Rockhampton

The beginning of OZ

Rockhampton sits along Queensland's largest river, the Fitzroy. The Fitzroy is great for river fun like water skiing, boating, and fishing.

Take a look at the beautiful heritage buildings at Heritage Village, the restored railway museum, military museum, and Glenmore Homestead.

And if you like a good steak, you’ll love Rockhampton’s cuisine. Well known as Australia’s “Beef Capital”, Rockhampton’s hotels and restaurants specialise in good steak. Le Bistro on Quay St boasts exceptionally fine (and huge) slabs of meat.

Rockhampton is a great base from which to explore the adjacent Capricorn Coast (Keppel Islands, Yepoon and Emu Park). And it’s worth spending a day in the city to check out the Aboriginal version of history at the Dreamtime Cultural Centre. Aboriginal guides introduce you to central Queensland’s Aboriginal heritage. With a mix of chronological and Dreamtime (mythical) history of the Indigenous people from the around the Carnarvon Gorge, discover stencil art, native plant usage, boomerang, dance and didgeridoo skills.

The city's botanic gardens have been widely recognised for having the most extensive examples of indigenous flora and fauna in Australia. The city holds many annual festivals, including Barra Bounty, Beef Expo, Multi- Cultural Fair, Big River Jazz, and racing carnivals.

The limestone caves to the north also deserve a visit. They sit 25 kilometres north of Rockhampton and have interesting tree roots encased in stone. The ‘ghost bat’ (the only meat-eating bat in Australia) and the endangered ‘little bent wing bat’ both call the caves home. Catch a group of them huddled together on the caves’ ceilings, eyes peering down in the semi- dark!

Koorana Crocodile Farm is situated about 25 kilometres from Rockhampton estuarine. Crocs are bred for the crocodile leather and meat industries. Get a thrill watching the big reptiles as they get fed!

For more adrenaline action there are the bull rides, go- karting, sky- diving, paintball, barramundi fishing, diving and caving around Rockhampton.