After the cruise we continued on to Rocky and arrived mid afternoon. This is the town sitting right on the tropic of Capricorn, so we are now officially in the tropics. The Tourist Info Centre suggested the Botanic Gardens, which also had a small zoo. It was quite small and unimpressive. We continued on to the free camping area which is actually across the road from a huge shopping mall with cinemas, restaurants etc. The parking area gets very crowded, so you have to arrive quite early to get a decent spot.

We parked next to an old fashioned metallic caravan with the curvy styling. It had gaffer tape all over it and looked abandonned. Imagine our surprise when a couple of hours later a car turned up with a family with two young children. They had been towing the van, a rock was flicked up and broke the front window which they didn't notice. Then the air pressure inside blew out the side windows. Finally they noticed them flapping in their mirrors. They pulled in, broken glass everywhere and a real mess inside.

The next day we decided to go in and see the centre part of town with all the beautiful old historic buildings. We were wondering why the place was so empty, then realised it was a public holiday for Queen Elizabeth's death. Oh well, at least parking was easy.

We were keen to head to the beaches - Yepoon or the ones just south. But by this time it was school holidays and caravan parks were booked out, as well as being very expensive. We found an entry on Wikicamps for a farm stay near Emu Park. It was free to stay if we did a couple of hours work on the property each day. In exchange they provided power and a cooked meal every evening.

They are setting up their property for camping as well as glamping, and also a wedding venue. They had bought a large timber gazebo as a flat pack which needed to be put together. It was like a giant Lego. George was in his element. Later on there were wooden seats to be polished and sanded and various other small jobs. We stayed several days to get through them all. They are a lovely couple and have two very friendly dogs.

After a couple of hours work each day we headed in to the beaches. We had been here eight years ago with another couple, and their motor home had broken down in Yepoon so we had stayed there several days until they got things sorted. Emu Park was a small beach town which had not changed at all. Yepoon, on the other hand, had changed so much. It had gone really up market - multistorey apartment blocks with bars, restaurants and cafes on the ground floor. The esplanade was carved out with walkways, a water park, picnic areas and a large arena with a stage for various musical acts, not to mention the colourful toilets. Further in there was also a large mall with Coles, Woolies and Big W, as well as a Bunnings. That was a sure sign they had really made it.

Georgey's bit

Rockhampton is famous for beef/steak. We missed out on any due to the public holidays. However on a trip to Anaconda for no real reason we got a nice camping table for a bargain price.

It was nice to see Yepoon on steroids and Emu Park preserving its traditional character.

Our farm stay was a lovely experience and the work was very interesting. We made friends and enjoyed the company of the hosts, the dogs, as well as other guests.