The Ellis Oz Blog: Monkey Business

It is great to be back on the road again after staying in Caloundra for nearly a month. We drove past all of the places we visited last year until we got past Gladstone. From Gladstone heading north we entered new territory. The kids were all very excited to be further north than we had ever been!

An overnight stop at Childers

We spent a week in Rockhampton staying at the Gracemere Caravan Park. From there we did day trips in and around town.

the view from our carvan!

We had been advised that the Rockhampton Zoo wasn’t very good but we thought we would check it out one afternoon anyway. We were so glad we didn’t listen to those people - the Zoo was wonderful. It is located in the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens and is free to go in to. There are beautiful bird aviaries, lots of native animals and birds, and a big reptile house. There is also a big enclosure with four beautiful chimpanzees living there. The two big males have been there for over 25 years and they have recently introduced two females to try to encourage breeding.

We watched eagerly as the zookeeper arrived with a one litre tub of yoghurt and four fruit juice boxes. He scooped the yoghurt into four bowls then passed the bowls under the fence. The chimps each put out their hands and received a spoon from the keeper. They then proved that they can easily eat using cutlery buy scraping the bowls clean with their spoons. The keeper then asked very politely for the chimps to return the bowls and spoons which they all did except one. She was a bit grumpy and threw her bowl and spoon on the floor. The keeper politely asked one of the males to collect her bowl for him and he obliged. The keeper then passed the fruit juice boxes to each chimp which they all pierced the boxes with their teeth, inserted the straws and finished their drinks.

It was wonderful to watch this interaction between the chimps and their keeper and to watch the chimps eating and drinking the way we do. The keeper explained that we share over 98% of our DNA with chimps and the only reason they cannot communicate vocally is that the chimps don’t have vocal chords. They understand most of what we say and defiantly understand our tone. The keeper said that if you don’t speak nicely to them, they will never do as you ask.

Zaccy sharing his icecream

Sam and Will playing in the Botanical Gardens

We spent and afternoon the Capricorn Caves north of town. The caves are different from any we have seen before. They are classed as dry caves and instead of going down underground into the caves; you climb into the side of the mountain to enter them. They are a unique system of above-ground caves in a limestone ridge. The caves were first discovered in 1882 by a Norwegian migrant John Olsen and is today one of the largest privately owned caves system in Australia.

We were welcomed by this mum and her baby

Inside the undeground chapel

Exhausted after all that exploring in caves

We were told that the best fish and chips in the country were from a little shop out in Yeppoon. We drove along the Emu Park Road to go and try them for ourselves. A very pretty drive out there and the view from the park opposite the shop was lovely, however the fish and chips were far from the best we have had! We made a deal that day to not listen to other people’s opinions. We agreed to make up our own minds about the places to visit and the food to eat!