(pronounced MACK-eye) is Australia's sugar capital, and 1/3 of Australia's
sugar passes through it's port. Rockhampton (or Rocky) is a city that lies
less than a mile north of the Tropic of Capricorn. This city touts itself as
Australia's 'beef capital', and this is very evident be the number of cow
statues everywhere. Sadly, few were as interesting as the cows that
decorated downtown Chicago a couple of years ago. The most interesting site
near Rockhampton was the Koorana Crocodile farm. This croc 'ranch' is home
to hundreds of these amazing creatures, so up to 15 feet long and weighing
over 600 pounds. They are a licensed breeding ground, so that means that
they are able to legally sell crocodile skin goods, and crocodile meat. We
were there in the evening, and this allowed us to have dinner and try some
croc meat. The meat was rubbery, a cross between a bird and fish taste, and
not entirely unpleasant. The funniest thing was the names given to these
fierce creatures, names like 'Honey' and 'Sweetheart'.
