Enid and David at Tropic of Capricorn, Rockhampton, Queensland
We truly are in Australia. Tonight we saw our first kangaroos here at this free campground.
Before we left Bororen this morning we stopped at a farm supply/hardware store and got a small package of bolts to fix the heat shield over the water heater. We then drove in to Rockhampton where we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, which officially now places us in the tropics. It is pretty warm, but not unbearably so, and even though it rained tonight, the humidity is not really bad. In fact, it’s far better than I remember summers in Southern Ontario.
In Rockhampton we went to an RV dealer, and got a new part for the waste water drain. The old one had one broken clamp on it, and I was afraid it would fall off and get lost. We tried to get stinger suits in four different sporting goods places, and weren’t able to get any in our size. We also stopped at a grocery store and planned our meals for the four days we’ll be camping in the Whitsundays. After leaving Rockhampton there isn’t much of anything as you drive north. The land is ranching country, though we didn’t see a lot of cattle, mostly just open spaces with scattered trees. There are almost no towns, so it’s as deserted, or more so, than the Saskatchewan prairie.
We stopped tonight at this recreational reserve. It is a free campsite, and though there is no cost there are still flush toilets, and showers ($1 for three minutes). As we pulled in I went under a tree, and didn’t realize that it had some low hanging branches. We caught and broke one off as it hit our roof mounted air conditioner. I have no way to get up on the roof, so hope that it didn’t do any damage. I’ll have to try and figure a way to get up there and check it tomorrow. We got everything set up and it started to rain heavily. The area is a wetland nature preserve, and as soon as it started raining a lot of frogs came out and were hopping around. As well there is a large flock of Magpie Geese here. They are black and white birds, about the size of a snow goose, and they honk just like you’d expect geese to do.
Flamboyant Tree
It was after supper that we saw our first kangaroos. There were at least six of them eating at dusk in the wetland field about a hundred metres from our motorhome. There are also a number of different blooming plants. The only one that I can identify is the flamboyant tree with its bright orange flowers and huge seed pods.