We had the pleasure of hosting Kitty and Larry (Mom and Dad) for a couple of weeks in May. This gave us the opportunity to show them around Central Queensland. It also gave us an excuse to check out some new places. The first weekend they were here, we drove north toward Mackay to the Eungella National Park. The Broken River runs through this rain forest and is a permanent home to many Platypus. Arriving at dusk, we were just in time to see them head out for their nightly meals. We had enough daylight left to observe them swimming and diving under the water for about an hour. They were a little tough to spot at first since they come out in the worst light and they are not that big (50cm at the very largest). Once we got the hang of looking for the ripples in the water and used the binoculars, they were much easier to spot. Staying at a cabin right at the river we were able to enjoy a delicious evening meal and I was able to get up bright and early (while everyone else slept) to view the morning antics of the little guys. I also had the opportunity to see the bright blue kingfisher bird which is commonly found around the platypus.
We also had the chance to go back to Great Keppel Island. Matt and I hadn't been there since the heat of the summer, so the cooler temperatures made it nicer for further exploration of the island. We started off with a glass bottom boat tour around the island when we arrived. This tour educated us on the names of the different types of coral found locally and the fish as they swam under our boat. Afterwards, we hiked over to Monkey Beach where there is reef not far off the beach. We snorkeled until we were thoroughly chilled by the water and saw some pretty amazing corals. We also convinced Mom and Dad to try snorkeling for the first time. They loved it!The Dreamtime Cultural Center is Rockhampton's museum dedicated to educating people on the Central Highland Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The local indigenous are well known for their stencil art some of which was on display. The tour discussed the history of the people, their mythology and tools of their day to day life. We finished off with an education on playing the didgeridoo and throwing a boomerang.
There were a few other spots we checked out worth mentioning as well. One was the Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary where we were able to pet a kola, hold a Komodo dragon and take photos with a python. The Central Queensland Military Museum was full of memorabilia from several wars. There was also a good bit of American memorabilia here as General MacArthur chose Rocky as an important military base in the Pacific front of WWII. Finally, the Archer Park Station and Steam Tram Museum has the Purrey Steam Train, which they operate every Sunday morning, and interesting exhibits on the history of the station and the steam train in Rocky.
