After such a long stay in Emerald I was keen to hit the road again. I think Alec was as well. Instead of heading north we traveled east. All the way back to the coast. Emerald is as far west as we will travel until later on in the year. Rockhampton was our next stop

I am fairly familiar with Rockhampton. A few years ago I was traveling to Rockhampton for work regularly. Staying 2-3 weeks at a time.

There is plenty to see and do around the area and I was planning on staying in Rockhamption for a number of days. But two things changed that. First one, we were running a little bit behind schedule. I didn’t want to leave our selves short for our run up to Cairns. The second thing, Alec picked up a runny nose and a cough from daycare and I was starting to feel a bit under the weather myself.

We stayed at a caravan park that is across the river from the centre of town. It’s a bit noisy but I like the view at night.

In the end we only stayed 2 days. The day we arrived we had dinner at the hotel I u to stay at when working in Rockhampton. I got to know the owners well and it was good to catch up. The next day we went to Rockhampton Zoo. By the time we had finished at the zoo, I was well and truly in man flu mode and Alec in snotty 2 year old mode. For the rest of the day and the next we spent wiping noises, coughing and general feeling crappy.

If you are looking for a place to stay or a  feed in Rockhampton than don’t go past the Cattle Inn and the Blue Heeler Restaurant.

Alec getting up and close to some wildlife.

Our first crocodile sighting for the trip. Glad it was behind a fence.

We left Rockhampton is search of a quite camp so we could rest and recover. I decided we needed so fresh sea air and made our way north up the coast to Clairview.
Clairview’s claim to fame is, that if traveling north it the first time the coast is visible from the highway since the gold coast 900km away. The highway runs only 300 metres away from the coast.

Clairview is not really a town. It is one street about 2km long. Running parallel with the coast. The highway and train line on one side and a single row of houses on the other side. It has a park with a craft shop and a caravan park, the BarraCrab.

The craft and second hand nick nack shop.

The home made biscuits weren’t bad. Our treat when on our bike ride. 

The BarraCrab was a little rough but nice. The un-power sites had a amazing view, and there is a bar and meals are available. Which we did take advantage of once. We stayed 3 days. Not doing much, playing and walking on the beach, a bike ride and not much else. Just what the doctor ordered.

The view from our camp.

The view just as good the other direction.

The beach in front of the camp ground.

Alec playing in the rock pools.

One of the many trains that pass though Clairview. We could here the trains from camp but not enough to bother us.

Dad joke of the week.

Geez. I not sure about the bike lanes up this way. Seems a bit dangerous.