The Rest of Queensland

Magic Magnetic Island

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The Forts Walk, Magnetic Island Photo - Queensland, Australia

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Magnetic Island is situated off the coast near Townsville, km north of Brisbane and km south of Cairns. The island is only a twenty minute ferry ride from the mainland and as it has several "normal" settlements, not just tourist resorts, it's accessible by a reasonably priced ferry (a return family ticket cost around 60 AUD).The island is something of a tropical paradise, with the chief two attractions being bushwalking in its mostly wooded interior and swimming and snorkelling off its beaches. Many people visit the island as a day trip from Townsville. We spend two nights (and one full day) here and as our kind hosts lend us their truck, we manage to explore a little during ...Read More

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Turtles, bats and beaches in Yeppoon

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Flying fox - Yeppoon Photo - Queensland, Australia

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Yeppoon is a coastal resort town located on the Queensland coast just above the Tropic of Capricorn and about 40km from Rockhampton. It is also known as the gateway to the Great Keppel Island, for which ferries and tours depart from Rosslyn Bay, a few miles down the coast between Emu Park and Yeppoon proper. Our host family live on the outskirts of Yeppoon, pretty much on Lammermoor Beach (which is one of a whole sequence of beaches running down the coast here all the way from Byfield to Zilzie).Australians have a rather dismissive attitude to non-surf beaches, and as the Yeppoon ones are already sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef which starts somewhere in this region of the ...Read More

Yeppoon is a coastal resort town located on the Queensland coast just above the Tropic of Capricorn and about 40km from Rockhampton. It is also known as the gateway to the Great Keppel Island, for which ferries and tours depart from Rosslyn Bay, a few miles down the coast between Emu Park and Yeppoon proper.

Our host family live on the outskirts of Yeppoon, pretty much on Lammermoor Beach (which is one of a whole sequence of beaches running down the coast here all the way from Byfield to Zilzie).

Australians have a rather dismissive attitude to non-surf beaches, and as the Yeppoon ones are already sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef which starts somewhere in this region of the coast (albeit being quite far away from the shore this far south), the Big Waves are not present. But the beaches are delightful by all other standards, wide, sandy, occasionally edged by mangrove plants which add the true tropical colour with their strange silhouettes and extensive air roots: we have never seen a forest growing in the sea. On the edge of the sea, a lone fisherman stands with his rod. Further on, two people sea kayaking, but apart from that the beach is lovely and empty.

The beaches are separated by rocky promontories, apparently volcanic outcrops reddish earth covered by native bush. Our host takes us to one of such promontories (Bluff Point) for a little walk and after a short climb through the usual eucalyptus and vine forest and then more open grassland, we arrive at couple of lookouts. The views of the Keppel Bay are lovely, with the Great Keppel and other islands visible on the horizon. Inland, a plain dotted with regular post-volcanic hills. But the most interesting sight awaits us when we lower our eyes. As we look down towards the sea, we spot one, and then many sea turtles, swimming and presumably feeding in the waves below us. My nine year old is ecstatic, as she loves sea turtles and has not ever seen any in the wild. They look small from the top, but are clearly visible and we are assured they are Green Sea Turtles.

One evening we go to Yeppoon village proper, where the estuary mangroves host thousands of fruit bats (also known as black flying foxes). As the darkness falls, the bats start to move around, get agitated and then some of them take off, presumably in the direction of inland pineapple and mango orchards. We wait patiently for another ten or fifteen minutes, and in the twilight, hundreds, and then what seems like thousands of bats take off: not quietly, but with a squeaky clamour, the set off, literally into the sunset. There is a controversy about such a large bat colony so near human habitation, as they can smell, eat fruit and can, occasionally, transmit the Hendra virus to horses, from which people can catch it if directly in contact with an infected animal (but not, as it seems, directly from bats). This is, however, of concern to horse-owning locals while we spend a rather amazing forty minutes or so observing the nightly spectacle of the flying foxes taking off on their huge, black, velvety wings. The bats are the only placental mammals indigenous to Australia (all other mammals here were either marsupial or monotreme) and we have seen them in many locations, but nowhere else in such great numbers and with such an impressive evening take-off as in Yeppoon.

