September 3 Rockhampton

“A Wet Day in September.” Didn’t someone write a song with those words? It started raining early this morning and continued through until just before lunch. With not much to do, mum ran through a load of washing and we headed off to check out the local shopping centre – Stocklands Rockhampton. It leaves Shellharbour Square for dead and even has a 25 m pool in the basement car park. The main tenants are Woolworths, Big W and Target. We didn’t actually do much shopping but treated ourselves to Gloria Jeans (with scones, jam and cream). Very decadent! Just across the creek/storm water drain from Stocklands is a Centro shopping centre with Coles and K-Mart. We’re saving a visit there for tomorrow when it’s again supposed to be wet but just having all these major outlets in such close proximity makes for a massive complex. When the weather cleared we ventured outside to visit the Dreamtime Cultural Centre. We’re never too sure what to expect with some of these but this one was quite good. The tour was led by two guides who were very informative and spoke extremely well. As a result our knowledge increased significantly. The centre covered the Central Qld Sandstone Belt to the west/south west of here which includes Carnarvon Gorge and the Torres Strait islands. Two types of artwork were explained. The “cross-hatching” looked like it had been formed by continuous lines but in actual fact was a composite artwork made up of single pieces. The artist placed his hands fingers extended, palms facing away and thumbs crossed so there was a space between the index fingers. Ochre was then blown from his mouth into the space to form a line. Moving the hands enabled the original line to be extended while turning the hands sideways enabled a horizontal line to be formed. Another artwork consisted of a series of vertical lines. These were produced by the artist forming a diamond by placing tips of the index and first fingers of both hands together. Ochre was then blown into the space. One of the guides demonstrated playing the didgeridoo and while I’ve heard a lot of these over the years, this guy was sensational because of the variety he was able to produce. This was followed by boomerang throwing using the returning boomerang. Mum and I proved to be quite competent. (Instructions: Hold the boomerang above the shoulder, slightly off the vertical to the right and aim the throw at 45 degrees to the oncoming wind direction. Throw with a strong flick of the wrist and the boomerang should do the rest.) The second guide explained the culture of the Torres Strait islands. The most fascinating thing for us here was the construction of the native hut which was made by weaving coconut palm fronds. The frond was split down the stem and then the leaves on that side woven together. The photo shows the end result. Tonight we went out for dinner to the Cambridge Hotel. Very disappointing food quality. We’d have been better off paying a few dollars more and going to Sizzlers. Live and learn!

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.

September 1 Rockhampton

A good trip to Rockhampton beginning with an early departure, enabled us to arrive here just after midday. We passed through more sugar cane country and about half way along the main industry became cattle grazing. Rockhampton is the Beef Capital of Queensland – there’s definitely a lot of bull in the place. Lots of buildings have a bull sitting on the awning or nearby and there are a number of sculptures of different types like the photo of the one I’m posting. It’s a Braford – Brahman/Hereford cross. Now I’m going to become an expert on bulls! Lots of live cattle exports go through here, the largest saleyards in the Southern hemisphere are just out of town while the highway to the west links to Longreach and the cattle grazing areas beyond. The Great Western Hotel was owned by Country & Western singer Lee Kernaghan and contains an indoor rodeo arena. Notice the bull on the roof! Mum and I will definitely have to pay a visit to this establishment. While mum had a swim at a 25m indoor heated pool in a gym complex, I went for a street walk and took a photo of the Heritage Hotel with its beautiful wrought iron lace work. Absolutely stunning! On first impressions Rockhampton is a nicer city than Mackay and with a more tropical feel to it – lots more palm trees and tropical vegetation for example. Any rate tomorrow we’ll begin to explore the place properly, although rain is also forecast. PS While driving around this afternoon we spotted a Sizzlers. Woo hoo! That’s another place we’ll have to visit.

August 29 & 30 Mackay

Not a lot going on the last couple of days. Actually I’m feeling a bit bored with it all – I think our original idea of moving on to Rockhampton today rather than Monday was the right one. We tend to be doing things just for “something to do”. I also feel a bit guilty for not being at home to help Graeme out with his deck – next time Graeme! LOL

Yesterday we needed to restock the van with food so had a shopping expedition to a centre nearby where both Coles and Woolworths are under the same roof – now that’s quite handy and allows you to gather the specials from both without too much hassle.

We visited Goose Ponds which is to the south between our caravan park and the river. In February Mackay experienced major flooding and a 2 m crocodile made its way into Goose Ponds. All attempts to catch it failed. The local Qld Parks representative was on the radio a couple of days ago and said that it hadn’t been since early August and they’ve concluded that it has managed to escape via a nearby creek. That begs the question as to whether it’s still a threat – I wouldn’t like having a house with a creek nearby. The “No Swimming” sign in the photo certainly understates the situation.

For lunch yesterday we found a very pleasant spot down by the marina. Plenty of very expensive boats on display and some equally expensive high rise units along the marina as well.

The Farmers’ Market at the showground was this morning’s first up activity. We picked up some vegies but it still wasn’t up to the standard of Dubbo’s. It was very popular however and by the time we’d arrived, a bit after 8 am, some stalls had already sold out.

