Rockhampton to Proserpine via The Caves, St Lawrence, Sarina and Mackay

MODERN METRO MEETS OLD-SCHOOL CHARM.

From one rural city to another, this itinerary is a little bit metro and a whole lot of authentic charm. You’ll find some of the most unforgettable natural experiences of your life on this drive. Get ready.

WHO WILL LOVE IT?

Nature lovers, Fishing nuts, History buffs and Art enthusiasts

ROCKHAMPTON

So much more than Australia’s beef capital, Rockhampton is a metropolitan regional city with a genuine small-town heart. The food, the history, the action and the natural wonders combine to create a veritable playground.

Rockhampton is a 7 hour drive or 1 hour 15 minute flight from Brisbane. Find out more about the city on page 12.

THE CAVES

A truly unforgettable experience is beckoning just 30 minutes’ drive from Rockhampton. The Capricorn Caves are a family-operated attraction with the genuine warmth to match.

Tour groups are small, with a variety of experiences to suit all needs. From wheelchair accessible tours to higher-difficulty tours that will have you crawling through rock tunnels or abseiling into cave pits.

Discover stories trapped in caves for thousands of years on the Fossil Tour or navigate the zigzagging passageways and suspension bridge into the stunning Cathedral Cave. So, named for the incredible acoustics the expansive space offers, the cave is lit by lights and candles and cannot be forgotten.

Don’t miss a trip to the summit for uninterrupted 360 degree views over the top of the forest.

Enjoy lunch or a coffee in the licensed café before cooling off in the pool. If you haven’t had enough of the Caves, you can also stay overnight.

ST LAWRENCE

After your adventures in the cave, take an easy 1 hour 45 minutes’ drive to St Lawrence. Oozing with outback charm St Lawrence offers the chance to step back into history and meander through stunning natural wetlands. Find out more on page 36.

GET YOUR FISHING FIX

Between St Lawrence and Sarina there is a bevy of saltwater fish habitats that will give you plenty of reason to stop the car and add to your library of fishing stories. The area is also famous for its mudcrabs. Just be careful as this is the home of saltwater crocodiles.

Fishing Lawrence Creek you’ll find your heart pounding as you see barramundi launching their bodies out of the water or the red flash of a mangrove jack. Access it from a weir just off the Bruce Highway.

Your next stop should be Clairview, just 30 minutes north. Here you can fish the Clairview Creek for jewfish, grunter, salmon, golden snapper, mangrove jack and barramundi. There’s also great reef fishing out of the Broad Sound.

Just 20 minutes’ drive north of Clairview, Carmila Creek is a local favourite for sunset fishing. Whether you’re launching the boat or casting off the shore near the creek mouth, you’ll be pulling in barramundi, mangrove jack, trevally and flathead.

The locals favour lures with large paddle-tails with soft tail wrists.

It would be hard for a fisherman to drive past Ilbilbie without tackling Notch Point. The Point is 25 minutes’ drive from Carmila and accessible via 4WD. It’s a great spot for self-contained camping right on the beach and is famous for its whiting and flathead.

SARINA

From St Lawrence a 1 hour and 20 minute drive north up the Central Queensland coastline.

Start your Sarina exploration at the Field of Dreams Parklands. Aside from being the location of the Visitor Information Centre, it’s also home to the Sarina Sugar Shed.

Walk through the local sugar industry processes and history on the Shed’s interactive tour. You’ll experience the colour, aroma, taste, feel and sounds of mill production.

Before you leave the parklands, stop in at the Sarina Art and Craft Centre, home of locally made arts, crafts and souvenirs.

If you’re interested in another of Sarina’s industries, the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal is located at Hay Point.

Start your tour at the administration building where you’ll find interpretive signage and fantastic views. It also includes one of the largest coal loading jetties in the world, at 3.8 kilometres.

The Sarina Museum and Sarina District Historical Centre can easily be explored together. The exhibits showcase displays of gold mining, sugar, the cattle industry, coal and rail industries. But also feature an intimate look into daily life of generations gone by with relics of the kitchen, children’s toys and even wedding dresses worn more than 100 years ago, all lovingly cared for on the premises.

You’ll find World War I memorialised by a soldier statue that has stood since 1919. It specifically commemorates the 114 local men who enlisted in the war campaign. The slightly bowed head and crossed hands leaves you with a thoughtful sense of the sacrifice of war and the 24 local men who died to protect the Australian way of life.

Don’t forget to stop at the local bakery for one of Sarina’s infamous pies before you head off.

MACKAY

Mackay is a vibrant regional city with an unforgettable array of ways to explore it. This itinerary has a little something for everyone.

This city puts its history on display with two dedicated architecture walks, the Mackay City Heritage Walk and Mackay Art Deco Walk. Make sure you pick up the brochures that guide you through these fascinating buildings of interest.

Art lovers should hit Artspace Mackay or walk through public art displays at the beautiful Bluewater Quay.

In a metropolitan outback city like this one, there are plenty of cafes and restaurants to tempt your taste buds. We love the cafés on the bank of the Pioneer River, which make an after lunch swim in the Bluewater Lagoon easy.

Mackay marries all the things you love about city living, with an undeniable natural offering that is deeply embedded in its DNA. From fertile countrysides, lush rainforests and natural parks to a pristine coastline, there is so much to explore and everything’s at your fingertips.