We leave Yeppoon the next day, set on our way further up the tropical coast and with Magnetic Island in our sight. Read Less

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Rydges Capricorn Intl Resort

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Hotel | "Pools by the beach"

The pool with the slide Photo - Rydges Capricorn Intl Resort, Queensland, Australia

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We have not stayed in the Capricorn Resort, but we used the facilities as day visitors (which is free and although theoretically you need to register if you come for a whole day I don't think anybody bothers). The complex was built as a golfing and family resort, and apparently also for Japanese weddings (there is a picturesque, white clapboard chapel in the grounds with views of the sea).The resort buildings are set in wooded grounds and the aquatic area is extensive and well appointed, with several pools for swimming, a high, fast water slide, whirlpool jacuzzi spa (that was crowded pretty much all the time we were there), a toddler pool, another pool with an artificial beach...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on October 4, 2010

Rydges Capricorn Intl Resort
Farnburough Road
Queensland, Queensland 4703
866-539-0036

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Dreamtime Cultural Centre

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Attraction | "Vanishing culture"

Ted Mitchell Gallery Photo - Dreamtime Cultural Centre, Rockhampton, Queensland

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The Dreamtime Cultural Centre is one of the main tourist attractions in Rockhampton and allows the visitors to gain insight into the history and cultural practices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia. The Centre is not only a visitors' attraction but also serves the native as well as wider community as a function and a conference venue. It's possible to see the Centre on a self-guided visit or join one of the frequent (and free of additional charge) guided tours. The guided tour will definitely enhance the visit and allow the visitors to learn much more (as well as incorporating extra demonstrations, including didgeridoo playing and boomerang throwing. ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 4, 2010

Dreamtime Cultural Centre
Bruce Hwy
Rockhampton, Australia 4700
(07) 4936 1655

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Mining time wrap: Mt Morgan

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Old architecture in Mt Morgan Photo - Queensland, Australia

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Mt Morgan is an old mining town, located about 40km south-west of Rockhampton. Its prosperity was founded on, and then rose and fell with a huge open-cut gold and copper mine. The mine has been closed for thirty years now and the town is a bizarre but strangely compelling place, a true time wrap and not very far off being a ghost town despite boasting a population of over 2,000 people, a high school and a museum. Mt Morgan is officially a heritage town and there are several rather striking buildings on the town's main street which is worth a stroll not just for the old architecture (from the scruffy pub called the Grand Hotel to a railway station), but also for the air of desolate but pict...Read More

Mt Morgan is an old mining town, located about 40km south-west of Rockhampton. Its prosperity was founded on, and then rose and fell with a huge open-cut gold and copper mine. The mine has been closed for thirty years now and the town is a bizarre but strangely compelling place, a true time wrap and not very far off being a ghost town despite boasting a population of over 2,000 people, a high school and a museum.

Mt Morgan is officially a heritage town and there are several rather striking buildings on the town's main street which is worth a stroll not just for the old architecture (from the scruffy pub called the Grand Hotel to a railway station), but also for the air of desolate but picturesque dilapidation with a quirky twist.

The local historical museum has extensive displays on the history of the mine and the usual small-town collection of "heritage" artefacts (some of them well remembered as normal stuff by anybody over the age of thirty, some more interesting). Not a fantastic value at 6 AUD per adult entry, but still well worth the look, especially if you can't or don't want to take part in the apparently excellent mine tour (which also, intriguingly, includes viewing of real dinosaur footprints in man-made mine caverns).

Peek into a shop, cafe or a bakery on the main street and you will often feel like stepping thirty years back in time too, from the wares on display to the attitudes of the staff.

It's well worth making your way up a steep street at the end of town opposite to the museum and railway station to the Arthur Timms lookout. This offers excellent views of the mine itself and the surrounding hilly area. The mine is huge and one can just imagine how, when it was working, it must have totally dominated the town. High terraces cut into the red earth, pyramids of rubble and a tall chimney still standing among dilapidating buildings, the mine seems to have grown from the hillside and one expects it to recede back into it one day.

Mt Morgan can be reached by several daily Young’s Bus Service buses from Rockhampton.

The town and mine tours depart at 9.30am and 1.30pm and cost approximately 30 AUD per adult.

All in all, a rather fascinating glimpse into the Australian industrial and social history and worth a stop or detour if driving by, and possibly even a bus day trip from Rockhampton if you spending any length of time in the area. Read Less

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Tropical Rocky

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The Fitzroy river at Rockhampton Photo - Queensland, Australia

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Rockhampton straddles the Tropic of Capricorn and is, thus, not only the main hub for the Capricorn Coast area of the southern Great Barrier Reef but also, technically, the beginning of Tropical Queensland: an area that stretches all the way north towards Cairns and further to the truly wild Cape York Peninsula.Rockhampton is not necessarily a must-see destination, but it certainly warrants a stop on a route of travellers passing by, especially those interested in seeing "the real Australia" rather than just soaking up the sun and sea at the beaches. Rockhampton lies on the Fitzroy river, about 40km inland from the river mouth, 600km north from Brisbane and 1,100km south of Cai...Read More

Rockhampton straddles the Tropic of Capricorn and is, thus, not only the main hub for the Capricorn Coast area of the southern Great Barrier Reef but also, technically, the beginning of Tropical Queensland: an area that stretches all the way north towards Cairns and further to the truly wild Cape York Peninsula.

Rockhampton is not necessarily a must-see destination, but it certainly warrants a stop on a route of travellers passing by, especially those interested in seeing "the real Australia" rather than just soaking up the sun and sea at the beaches.

