Rockhampton is just another big city in Queensland, Australia with a population of more than 80, 000 people. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Rockhampton was listed as the 4th largest city in the state of the outside of South East Queensland. Being the home of Rod Laver, one of the legendary tennis players ever to be known in history, the city became a huge tourist attraction as to being rich for its history and culture. Having the Archer Brothers, Charles and William as Queensland’s earliest European settlers, Rockhampton was recognised with the name “City of the Three S’s”; “Sin, Sweat and Sorrow”. This is because back in the old days, Rockhampton was where many immigrants worked as gold miners. Today, the city became the local centre of cattle trading; a major agricultural industry of Central Queensland.

Airports in Rockhampton

1. Rockhampton Airport (ROK)

Back in 13th November 2007, this airport was granted as 2007 Australian Major Airport of the Year in recognition of Australian Aviation Excellence. The Rockhampton Airport is a prime regional airport of Australia located in the westside of Rockhampton, operating head-on flights to other big cities such as Brisbane, Mackay et cetera. Due to lacking in some passengers, flights to or from Sydney and Melbourne had to be stopped. It only takes about 7 minutes via car ride to get to downtown Rockhampton so travellers need not worry about having to stay in the car for too long.

2. Gladstone Airport (GLT)

The airport is only 1 hour 17 minutes away if the ride is taken by car and it’s the next closest airport to get to the city of Rocky after Rockhampton Airport. Gladstone Airport is located in Gladstone; another city of Queensland, Australia and it is one of the most critical parts of the infrastructure of Central Queensland. It was previously operated by the Local Government Reform but now owned and handled by the Gladstone Regional Council. QantasLink, a sub of Qantas Airline has been the main airline provider with the most non-stop trips to and from the Brisbane Airport.

How to Get Cheap Flights to Rockhampton?

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When is the Best Time to Fly to Rockhampton?

The city happens to be located at the tropic of Capricorn where the Sun can be directly overhead. Therefore, the city is hot for almost half of an entire year. In Rockhampton, the summer is long and hot. The best time to visit will be around March to May of perhaps September to early December if travellers plan to pursue with warm weather activities such as hiking or visiting the local botanical gardens. To visit the city, tourists tend to pack light and as comfortable as they can as the weather may vary.

It gets hot throughout the day with a range of temperatures between 30 to 32°C, and sometimes Rockhampton would undergo some extreme variation of rainfall. In summer, Rockhampton is at risk of facing the summer thunderstorms as the region of Rockhampton is classified as Subtropical, around December until March is when the city experiences the annual rainfall while from June to September is the period where Rockhampton is dry. Back to 1918, the famous Fitzroy River of Rockhampton had the highest record of the flood to the point it reached 10.11 meters on the Rockhampton gauge.

Numerous events are upheld in the city annually. The Yeppoon Community Market started with just six stalls initially about 40 years ago; now has grown even bigger. The market is held every Saturday, and the locals enjoy waking up early to find themselves a fresh locally grown fruits, vegetables and also flowers. An international exposition called Beef Australia that is held triennially every third of May as a celebration towards Central Queensland’s local beef industry. Activities there such as cattle judging, educational displays for children and live demonstrations on ways to cook dishes of beef are joined not only by the locals but also by well-known people all around the world.

What are the Top 3 Things to Do in Rockhampton?

1. Rockhampton Zoo - There are about 60 species (and increasing) of various exotic and native animals at Rockhampton Zoo. The entrance price is free for all visitors, and it is also open daily from 8 am to 4.30pm but only closed on Christmas Day. Child visitors are very welcomed to join in “Keepers Talks” in the late afternoon where the zookeepers will provide a 10-minute educational talk and show the children how they would feed the animals there such as the koalas, chimpanzees, otter and many more. In February 2018, the newest member of the zoo; baby Capri of the chimpanzee family was born, and she adores having people coming over to the zoo.

2. Mount Archer National Park - The national park of Rockhampton was named in honour of the Archer Brothers and is situated at about 604 m above sea level, making it the highest peak there. It is also home to a variety of the woodland birds and other wildlife as well. To preserve the park’s surroundings, visitors are bound to obey some guidelines while being there such as to leave any terrain vehicles outside the park to avoid eroding the tracks. If the visitors are lucky, they will get to experience seeing owls or even wallabies there.

3. Rockhampton Botanic Gardens - The gardens are located right next to the Rockhampton Zoo, and this is why both of these places are the locals’ favourites. It is regarded as one of the fancier places in Australia as there is a lot of activities that can be done there such as having a picnic, bike riding or taking a stroll while admiring mother nature. The gardens are a demonstration of the government’s commitment to providing recreational yet educational space for both people of Rockhampton and tourists.