Today was also northern beaches day. Nothing special but still nice. Next to nil surf all the way along so it would be no good to Matthew – the presence of the reef offshore inhibits the development of waves. I remember in 2001 when we went to Port Douglas and we were amazed to see no surf, something we just take for granted. I’ve been told the surf “reappears” again down towards Bundaberg so we’ll just wait and see.

We’d been told to check out the Eimeo (pronounced eye-mee-oh) Hotel while we were up that way. It has a beautiful view out over the ocean and coastline. Lunch was pretty good too!

Tomorrow we’ll give the van and car a bit of a clean up. There’s a bit of duck shit to get off the van too. Then on to Rockhampton first thing on Monday. We’ve booked in there for a week but might reduce that to five days after our experience here. Then again we don’t want to be “on the road” when our next grandee is born!

August 28 Mackay

Today we decided to explore the area to the south of Mackay. Apart from the fact that there was more sugar cane we were amazed by what we found at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Loader. It’s the largest coal-loader in the southern hemisphere and is just huge although it’s difficult for the photos to do it justice. A few numbers might help!

In the photo, the distance to the top of the “T” section of the loader is 3.8 km while the top of the “T” is 1.2 km in length. The trains which bring the coal to the stockpile are 2 km in length and hauled by up to 5 engines. A train can be unloaded in 50 minutes and the facility can handle 25 trains a day.

Dalrymple Bay has occasionally been in the news for the waiting time ships experience. I don’t know what it is at the moment but mum said she could count 31 ships!

We had lunch at Sarina Beach – a nice, little seaside village which looks like time has passed it by. The beach is a site for turtle egg-laying and hatching – October to March, and has specially designed street lighting so that the turtles are not disturbed. Mum and I both agreed that we’d love to be here when the hatchlings are making their way to the sea.

We’d also love to be here when the mangoes are ripe. I imagine mangoes would be as cheap as chips as there are mango trees everywhere. Just about every farm, house, whatever, has a number of them and quite frequently they’re just growing along the roadside.

August 27 Mackay

A low activity day – sat around this morning while mum washed and then went down to the nearby shopping centre to find a Post Office and also found a Gloria Jeans!!!!! This afternoon we paid a visit to the Botanic Gardens and exercised our legs by walking around for a couple of hours. We decided to stay on here for two more days so will leave for Rockhampton on Monday. Staying for a week reduces the rate somewhat as we get the 7th day for free. We’ll be staying at the Big 4 in Rockhampton for either 5 or 7 days (decide finally when we get there) and then will move on to Bundaberg. Now a whinge! Since the Farmers’ Market in Dubbo we’ve been unable to find a decent fruit & vegie outlet – the best available has been either Woolies or Coles. We asked here today and were told where to go, only to find the most pathetic quality – worse than the big supermarkets, in fact it made them look good. No where have we come across anything to equal Leisure Coast or Crinis. Another plus for Wollongong! Ducks! There’s a resident flock of Blooms Whistler ducks in this caravan park. They are really quite pretty and have free rein throughout the grounds. During the day they spread out but come about 4.00 pm start gathering near reception for the ritual daily feeding frenzy (see photo). There’s also a number of lorikeets turn up to take advantage of what’s on offer. You can probably guess the downside of having all these ducks around – duck shit everywhere! Footwear is compulsory!

August 25 & 26 Mackay

Some light rain as we were packing to leave Proserpine made life a little uncomfortable and turned the dust on the car and van into mud. Once we got on the road the drive to Mackay was uneventful and about all there was to see were sugar cane fields and more sugar cane fields.

Finding the caravan park was a bit of a challenge as it was well off the main road and for the first time getting the van on the site proved to be a bit difficult. All was well in the end.

Mackay hasn’t grabbed us in the same way that Townsville immediately did. Despite that it’s quite a nice place. The shopping facilities we’ve seen are excellent with a good mix of businesses in the CBD plus a large major shopping centre (Woolworths, Super IGA, Big W, Target etc) only a couple of blocks away.

About a week ago Bluewater Lagoon was opened. With three pools and a water play area similar to that on the Strand in Townsville, it’s going to be very popular in hot weather. Admission is free and when we were there two lifeguards were on duty. I know it’s the tropics and it’s supposed to be warm enough to swim all year round but I can’t help thinking one of these facilities would be a great asset in Wollongong.

Mackay doesn’t have a pedestrian mall but the main street is set up as I imagine they’d like to do in Crown Street – lots of pedestrian crossings and speed humps means any traffic is slow moving. In Mackay the traffic is in both directions while I think Wollongong’s is supposed to be one. I can’t see why something similar wouldn’t work at home.

Today we headed about 80 km west of Mackay to Eungella (pronounced Young-g-lah) National Park where we enjoyed a couple of walks through the rainforest. The highlight however was seeing a platypus in the wild for the first time. We could have joined a platypus tour for $75 each so felt quite pleased that we’d made a sighting on our own.

The drive to Eungella was through the Pioneer River valley with sugar cane fields as far as you could see. As harvesting is in progress it was quite interesting. We saw cane being harvested, carried in bins by tractors and then transported to the mill by train. The rail-lines used by the trains spread across the area like a spider’s-web with the main track following the road we were travelling on. It amazes me that the bins don’t topple over as the distance between the rails is really narrow.

For the second day running mum was able to have a training swim in the 50m heated pool. She’s at last making up for all she missed out on while we were out west.