Rockhampton lies on the Fitzroy river, about 40km inland from the river mouth, 600km north from Brisbane and 1,100km south of Cairns. Despite a population of less than 80,000 in the whole district, Rockhampton is a major regional centre, a terminus for many of the trains from Brisbane, with a university, a spanking new library and a self-proclaimed status as a beef capital of Australia. The latter is born by larger-than-life bull statues greeting visitors from all approaches.

Rocky, as it's locally known, has only a few attractions worth seeing, but it's certainly worth a couple of days just for the experience of real, authentic, provincial Australia.

What hits the visitor first, especially if coming from the south of the country, is the truly tropical character of the town. It might be the vast expanse of the slow-flowing, wide, dark green river (complete with crocodile warnings). It might be the wide and often empty streets, low raise colonial buildings with rusting ironwork verandahs. It might be the light at noon, sharp and merciless with hardly a shadow. Coconut palms line the streets (with special baskets to catch the fruit and prevent it injuring people below). Slow, dank, soporific air raising from the river. A noticeably higher proportion of Aboriginal people in the local population.

Rockhampton is, in some imprecise ways, reminiscent of one's imagined appearance and feel of other tropics; Brazil perhaps, Vietnam or even Congo.

Local sights in the city include fine examples of colonial architecture, especially along the Quay Street; good art gallery with a decent collection of Australian painting; attractive Botanic Gardens with a free, small zoo (including pattable koalas). In the suburbs you can find Rockhampton Heritage Village (more a nostalgia for Aussies than an attraction for European visitors) and a very good Aboriginal and Torres Strain Islander cultural centre (Dreamtime, located about 6km out of town beyond the university). The attractive, modern new library provides air-conditioned respite from the heat, free Internet and wifi access and even has a café for drinks and snacks.

If you have ace's to a car, it's worth driving up to Mount Archer National Park, a hill rising over 600m above the coastal plain for good views of the area and a nice little bushwalk in a quintessentially Australian woodland.

Public transport in Rockhampton is provided by a rather erratic network of city and regional buses it's worth getting a timetable from the tourist information centre on Quay St to avoid unnecessary waits.

The area around Rockhampton has several attractive locations, of which the Great Keppel Island (accessed from Yeppoon), Yeppoon-Emu Park coastal strip and the mining town of Mt Morgan are all worth considering.

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Toowoomba

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The Tabletop mountain viewed from the Picnic Point Photo - Queensland, Australia

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As in Canada, it seems that the best experiences in Australia await us in the kind of places that people comment on in the manner of "you are going where???".We go to Toowoomba (don't you just love this sound as a town name) as this is where we have a couch, and with a family at that. Toowoomba is a town that sits at the top of the Great Dividing Range, presiding over the agricultural area of the Darling Downs. The views from the escarpment ridge down towards the plains are excellent and the town itself, very conservative and at least 30 years behind times, is interesting. One day, we go climb the Table Mountain, a volcanic crag of a hill that sticks up from the rol...Read More

As in Canada, it seems that the best experiences in Australia await us in the kind of places that people comment on in the manner of "you are going where???".

We go to Toowoomba (don't you just love this sound as a town name) as this is where we have a couch, and with a family at that. Toowoomba is a town that sits at the top of the Great Dividing Range, presiding over the agricultural area of the Darling Downs.

The views from the escarpment ridge down towards the plains are excellent and the town itself, very conservative and at least 30 years behind times, is interesting.

One day, we go climb the Table Mountain, a volcanic crag of a hill that sticks up from the rolling countryside below the Great Dividing Range on top of which Toowoomba sits.

And in the evening we go for a barbecue in the park (Toowoomba does parks really well and our hosts live near one of the better ones - the Queen's Park).

There are public barbecues placed in strategic locations in Aussie parks, and by public barbecues I don't mean those rusting iron tins with grilles over them, requiring you to bring your own charcoal. These are gas powered hot plates, with a handy tap and even a rubbish bin nearby. The park is dark and deserted, but we have a camping light and have a real Aussie sausage sizzle. After that the kids play in a nearby playpark (how they can see anything it's hard to work out, but they seem to cope well) and then we go (with the powerful camping torch) to look for possums. And there they are, scuttling on the ground and up the trunks of the big camphor laurel trees, cute and strange.

Being in Australia is a bit like being permanently in a zoo, a safari park or some kind of giant Eden-like biodome. Majority of plants easily find into the "exotic" category - with the large eucalyptus trees being the most iconic and dominating the landscape with the characteristic shapes of their canopies.

But it's the animals that make one realise most that one is somewhere COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. It's also a fascinating lesson in convergent evolution. Each ecological niche that we know from home is occupied by a vaguely equivalent animal: instead of rooks there are Australian magpies, and the squirrel niche is occupied by possums. We also saw kookaburras, cokatoos, rainbow lorikeets, pale headed rosellas and other parrots. Read Less

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