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Capricorn Coast living

 

A popular Australian sea change destination

There’s a lot to love about Queensland’s Capricorn Coast, with its laidback lifestyle, uncrowded family-friendly beaches galore and the Great Barrier Reef within easy reach.

Sun-drenched, offering idyllic seaside living and breathtakingly beautiful, with spectacular views and brilliant sunsets commonplace, it truly is an incredible place to live. Island adventures, snorkelling, bushwalking and boating activities are popular for locals and tourists alike.

Named after the Tropic of Capricorn, which it straddles, the Capricorn Coast is about 75km long and features long sweeping stretches of sand dotted with rocky outcrops that are remnants of long-extinct volcanoes.

Directly offshore, about 30 minutes by boat and visible from most of the coastal towns is Great Keppel Island – a popular tourist destination. Numerous other smaller islands and atolls also dot the coastline.

 

Climate

With a temperate climate that lends itself well to a relaxed lifestyle that has proven popular with new families moving into the region, the Capricorn Coast enjoys hot summers without the extreme humidity experienced in Far North Queensland (an average high of about 29C in January and February) and mild winters (an average low of about 12C in July).

 

Geography

About a 30-minute drive north of Rockhampton – and 600km from Brisbane – the Capricorn Coast is easily accessible by road, rail, coach or air.

The central and southern sections of the Capricorn Coast, which is primarily where Buehows Real Estate operates, includes numerous towns, suburbs and localities including: Adelaide Park, Bangalee, Barlows Hill, Bluff Rock, Bondoola, Broadmount, Capricorn Coast National Park, Causeway Lake, Cawarral, Cooee Bay, Coorooman, Coowonga, Creek Rock, Emu Park, Girt Island, Hedlow, Hidden Valley, Ironpot, Joskeleigh, Kemp Beach, Keppel Bay Marina (a 400-berth marina at Rosslyn Bay), Keppel Sands, Kinka Beach, Lammermoor, Long Beach (aka Joskeleigh Beach), Meikleville Hill, Mercure Capricorn Resort, Mulambin, Mulambin Waters, Ocean View, Pacific Heights, Quartz Rock, Rosslyn, Statue Bay, Tanby, Taranganba, Taroomball, Tungamull, Thompson's Point, Yeppoon, Wreck Point and Zilzie.

Most of the Capricorn Coast’s population is centred in and around Yeppoon and Emu Park, which are connected by the Scenic Highway.

The central Capricorn Coast features 40km of long beaches and shallow coves stretching from the Mercure Capricorn Resort to the Zilzie Bay Resort, with Yeppoon, Emu Park and a dozen sleepy seaside communities dotted along the way.

The southern Capricorn Coast is home to rural and seaside communities, such as the charming village-style township of Keppel Sands which is a popular location for fishing and crabbing. Pineapples and mangoes are among the fruit crops here, while cattle graze freely in green pastures.

 

Yeppoon

Known as the gateway to Great Keppel Island and the wonders of the southern Great Barrier Reef, Yeppoon has a village-like appeal despite being the Capricorn Coast’s largest town. With little traffic and a very friendly community, it remains a great place to raise kids.

While its main street and esplanade boast a variety of restaurants, cafes, boutiques, surf stores and street art murals, families will love that Yeppoon is also home to the Keppel Kraken zero-depth water park and there’s also a lagoon pool at Yeppoon Main Beach.

North of Yeppoon is the lush rainforest of Byfield, a haven for craft and nature lovers.

 

Emu Park

The second largest town on the Capricorn Coast, Emu Park retains the character of a seaside village. It’s a great place to live, where street barbecues remain a regular occurrence.

Emu Park is home to a soaring white sculpture known as the Singing Ship, which honours Captain James Cook’s exploration of the area and utilises the sea breeze to produce a musical sound through fluted pipes. Captain Cook discovered and named Keppel Bay in May 1770.

A memorial walk hugs the coastline and embraces the spectacular headland, pictorially depicting Gallipoli, honouring locals who fought in World War I and detailing the full extent of Australia’s involvement in the war.

At the town’s centre, Bell Park is a perfect spot for a picnic and the venue for monthly markets and events including Oktoberfest and Festival of the Wind.

Nearby Coorooman Creek is a popular fishing spot, with a boat ramp and pontoon available for public use.

 

Capricorn Coast National Park

Created in 2003, Capricorn Coast National Park encompasses a series of coastal volcanic headlands with intriguing rock formations formed between 73 and 79 million years ago along with lookouts that offer panoramic views.

It stretches between Yeppoon and Emu Park, with four sections open to visitors – Double Head, Rosslyn Head, Bluff Point and Cocoanut Point – offering a wide range of vegetation from heath lands, vine thickets and tussock grasslands to open eucalypt forests.