Not happy with deck stain

Hi all,
We had a fantastic deck built by a family member once our new home was built. It is spotted gum and is in the wider boards. Looks amazing the only thing I was disappointed in was we wanted a natural oil on top to protect it and he's mistakenly bought one that has a stain in it and whilst it looks nice, it doesn't allow you to appreciate the beautiful spotted gum timber (it's a touch too reddy/brown for me)
Most of the deck is out in the elements so before winter it was already showing signs of needing re coating (was built and stained in feb 2018) Therefore my husband recoated it in the remaining same oil.

I personally would like to restore it back to the natural spotted gum look.
My question to you guys is, is this possible? Can we let it weather and when it looks like it next needs oiling, sand it back and oil it with a natural oil not a stain? How hard is it to sand it back and will this damage the look of the spotted gum boards?
The stain he used was water based. We've already had a local paint shop tell us he should have used an oil based product. Not sure that means anything but more info for u guys to help point me in the right direction.
Many thanks in advance.