'Rocky'

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We weren't quote sure what to expect from Rockhampton, as the description in the Lonely Planet is 'a little bit city and a whole lotta country', but when we arrived it was a little like going back in time, and extremely countryish!

We set out to explore the town the first day (seems to be getting quite a habit!) and decided to visit the Botanic Gardens on our second day - to be honest, I was a bit sick of Botanic Gardens by that point, but the description of them seemed nice enough, and there wasn't much else to do, so we set off on the bus journey. Definitely the best ones we have seen so far I have to say though - set in acres of land and with lagoons, some Japanese Gardens, a tropical fruit section and even a small zoo, we wandered for hours. We also spent a fair while just sitting watching some parrot-like birds bathing in a fountain, and squabbling as they each tried to take care of their own patch of water! That night, we visited the Great Western Hotel where we enjoyed some amazing steaks (Wayne had the biggest steak I have EVER seen!) and I even made room for dessert! The hotel was very country-style, right from the saddle-like bar stools to the rodeo videos playing on TV and the arena outside which is apparently still in use!

Our last day in Rockhampton, we hired a car (well actually a ute - it was the only thing the car-hire company had left!) and drive to Capricorn Caves where we had an hour's guided tour which was very interesting, and it's a shame that we weren't there on the Summer Solstice as the sun shines directly into one of the caves from above and looks absolutely amazing from the photos! Anyway, we then drove to Yeppoon on the coast and spent time picnicking by the beach, paddling in the water and napping in the afternoon sun before we had to return the car. Went for one final drink at the Bush Inn, where we were fascinated by the fish in their tank (you would think that diving on the Great Barrier Reef would make you rather uninterested in plain old boring fishtank fish, but no, the interest was still there!) and made our way to Hervey Bay to prepare for our trip to Fraser Island.

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