23/5/2005
You are here: Home > Travelogues > Nerd's Eye View > 23/5/2005It's a tough life (pt 2: Rockhampton, Emu Park and Great Keppel Island)
...continued from Part 1 (well, duh)
I was starting to grow roots in Agnes, so I decided it was time to move on. I drove to Rockhampton, and ended up sleeping in the car, as I got in rather late. As a result, I was woken up by the sun fairly early, so I went for a drive and explored the town (which didn't take long).
I happened upon a strange structure in the river – the Fitzroy River Barrage. Took some arty photos, one of which is attached. It rather reminded me of something from Half Life 2, for those who know it. Thankfully, the tranquil morning was not spoiled by large striding tripod aliens with huge guns and bad attitudes. (non-nerds, just ignore and keep reading).
Rocky isn't actually that exciting though, so I moved on, to a spot called Emu Park, which is quiet and coastal basically. There is a memorial to Capatain Cook here which has tuned pipes as part of it's structure, so it sings dolefully when the wind blows.
From there I hopped over to Great Keppel Island, where I was originally going for one night. In the end I spent four days and three nights there.
Great Keppel is, basically, bloody paradise. I was lucky with the weather (it was perfect, thank you very much), but nonetheless, everywhere you looked was a postcard.
I basically spent the time snorkelling in the sun, lying in the sun, walking on largely deserted and untouched beaches, watching the sunsets (each more gorgeous than the last), and relaxing in the evening with some of the best pizza I've ever had, and a few beers.
The snorkelling is amazing there – there's no need to dive as you can just swim over reef, which is like being in an aquarium full of tropical fish.
I lost count of how many turtles I saw – including plenty that were not at all worried about me diving down and hanging out next to them. I also saw a Leopard Shark (http://tinyurl.com/9wfb5), more stingrays than I can count (including some big buggers – but I still haven't seen a Manta), and squillions of fish, big and small. And of course, nice coral.
I spent one of the four days trekking across to the far side of the island with a couple of other guys. We had a beach all to ourselves with a fantastic bit of reef (photo attached to annoy you). It was quite a mission as the island is big and hilly in places, but well worth it. The phrase "how's the serenity..." came to mind often.
Anyway, that's me pretty much up to date. I'm starting to get used to this tropical paradise nonsense, even if the east coast is one big backpacker train between Cairns and Sydney (I keep running into the same people again and again). It'll be nice to get of the beaten track a little, but for now, hell, life is pretty good.
I've also finally gotten off my bum and stuck up some content on my website. See - well, here really! Each time I send an email, it'll end up here too – with more photos to annoy you. If you'd like a full size version of any of my pics, just let me know. Carl - I shall also post the emails and pics on your site when I get a chance.
You may also have noticed that I've put Google ads on my site, in an effort to sell out and generally cheapen myself morally, whilst richening myself financially. So far it's going fantastically - I'm apparently $US2.67 richer. At this rate, within a few thousand years, I'll never have to work again.
Anyway, hope all is well back in the world. Once again, feel free to write to me.
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