea. Luckily it was low tide or wouldn’t have been able to continue this way. Partway down we came upon the carcass of a large turtle which we later found out was the old female who had died of old age at over eighty years.

Once out of the creek area we walked back along the beach towards the resort. There were thousands of soldier crabs that would quickly disappear into the sands once they sensed us coming. We spent a bit of time trying to quietly sneak up on them with varying levels of success. But did manage to spot a mollusc making its way across the sand in the shallows.

In the afternoon we went on a ranger-led canoe paddle back to Dundonga Creek at high tide. On our paddle up we saw stingrays and turtles in the water. We paddled up the creek as far as we could and got up close and personal with the mangroves. On our way back we saw more turtles with one being startled by the paddler next to us causing it to briefly break through the surface of the water. It was good to be led through this area by the ranger who could point out things of interest, share more information about the mangrove system and help us spot the turtles.

While at the resort we had plenty of downtime to rest and enjoy the natural surrounds. Before dinner, we relaxed at the Sunset Bar and enjoyed one of our favourite Queensland activities —watching the sun sink below the horizon.