Whitsunday and Capricorn Coast

Capricorn Coast and Bucasia Beach

We depart at 6:45 am, heading south (and what else could we do!). The weather is pleasant, and the landscape initially features sugarcane plantations. and mango, to make room for a classic bush with frequent grazing. Along the route, we also encounter camels grazing. We climb a steep slope to the top of a hill from which we can see several kilometers of plains below, about twenty kilometers south of Ayr. Continuing our journey towards the Capricorn Tropic We arrive at Mackay at the bottom of the WHITSUNDAY COAST, where the guide recommends a visit that is more than justified to Bucasia Beach We find a very interesting little shop where we buy everything we need for today's lunch and the next few days. We purchase two delicious meat pies, the national Australian dish, which is essentially a savory pastry pie with a spiced filling. Sometimes cheese is also added. A great snack idea. About seventy kilometers south of Mackay, we come across a beach where, to our surprise, we find… the trees grow in the sea along the coast. It's not mangroves; the trunk is submerged for about a meter and it's amazing how the salt water allows these trees to thrive.

The urban face of Whitsunday

The waves are very low. The ocean is truly the Pacific.. Some signs warn against bathing, as crocodiles may be present. The one we are crossing is the CAPRICORN COAST. After some heavy showers followed by vibrant rainbows We arrive in Rockhampton, a city known for being the steak capital. We stay at a bungalow for $80, which is a lovely accommodation that would be worth enjoying for a few days. The woman who manages the campsite recommends us to have dinner at the restaurant located in the local football club, where we of course enjoy beef steaks. We fill up with petrol, and the young attendant warns us against wandering freely around the city center: a beautiful city, she says, with all sorts of bull statues placed in the middle of roundabouts or in unexpected places, but it's not safe due to the presence of several drunk and drug users. Feeling tired, we return after taking a nighttime photo of the sign marking the Capricorn Tropic, just a few dozen meters from our bungalow.

Being the capital of beef, with its free-ranging herds and 50,000 inhabitants, Rockhampton is also the most Western city, with a strong presence of real cowboys. It has a very American appearance, different from the soft character of other coastal cities. It's interesting to note how the city's lighting is reduced to the essentials, perhaps even less. Only the Bruce Hwy, which crosses it, is comforted by the presence of lampposts. Everything around is dark and there is little light coming from the houses.