Rockhampton (4 - 5 May)

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We left Agnes Water not knowing exactly where we were headed. We thought we might stay on the coast at Emu Park or Yeppoon, but were interested in going to the Beef Australia 2009 Expo in Rockhampton, which was being held during the week. So we decided to spend a couple of nights in 'Rocky'. We stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn, just before Rocky, which is also the location of a Visitor Centre. We stayed at the Riverside Tourist Park, located on the banks of the Fitzroy River. As we drove through Rockhampton, we were fortunate to witness an aerobatic display put on by the Air Force Roulettes.

On Tuesday we drove the scenic tourist route from Rocky to Emu Park, Rosslyn Bay and Yeppoon. At Emu Park we visited the 'Singing Ship' sculpture monument and lookout. The monument commemorates the explorations of Captain Cook while a breeze 'sings' through fluted pipes on the sculpture. The lookout can provide great views of the Keppel Islands, but windy and overcast condition meant that the islands and coastline were not very clear for us. We also stopped in Rosslyn Bay where we bought a bag of prawns from the Fisherman's Co-op, and then drove out to Double Head and did the short walk to the summit of this ancient volcanic 'plug' formed over 70 million years ago. From there it was up to Yeppoon where we had lunch (BBQ bacon sandwiches) at the windy foreshore park. We headed back to Rocky and had a rest before heading off to the Beef Expo at the show grounds.

We arrived at the Expo just in time for the 4 pm fashion show, but didn't stay there too long before we chanced upon a great horsemanship demonstration by Guy McLean in the the Schwarten Pavillion. It wasn't advertised but he was obviously practising for his main show being held on Thursday evening and kept us entertained with his and his horses' skills for over half an hour. Afterwards we had a wander around the show grounds, checking out the cattle. We grabbed some dinner (steak burgers and chips) and then headed off to the rodeo. The rodeo was a bit of an extravaganza as far as the cost goes, but we had never been to one before and thought it was too good an opportunity to miss. It turned out to be a great evening watching the bull riding and bareback horse bucking and we enjoyed the barrel racing, steer wrestling and calf lassoing. It was all done very professionally without undue cruelty, but Alex is not too keen for Thomas to take up rodeo riding when he gets older!

On Wednesday we packed up and headed up to Cape Hillsborough National Park.

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