Great Keppel Island (Woppaburra, Wop-Pa, Wapparaburra) lies from the coast off Yeppoon in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland. The island's traditional owners are the Woppaburra people. As the largest of the eighteen islands in the Keppel Group, Wop-Pa covers an area of 1308 hectares. It is within the local government area of Shire of Livingstone (between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Rockhampton Region). The tropical climate and numerous beaches attract tourists from all points, and a number of accommodation villages and houses cater for tourists including Air BnB Houses. There are 17 white sandy beaches with some of the highest cover of hard coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. The coral diversity of these reefs matches that of the Whitsundays with clear waters most of the year around. Transport The island is served by ferries and aircraft landing at Grand Keppel Airport. At one point major airlines served the island, mostly with smaller Twin Otter aircraft suited to the short runway. However, since the closure of the resort, the small private airport is not attended and 24 hours advanced approval is required to land. History The islands were named by Captain James Cook in April 1770 after the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Admiral Augustus Keppel. Prior to European settlement, the island was home to an estimated 60-80 Woppaburra and Ganumi people of the Darumbal nation, with centuries old middens testifying to the quantity of seafood found in the surrounding waters. It is believed that they occupied Wop-pa for around 5,000 years. European settlers killed or removed most of the indigenous population by the end of the 19th century. The first recorded visit to the island was conducted by naturalist John MacGillivray aboard HMS Rattlesnake in 1847. In 1866, Robert Ross obtained a lease over Great Keppel "from year to year and not exceeding five years" in partnership with C.E Beddome and Sir Arthur Palmer (Rowland, 2007) and so began the pastoral era on the islands. In 1882 the lease on Great Keppel Island drew interest and competition. Shaddock (1981) describes how the Lands Department held a public auction for six square miles with the successful applicant being Robert Lyons of Rockhampton. In its early European history, the island was used to raise sheep. William T Wyndham, became the first permanent European inhabitant on Great