Dive deeper into Mackay’s natural attractions by walking along the raised boardwalk of the

Bluewater Trail through natural river wetlands before finishing at Mackay Regional Botanical Gardens.

In North Mackay, Gooseponds combines popular walking tracks around a large central wetland lagoon. If you’re there to exercise there are plenty of fitness stations along the tracks. If you’re after relaxation, sit on a blanket and watch the geese, ducks and pelicans.

We also love the expansive views towards the island dotted coastline and Great Barrier Reef beyond from Slade Point.

If you want breakfast with a different, pack a little picnic and head to Cape Hillsborough Beach. Feel the sand between your toes as you take in an incredible east coast sunrise and find yourself among families of wallabies that descend to the beach each morning like clockwork.

Eungella National Park is an easy 1 hour and 15 minute drive exactly west of Mackay. Rising 800 metres above sea level, Eungella means ‘a land in the clouds’. Its peaks are inevitably kissing the clouds and cooling the mountains, making for stunning vistas and beautiful bushwalking.

Stop by Finch Hatton Gorge on your way back to Mackay, just 35 minutes’ drive back east. The gorge features cascading waterfalls surrounded by ancient rainforest. This area is also an incredible river and dam fishing destination in its own right.

The Pioneer River, Teemburra Dam and Eungella Dam are all popular fishing spots. Find out more on page 49.

Back in the city, dive into something new at the Wake House Australia Wake Park where you can learn to cable wakeboard or kneeboard in a safe controlled environment.

If you don’t feel like getting wet, but still want something that will make your heart pump grab a fishing rod and try pulling in one of the region’s hard-hitting pelagic fish.

This itinerary has a little something for everyone and endless ways to explore the very best Central Queensland has to offer.

THE BEACHES IN BETWEEN

In between Mackay and Proserpine, there is a stretch of coastline where golden sands are kissed by shimmering seas. Each beach is only 20-30 minutes apart, making a trail of sunshine that you'll talk about for years to come.

NORTHERN BEACHES

Just 20 minutes from the heart of Mackay, is a collection of beaches known simply as Northern Beaches. Blacks Beach is the longest beach in the region, a 6 kilometre stretch of golden sands that is popular with walkers, dogowners and fishermen.

Eimeo Beach is a sheltered bay of powdery white sands with safe, patrolled swimming during summer. Visitors often head to Mango Avenue, its 80 year-old mango trees shading the street’s houses. At low tide, you can walk from Eimeo Beach to the neighbouring Dolphin Heads.

Named for its unique shape that is similar to two dolphin heads, this rocky and sandy headland is one place where you won’t want to forget your camera.

All these beaches offer easy access to the area’s many pubs, restaurants and cafes that make the most of their beachfront settings.

ST HELENS

This beach offers plenty to feast the eye on. A 2.3 kilometre long low, rocky, mangrove-fringe point adorns the northern boundary of the beach, while the southern end is home to the conical Skull Knob. The waters are protected by both two small rock groynes and Rabbit Island.

SEAFORTH

Seaforth is a quaint, beachfront town. Seaforth Beach is 5 kilometres long. It faces north at the mouth of Plantation Creek then curves gently south to Finlayson Point. There is a swimming enclosure, public toilets, a boat ramp and a caravan and camping area directly on the beach, giving you plenty of excuses to stay a little bit longer.

CAPE HILLSBOROUGH

This natural paradise includes the celebrated Cape Hillsborough National Park, but the beach itself has a special place in the heart of locals and visitors alike. Visit at sunrise to meet friendly wallabies feasting at the water's edge. Nearby walking tracks offer the chance to see the vivid Ulysses butterfly and step back into local Aboriginal history on the Yuibera Plant Trail.

PROSERPINE

Named after Proserpina, the goddess of grain and harvest, Proserpine is a 1 hour and 30 minute drive through the sugar cane fields from Mackay.

The town’s story began in the 1800’s. You’ll find chapters of history alive and well in the art deco buildings of the main street, country-style hotels and the oldfashioned courtesies of the proud locals.

Get the heart pumping on the Whitsunday Crocodile Safari. Search the calm waters of Proserpine River for wild estuarine crocodiles. The tour also includes a tractor-drawn wagon train ride through the Goorganga Plains and a barbeque lunch served with traditional Aussie billy tea and damper.

The kids will love the Proserpine Waterpark and community pool. Or take your exploration inside at the Proserpine Museum. Beautifully maintained and loved by passionate locals who are

a wealth of local stories, the Museum team will make sure you have answers to all your questions.

Take your trip to the water with a short 20 minute trip east to Cedar Creek Falls. A tranquil stopover, the falls themselves are just a short walk from the carpark. Dive into the natural pool where water splashes down after cascading over the rocks.

Or head to the huge Peter Faust Dam, Lake Proserpine for some gorgeous scenery, great water sports territory and incredible fishing. If you want to take advantage of a little local knowledge, then head out with Lake Proserpine Fishing Charters. The team routinely pulls in monster barramundi that are more than a metre in length.

If you fall in love with this spot, like we have, then stay awhile.

You’re going to be talking about this trip for years to come.