Beef capital of Australia, Victorian riverfront and gateway to the Capricorn Coast
Rockhampton straddles the Tropic of Capricorn on the Fitzroy River, earning its reputation as Australia's beef capital through the massive cattle stations of Central Queensland. Grand sandstone heritage buildings line the riverbank, the free-entry zoo surprises visitors, and Great Keppel Island is a short ferry hop away.
Rockhampton grew rapidly after the Canoona gold rush of 1858, quickly pivoting from gold to grazing as squatters occupied the vast Central Queensland grasslands. The sandstone civic buildings of Quay Street — built during the 1880s boom — represent one of Australia's best-preserved collections of Victorian-era architecture outside the capital cities.