Rockhampton and Keppel island

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Town of the butcher's industry. In every main entrance road of this town, huge plastic bulls symbolize the town's connection to this industry. The hostel I had there was the most relaxed and easy-going one I had so far; thanks to the owner, and his unshockable female clerk. As not many backpackers stayed during this season, we had many very nice chats with beers in the evening. During my stay in Rocky I visited the botanical garden and the adjacent zoo there (many species!!!), visited the diocese's main church and booked a tour through a nearby former gold mine. There we were driven in a small bus through the little village, which had the charm of an ancient gold-rush town in the 1850s. We were also shown the negative side effects of gold washing: mercury all over the landscape! And finally we were brought to caves where archaeologists found footsteps of dinosaurs on the ceiling of huge caves... Amazing. One day I made an excursion to Keppel Island, which Arka recommended me. Quite a small island, which you can make in just 1 day, with only 1 ! beautiful building (a farmstead) at the centre of the island, and which has a mountain that offers a fabulous overview. Fortunately, tourism is on the decline there. And at Rockhampton I also joined the obligate Aboriginal tour. Although pretty tourist-like, the successors of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders gave us a very good insight in the habits, lifes and dream worlds of this ancient cultures! The tour ended with boomerang throwing and a Didgeridoo performance in a cave. Great!

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