Roseville's on tour: Day 30 - Great Keppel Island by Bill

This morning I woke up about the same time as Mum while Dad was saying goodbye to his band because they were going on the 8 o’ clock ferry. Mum and I waited for hours for the others to wake up until they eventually did at 10 o’clock. We walked down to the hideaway and had breaky. Dad was there on a table talking with Dicko and a few other people. After breaky we decided to walk to the old homestead. When we finally got ready we started at where it says spit, then walked across Putney Beach, then across to Leeke’s beach, followed the second track to the right, followed it all the way to the homestead, saw the homestead, caught a goat and then walked all the way back past the first look out.

It was a very long walk and it felt like we walked around whole island. That’s what Dad thought until he looked at the map anyway.

(Putney Bay)

(Leeke’s Beach)

(Leeke’s Beach)
We walked where Tilly and I ran the morning before so we knew where we were going. On the way there were heaps of boats and fish in the water. On the way we saw James Blundell and his dog Jed who took off with our footy. Along the way we saw a few goats too. Tilly also found a butterfly. We finally got to the homestead and it was pretty boring but there were peacocks and heaps of goats there. The homestead used to be a farm with goats then one day they opened the gates and let them all out. So now along the island there are hundreds of goats hanging around. Out the back of the homestead we saw about a hundred and fifty goats and people we were talking to yesterday said that a couple of years ago they caught a goat from here and took it back on the ferry and they still have it now. I went and caught a baby goat that looked like an orphan.

It was only Dad and I at that time so we surprised the girls with it. They thought it was lovely. We carried it the whole way home to look after it. Paddy walked the whole way and didn’t really sook too and only fell over three times. When we got back we put the goat in a little pen that we had near our cabin. Then we went and got a drink and lunch at the hideaway. After that us kids got our towels and layed on the beach for a bit. I forgot about the goat in that time and it was making goat noises really loud so other people could hear it. Some guy from another country who works on the island came into our cabin yard and pulled the goat out of the pen and tried to take it and call the place where goats are looked after. Mum came over and started talking to him and he said it was locked in the pen with no body there and it was eating the thorns. Mum rang Dad and Dad came to sort it out. By then all us kids were there too. Dad tried so hard to keep the goat and he told the guy that he’s alright and he’s going to take him home on the ferry tomorrow to take to the Yeppoon vet or something and he said it was laying down next to its dead Mum in the paddock so we decided to take it and get it some help. Anyway I think we still get to keep the goat but the guy thinks we’re taking it to Yeppoon for treatment or something. Dad told Mum he had to do a mix of being nice and being firm to keep the goat so far.