Rockhampton

Trip Start Sep 11, 2008
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Trip End Jun 05, 2009


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Where I stayed
Downtown Backpackers
(Rockhampton hotels)

Flag of Australia  , Queensland,
Monday, December 22, 2008

After nearly a week in Airlie Beach we wanted to get off the backpacker trail for a bit. We headed for Rockhampton (or Rocky as it's known) which is the beef capital of Australia but apart from the surrounding countryside doesn't have much going for it according to the Lonely Planet. We just wanted to go there for a steak. We got a 6 hour bus from Airlie Beach and arrived at the backpackers place at midnight. We had to check in with the bar staff in the pub downstairs as it was so late and as we got there, local hick kids were arguing over a girl stood right next to them and was enjoying it. We checked in asap, luckily the bar shut at midnight so they all went home.
We checked out the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens and zoo which was free and really good. We had to work out how to get a bus there, the local bus station is just a single shelter with no signs, in a town of 50,000 people we expected a bit more but it's just pensioners and Aboriginals on the bus everyone else drives around as its so far. At the zoo we saw chimps being fed close up with only about 5 other tourists, we saw and stroked Koalas, saw kangaroos and wallabies and a few other animals. I was gutted they had taken the snakes and crocodiles away for refurb of the enclosures but it was still worth going. The botanic gardens were good too with a Japanese garden designed by a guy from the twin city of Rocky. We chatted to the bus driver on the way back who said, like many other people we met, "what the bloody hell you doing in Rocky then mate". There were a few backpackers at our hostel but not many, nobody really stops there so we got to meet some real Aussies.
That night we went to the Bush Inn bar and grill attached to the Criterion Hotel, on the site of the oldest bar in Rocky, a lovely old building with lots of wrought iron on the front, typicla of old Queensland hotels and pubs. The steak was amazing, we went for the 250g which was the smallest, they went up to 1kg! It was cooked perfectly, just how I like it, burnt on the outside raw in the middle. It was only rump steak but as tender as any sirloin or fillet. Cowboy types were coming in from the surrounding areas to eat there and the place was packed, at first I felt a bit intimidated as people clearly knew we weren't from round 'ere boy, but they were just there for the food and everyone was friendly enough. We did go back the next night too as we loved it so much. They reckon Argentinian or Scottish beef is the best in the world depending on who you listen to so we will have to compare when we get there. Both nights we were there we ended up drinking in the roughneck bar downstairs from our hostel where we met a few drunken locals.
We took a trip out to the coast to Yeppoon, a small seaside town. When we got there it was sunny, there wasn't much to do there so we went straight to the beach. We could see storms coming in both sides of us as we got there and ignoring the threat of jellyfish in the water we went for a swim. The storms came past us with blue sky above then suddenly the lifeguards started blowing whistles and getting everyone out of the water. One of the storms had changed direction and was heading straight at us, with lightning striking the water nearby. We ran for the shelter of a public toilet, the only shelter nearby as the heaviest rain we had seen yet lashed down and winds ripped branches off trees. It was all over quickly and the sun came out again.
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