Clairview

Sunday saw us moving on once more – so after farewells with Pat and George it was ‘On the Road Again’. Driving is starting to consist of longer distances again as we head back into more remote areas.

Due to the distances we want to make over the next few drives the GPS has had the ‘preference for minor roads’ removed and we will be predominantly following highways.

First step was to make Rockhampton for lunch, with an ultimate destination of Mackay (although we had a couple of alternate stops in place depending on where we were as late afternoon set in). Rockhampton again had a Bunbury(ish) feel about it although this is a judgement made entirely on a quick drive through. The highlight of Rockhampton ended up being purchasing an armful of Dixie Drumsticks for less than a dollar each – pity the things we were actually looking for were so expensive in the shop we stopped at that we didn’t buy anything we actually wanted.

As we continued North it became obvious we weren’t going to make it to Mackay that night (not without pushing through and setting the van up in the dark anyway). We therefore skipped to our first alternate destination and pulled into the small community of Clairview. I am strongly of the opinion that the transient population far outweighed the permanent population, with a packed caravan park greeting us as we made our way to a free park area a bit further down the road which had at least 25 sites occupied. This free site was a great spot with good quality toilets available and the beach (or mud flats as the kid decided after playing in them for a while) right there. The popularity of the place proves that we aren’t the only people to have been impressed – it is obviously well known to regular travellers of this region.

Next door to the toilet block was a community centre and I was exceptionally impressed to find that the local Women's Action Group set up a small stall from there the next morning with several of the travellers dropping in for things. From our perspective it provided a very welcome home baked morning tea while we finished the haul to Mackay. I am always impressed when people find a way to make value out of popular free camping spots.