Rockhampton

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Caliope River

Farm at Marmo

Cattle country

A couple of Capricorns

Getting tropical

Butcher bird

Tuesday was another pleasant day, weatherwise.  We had a fairly quiet day, “doing” the township in the morning.  We drove across the river to Boyne Island (not sure if it is an actual island or just the name of a suburb) and as far as the Boyne Smelter, with enough aluminium ingots stacked in the yard to keep manufacturers happy for quite some time.  As we drove back down the hill, we could see dozens of coal ships anchored out to sea, obviously waiting their turn to berth at Gladstone.  Unfortunately, there didn’t see to be a lookout over the sea and town.  We followed the beach route back to the caravan park but the thick scrub between the road and sand prevented us from getting a good view.  Tuesday is also the weekly sausage sizzle at the caravan park – with sausages, bread and coleslaw provided by the managers, Geoff and Andy.  This couple (yes, definitely a couple) were previously at Lake Maraboon near Emerald and have been at Tannum Sands about a year.  For a gold coin donation, we were treated to food and entertainment – singing and dancing, as well as some unrepeatable jokes!

This morning the weather was glorious, clear skies and mild temperatures, as we packed up and said goodbye to Denise and Barry.  We had a relatively short drive of two hours to Rockhampton, passing over both the Boyne and Caliope Rivers and through cattle properties.  There was also plenty of traffic today, lots of trucks and a surprising number of southbound caravans – Himself nearly ended up with RSI from all the waving.  We are at the Big4 Discovery Park on the north side of Rockhampton – most definitely in the tropics now.  After sharing lunch with a very insistent butcher bird, we visited the Stocklands Shopping Centre and I treated myself to a $14 iron – it has to be better than the one which has been relegated to the rubbish bin!