September 2 Rockhampton

With the forecast for the next couple of days indicating a good chance of rain, we decided to make today an outdoor “look-around”.

Kershaw Gardens are just a short distance away so we started there. It looked quite spectacular when we drove past yesterday but was a little tacky close up. What appeared from the road to be a very pretty waterfall was spoilt by a pond with quite unsightly algae. The idea of the park is to showcase Australian plants and it did that but the whole garden needs to be refurbished – paved paths were quite dangerous and signage just about non-existent. We did however get a couple of kilometres of exercise. One of the interesting trees we saw was a Silk Cotton Tree. The flowers are quite distinctive but we were amazed at the spiky nature of the bark. Definitely not a tree for kids to climb.

Mt Archer, which is part of a National Park overlooks Rockhampton so we decided to head up there next to check out the view. It was a steep 5 km drive but the view was worth it.

After lunch we took advantage of the bright sunshine and walked along Quay St and the Fitzroy River walk. Quay St was one of the first settled parts of Rockhampton and has many beautiful buildings with a heritage aspect. Custom House dates back to the days prior to Federation when all goods coming to Rockhampton had to come via water and were subject to import duties charged by the colony. It’s currently the home of the Information Centre and a museum and is a magnificent sandstone building. Rockhampton is fortunate to have a lot of buildings which are historically and architecturally impressive.

After mum had a swim, we headed to the Botanic Gardens for some more exercise. We’ve now visited the Botanic Gardens in Townsville and Mackay but the gardens here are the best we’ve seen. They’ve been in existence longer so that also helps as the trees are majestic is size. It was very picturesque with lots of shade, picnic areas, BBQs and playgrounds. Unfortunately one section of the gardens has been invaded by cormorants, egrets and ibis. This part has been fouled by the droppings and the trees damaged. There doesn’t seem to be any solution. A couple of weeks back we heard that the head of the city’s Parks and Recreation Dept had been stood down because he allowed/encouraged ibis chicks to be destroyed. Having seen the mess the birds have made they should give him a medal.