Stirling to Palm Cove Day 6 & 7

August 9th & 10th 2022

Our accommodation in Miles is a Great Western motel definitely a cut above our previous stays the room is spotlessly clean and well maintained. The chain motels always lack that little bit of quirkiness, that makes them a little sterile but we can’t have everything or can we! Well this is the best we have experienced so far, we always aim for a place with a little atmosphere or charm, there out there somewhere probably all in Tasmania, a state that does tourism so well. We wake again to clear skies but the temperature is freezing with a 1 degree start. Today we travel to Rockhampton, we can’t wait to start our journey along the Capricornia coast with our two night stay there.  Once on our way we travel north via the Leichhardt Highway through Gulaguba, Wandoan and Taroom. (love these town names). The German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt gave his name to this Highway, he is remembered for three extraordinary expeditions. In 1844 Leichhardt and his companions travelled nearly 5000 kilometres from the Darling Downs in south-east Queensland to Port Essington an old Norhern territory township that later became Darwin. The country side now is mostly open cattle country interspersed with small forested areas, there is plenty of Golden Wattle in bloom along the way adding a bright yellow burst of colour to the otherwise dull bush. We stop in Taroom for a rest stop, we have entered the Banana Shire, we can’t see that this is a banana growing area being still too far south but we will keep our eyes peeled maybe we will see a BIG Banana.

Once past the township of Taroom we enter rolling hills and can see off in the distance low mountains ahead and to the east and west. Amanda’s map tells us they are the Auburn range to the east and to west the Isla Gorge National Park the latter stretching away from the highway to the mountains we can see. Theodore is the next little town on the route as we enter we cross the Dawson River that is flowing strongly. There is a pull off point allowing us take a picture of the weir with its back drop eucalypts and Palm Trees. Entering the town we had noticed along the river banks native palm trees have sprouted and grown tall, following the course of the river. These are the first palm trees sighted, we are excited, as this means our tropical holiday is beginning.

Leaving Theodore we come across hectares of cotton fields as far as the eye can see, at first we wondered about the white fluffy balls along the roadside, then we twigged to cotton, none of the plants had cotton on them, obviously they had undergone recent harvesting. But now in various stages of growth from young and green to brown stubble they stretched for kilometres. It would seem that growing cotton in a dry and parched land is somewhat out of sync, but given the Great Artesian Basin then maybe not. As long as the resource is managed well, but we humans have a habit of stuffing these big issues up and two million years is a long time to wait for the Basin to refill.

The next town on the route is named Banana, the town the Shire is named after, this has us intrigued, we are in Banana Shire, but there are certainly no Banana plantations along the roadside. Turns out the name Banana derives from an old dun-coloured working bullock called Banana, used by local stockmen to help them when herding some of the wilder cattle into the yards. Originally Banana formed part of a much larger sheep station but in 1855 the out station gained its own lease. In 1887 a minor Gold-rush occurred here increasing the population by a few hundred but it is now a sleepy outpost, population 356. And to think we nearly went bananas looking for those plantations.

In the Darling Downs area it doesn’t rain a lot sometimes years the most recent drought lasted for seven years, but 2022 brought exceptional wet weather across Australia. When the skies do open up then the ground is inundated for 100’s of thousands of square miles/kilometres, the Darling river floods, along with many tributaries, river-lets and creeks. This inevitably leads to road closures, as we travel through the area we constantly see signs like this one pictured below advising of the road conditions ahead.

Along the way we always look for a pleasant place to stop and eat lunch, this time that place turned out to be Wowan, another sleepy town, population 216, their emblem the Bush Turkey a wild bird with a ferocious appetite for digging up all vegetation and consuming it, look out if you are a gardener in this town.

The buildings here, mostly timber clad are so old, the locals turn them into museums rather than knock them down and replace them. We find Wowan to be a lovely little town with some obvious care taken by the residents to present the town as a modern neat community. We look for the loo’s and find a picnic area close by where we can sit and have lunch in a small covered area with a picnic table, two palm trees are growing in the tiny lawned park, ideal. A memorial stone dedicates the park to the pioneers who founded the little town and thanks the Commonwealth government for funding it. The temperature has risen to 20C the breeze still has a chill in it but mostly stays calm while we enjoy our lunch.

We are now not far from our destination Rockhampton, once again we take to the road that is now a long switchback of ups and downs and curves making overtaking slower moving traffic impossible. We pass through two more towns Dululu and Westwood, there is coal mining in this area that has led to concerns about the loss of jobs for the locals as our move to reduce carbon emissions accelerates. At one point we drive parallel to a train line for awhile, trains hauling coal are running along the track, enormously long trains a kilometre long hauled by two diesel electric engines at the front and one in the middle and one at the back, simply huge. The trains are delivering coal directly to the Stanwell coal fired power station one of the most efficient in the country that we spotted off in the distance a few kilometres back. The trains also connect directly to Rockhampton Port where much of the coal is exported all over the world. Coal has become the lifeline for Rockhampton over the past 20 years bringing prosperity and growth, no wonder the population of many whom are associated with mining are facing the future with some trepidation.

