Sunday 21st August Yeppoon

  We had decided to visit Byfield State Forest today as this spot had been recommended to us by a volunteer in the tourist information centre. She was able to tell us about a beautiful place to kayak and also recommended a special place to eat.  As we were heading out of town, the roads of Yeppoon were quite busy due to a triathlon which was being held along the foreshore and surrounding areas. It took about 30 minutes to arrive at our first stop, Upper Stoney Crek. A gravel road took us to a beautiful, camping and picnic area set up on the banks of Stony Creek. There were families arriving and kids putting in SUP’s and also swimming but this wasn’t a suitable kayaking area due to the rocky nature of the creek. People had started barbequing and it was obvious a popular weekend spot. We went for a walk along the creek valley, through pockets of “Byfield” grevillea, many of which had just started to flower. From here we drove to the small town of Byfield and stopped at the general store/tavern/café/service station. This place had a reputation for fantastic food and we were not disappointed at all. Following lunch we drove to Water Park Creek. Here, Rob helped me put the kayak into the creek and I was able to kayak upstream in the creek. It would have to have been the most tranquil, picturesque spot I have kayaked in during this trip. With beautiful, tall rainforest forest complete with palms, ferns and tall trees, either side of the creek and no sounds of powerboats or anything else really, except the sounds of nature, this was pretty special. I fell into my normal trance and kept kayaking upstream until I noticed I’d been kayaking for an hour so I thought I’d better turn around and head back. As it was, when I was nearly back I had a call from Rob checking on me. After this wonderful experience we headed back to Yeppoon to explore the main part of town and the foreshore. We could not believe some of the free facilities that have been built recently for the community to enjoy. There was a magnificent children’s water park, complete with the Keppel Kraken, the Yeppoon Lagoon complete with an infinity pool that overlooks the sea, a skate park and an amazing playground. Being a lovely sunny Sunday, the area was full of families enjoying the fabulous facilities. Along the foreshore there was an array of different eating places as well as some new impressive accommodation.