Plan Book Travel Australia

Main Attractions

Many of the town's original store buildings and churches are still standing. Quay St, which runs by the Fitzroy River, is Australia's longest National Trust-classified street with over 29 buildings. Brochures are available on the Heritage Walk and Drive tour around the city centre. With a near year-round tropical climate, Rockhampton is lush and green with many shady tree-lined streets and parks. Rockhampton's Heritage-listed Botanic Gardens were established in 1869 and are described as the best regional botanic gardens in Australia. The gardens cover an area of 39ha on the western slopes of the Athelstane Range. There is a fernery, orchid house, tropical fruit garden and a range of tropical plants. Rockhampton Zoo is located within the park and features chimpanzees, koalas, dingoes, kangaroos and wallabies and the rare bridled nail tail wallaby. A highlight is the koala feeding at 3pm. Kershaw Native Gardens, situated beside the Bruce Hwy were opened in 1988, as a Bicentenary Project. The Spire, in Curtis Park, on the southern outskirts of town marks the exact location of the Tropic of Capricorn. Enjoy a rodeo at the Great Western Hotel, the only hotel in Australia that hosts a rodeo. Anglers can fish for barramundi in the Fitzroy River that flows through the centre of Rockhampton.