Coonanglebah (Dunk island) remained undiscovered by Europeans until 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook passed by during his exploration of the East coast. Cook named the island after Lord Montague Dunk, the Earl of Sandwich and the first Lord of the British Admiralty.
Today we are visiting Dunk Island by sea taxi, which you board from the beach. The wind was up and the waves were crashing on the beach. The taxi driver got the boat up as far as he could but then we had to time our boarding as each wave hit, not only was the taxi bucking but the waves made you lose balance. Being quite short I didn’t need much of a wave before my shorts were soaked, thank goodness for the warm water. The taxi kicked and bucked its way over to Dunk Island, riding the crest of the waves and slamming down in the low, better than any Alton Tower’s ride. The sea calmed as we approached Dunk Island – but we realised that its called Dunk because you get wet.
Today we are visiting Dunk Island by sea taxi, which you board from the beach. The wind was up and the waves were crashing on the beach. The taxi driver got the boat up as far as he could but then we had to time our boarding as each wave hit, not only was the taxi bucking but the waves made you lose balance. Being quite short I didn’t need much of a wave before my shorts were soaked, thank goodness for the warm water. The taxi kicked and bucked its way over to Dunk Island, riding the crest of the waves and slamming down in the low, better than any Alton Tower’s ride. The sea calmed as we approached Dunk Island – but we realised that its called Dunk because you get wet.
Mount Kootaloo was our first challenge of the day, 271m above sea level and about 11km distance. The guide book recommended a clockwise approach but we couldn’t remember this so set of and in the opposite direction. After the walk we realised that to walk clockwise means only one third of the walk is up hill. However it also meant we were the first on Coconut Beach that day. Jeff decided to be our tour guide, Bruce Highway, for the day and spotted butterflies, frogs, bush turkeys and a ginormous spider which had bright yellow markings on its underbelly. The viewing platform was worth the effort as the views out over the neighbouring islands were stunning.
After a bucket of tiger prawns and a couple of beers it was off to Muggy Muggy beach, where Jeff exchanged his tour guide persona for the snorkelling instructor and assisted me in my first snorkelling experience. It was a good experience and I saw fish, crabs, coral and shells.
All too soon it was time to catch the last water taxi of the day and even though the waves were more calm on our return to Mission Beach my shorts got soaked again.
The evening was spent supping ice cold beers at Scotty’s bar listening live music by Ben Matthews – who had a very good voice and did some good tunes.
Dunk is a lovely island and definitely worth a visit.
After a bucket of tiger prawns and a couple of beers it was off to Muggy Muggy beach, where Jeff exchanged his tour guide persona for the snorkelling instructor and assisted me in my first snorkelling experience. It was a good experience and I saw fish, crabs, coral and shells.
All too soon it was time to catch the last water taxi of the day and even though the waves were more calm on our return to Mission Beach my shorts got soaked again.
The evening was spent supping ice cold beers at Scotty’s bar listening live music by Ben Matthews – who had a very good voice and did some good tunes.
Dunk is a lovely island and definitely worth a visit.
love & gnat bites to you all,
jeff & Janet
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