Our accommodation is situated about 8 kilometres north of Rockhampton on the main highway to Mackay giving us the chance to drive through the centre of town and refuel. Rockhampton is a large town of about 89,000 people, situated on the Fitzroy river about 48k inland from the Coral Sea. The towns history goes back to British colonisation and is one of the oldest in Australia dating back to 1855 when the Archer brothers put in claim for a large portion of fertile land in the area. Naming the River after Sir Charles Fitzroy. The town officially proclaimed in 1858, within the year, gold was found at Canoona, and led to the first North Australian gold rush. This led to an influx of migrants who quickly transformed Rockhampton into the second-largest port in the state; during this period, Rockhampton gained the nickname the “City of the Three S’s”, “Sin, Sweat, and Sorrow”.

On arrival at the hotel/motel (the owners call it a resort), we are delighted that the restaurant is open, the room is spacious, clean and certainly adequate for our two night stay. We have provided for our own breakfasts so far but decide to have a restaurant breakfast the next morning, forcing us to make an early start, during dinner the previous night we laid our plans for the day to come. After breakfast the first stop is the Archer lookout at 604 metres above sea level we should have an excellent view of Rockhampton and surrounds. the drive is only 18 minutes from where we are staying at Parkhurst. Once again the day is glorious but a chilly start that has us in jumpers to start the day. Once we arrive and park we discover a small circuit that takes in the spectacular views from platforms that jut out into the tree tops.

The walk known as the Nurim circuit is only 940 metres long with a children’s playground in the centre. The walk is set in the beautifully manicured grounds, of Fraser Park among grass trees and lawn areas with picnic tables but we just about have the site all to ourselves this morning.

We can see for kilometres from the lookouts but there isn’t a graphic of the scene with identifiers of significant places. Amanda spots a couple with a child and engages them in conversation to ascertain some of the local places of significance, turns out the couple have just moved to Rockhampton after spending 20 years on the popular Queensland Sunshine coast. The father of the child instigated his return to Rockhampton, returning to the place he grew up. The motivation that his mother lived here and that house prices on the Sunshine Coast had escalated so high that they could no longer afford to buy a house there. With five children they needed a large home. This is a common story now in Australia all across the country people are moving out of cities to more rural areas mainly for economic reasons. This is working for far more people since working from home during Covid proved a resounding success. As it worked out a perfect couple to explain the scene laid out in front of us. He had also travelled extensively to the UK and the USA leading to a quite a conversation about travel.

The land here is known by the Aborigines as Nunthi Land the Fitzroy River, as Tanuba that literally translated means “Big River” and formed a prominent feature of their culture. Barramundi fish can be found in the river, about as far south as they survive naturally. The aboriginals call the fish Buddamoonde meaning fish with “Big Scales”. Crocodiles also exist in the river known as Dakani by the local Darumbal clans.

Our next stop is the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens about 30 minutes south of Mt Archer. Tropical gardens are always a favourite full of exotic plants that we wish we could grow down south in the Adelaide Hills. Plants with plenty of strong colour in foliage and flower. When we arrive we stop off at the information centre for a map and then we are on our way around the gardens first established in 1873. They sit on a site of 70 hectares of which 30 hectares is under cultivation. The gardens are a national treasure, heritage listed in 1999. We discover that the main claim to fame is the age of some of the trees planted all those years ago. Kauri and Banyan trees over 100 years old.

A War Memorial (Cenotaph) forms the centre piece with a Japanese garden, a Tropical Fruit Arboretum a flowering tree lawn and a Colonial Experimental Garden.

All adjacent to a lagoon that is named in two parts, The Murray Lagoon and The Yeppen Lagoon, the lagoon is full of bird life, Moorhens, Ibis, Spoonbills and Ducks around 60 species visit the lagoon during a typical year. There is a pontoon that acts as a bird hide, jutting out into the lagoon often used by bird photography enthusiasts. The Murray Lagoon has played an important role in Rockhampton’s history since European settlement in 1853. During the 1860’s Murray Lagoon developed into a popular bathing spot for all members of the community. James Scott Edgar, the first curator of the Botanic Gardens, took advantage of this and between 1873 and 1874, removed mud, cleared weeds, and imported fine sand to replicate a beach like environment for bathing. Edgar also installed a springboard for diving where one could plunge into 10 feet of water, and a diving pontoon in the middle of the Lagoon in the deeper water. Due to its remote location, men originally used the lagoon for nude bathing however, after some time, Edgar planted a stand of bamboo as a screen so that women could also enjoy the bathing facilities. The only evidence of those times is the stands of bamboo that have survived to this day.

The gardens are just so peaceful that after a good walk around we sit on a bench overlooking the lagoon just listening to the bird sounds and watching the antics of the Ibis and Spoonbills as they migrate to a stand of trees on the other side of the lagoon for a midday nap. We finish off the day with a late lunch at the tea house, eaten under the magnificent shady Banyan Fig Tree pictured. The food a low point but such a delightful setting that all is forgiven. While we eat Rainbow Lorikeets entertain a Grandpa and Grandma with their three grand children, the Lorikeets doing their best to entice the children to part with some of their ice cream. All in all a fun day out, time to head back to the Resort for an early night, we drive to Mackay tomorrow.

PS Don’t forget if you can’t see the photo’s go to the comments section at the bottom of the post and click on that, you should then be able to see the pictures. Haven’t figured this out just yet, hope this work around works for you. Please comment.

Cheers Tony & Amanda