After three and a half weeks in North Queensland, we journeyed from Mackay to Rockhampton. Most of the morning was spent at Old Mackay Cemetery locating grave sites of past direct ancestors on both sides of our families. A very helpful Council employee was on hand to help our searches.

Sarina is a big sugar cane town with a very big cane toad -celebrating the despised pest with an eye-catching monument to a biological control failure.

Carmila is a town with close family history and a link to the sugar industry. This is in the valley west of the town off the Bruce Highway where most of the local cane farms occur.

Native hibiscus on the Carmila valley road – they were very common in this area.

The highway touches the ocean again at Clairview. Red rubble rocks and lines of mangroves against an aqua sea make for idyllic views.

Crocodile warning signs are present, vinegar bottles ready for use in case of marine stingers and now sharks! Bushwalking never seemed safer.

Much has been said about the quality of the Bruce Highway. Certainly there are some sections that need work but overall it makes for easy travelling. This is an excellent section from Clairview to Marlborough.

Although there have been beef cattle present for most of the trip, their numbers in the paddocks appear to increase the closer we get to Rockhampton. This is from near Marlborough looking towards the ranges near Shoalwater Bay.

Some of these peaks call for closer inspection on a future trip north.

Mount Etna – scene of one of the longest environmental battles in Australia. The limestone mine (for the cement industry) opened in 1966. Activists in favor of protecting the mountain and its bat colonies, mounted campaigns since the 1970’s to have the mining stopped. Explosions detonated on Melbourne Cup Day in 1988 led to a vigorous High Court challenge that saw a compromise that saved caves with known bat colonies. All mining ceased in 2004 and the mountain is now a national park.

We went for a walk through the Rockhampton city centre in search of dinner. This is the old Post Office.

The Customs House in Quay Street, Rockhampton built in 1899. This the third Customs House after the first structure burnt down in 1862, the second suffered structural failures from its footings in the 1880’s and had to pulled down.

The Criterion Hotel was our choice for dinner. Apart from ranking very highly in internet reviews, it is also one of Rockhampton’s oldest buildings being built in 1863 on the same site as the previous wooden structure from 1860. A direct ancestor arrived in Rockhampton by boat in 1862 and would have been in this vicinity. The old port was on the river adjacent to this hotel.

The lavish interior of The Criterion Hotel.

A waning gibbous moon in Rockhampton’s night sky.