Tannum Sands

 6 - 9 September 2025

We left Bowen to continue our journey south, with the aim to get to somewhere around Rockhampton. We drove through Mackay and made our first stop at Sarina where we planned to grab a coffee at the Visitor Information Centre only to discover that they aren't open on the weekend. Bad luck, so we jumped back in the car and continued on.

Next we stopped for lunch at the beach side picnic area in Clairview. This has become a regular stop for us, and is quite a popular spot judging by the number of cars and caravans coming and going. We pushed on and reached Rockhampton where we pulled over to consider our options. We had thought to stay just a little way south so Mick could re-visit a birding spot at Port Alma, but in the end we decided against it.

We'd had a long drive and decided that we could keep going through to Tannum Sands, which would take almost another two hours, and have us arriving around 5:00pm. I had a look online but couldn't see any availability at the caravan park, so called instead. Yes, they did have a site for a couple of nights, but the office would be closed when we arrived. We booked the site and continued on.

We hadn't ever been to Tannum Sands before and were looking forward to a couple of days relaxing at the beach after a few fairly hectic, long days in the car. We made our way to the caravan park and located our site - but, my goodness, what a disappointment. The place was packed and we were allocated the last site - tucked up into the corner, jammed in between huge caravans and as far away from the amenities as you could get. We had no other option but to set up and hope we could get a site change in the morning. Being a Saturday night we figured there might be some vacant spots on Sunday.

In the morning we went for a walk on the beach and called in to the office on our way back. We were very pleased to be given a choice of a few sites and selected one in a much  better location. We also extended our stay by another night. We packed up and moved to our new spot - it didn't feel as crowded, had nice green grass underfoot, was  beside a tree for shade and was a short walk to the amenities. All in all it was a much better site.

A walk on the beach
is always a good way to start the day

We did the usual things we do when in a new place - we went looking for birds. Mick had a couple of spots to check out but we had some difficulty locating access points so it wasn't a very productive outing. We did get to see some of this location which was nice. We enjoyed walks on the beach but neither of us felt it was quite what we were expecting. It was a good place to stay, but not a great spot.

Next, we would continue south to Lake Redbrook, near Childers. We stayed there once in a cabin and were keen to return. 

Clairview

 10 - 11 March 2025

Having successfully negotiated some very wet roads leaving Moore Park, we were unsure again about our next destination. We had flagged a farmstay just south of Rockhampton as a possibility so that Mick could go in search of an elusive Chat on the Port Alma access road so set the GPS and set off again.

We stopped in Miriam Vale and had lunch then continued on. We stopped again in Mount Larcom where I called ahead to check they had availability but didn't book as there was still a lot of rain about. We decided to drive out along the Port Alma access road to assess whether we would be able to get to the likely spots - and we had to turn around as the road was flooded. Lucky we hadn't booked the farmstay.

We decided to press on, and after refuelling in Rockhampton, figured we could make it to Clairview. We'd stayed there in a cabin a number of years ago and weren't really impressed but there aren't may options so we thought we'd give it another try.

We arrived and checked in - opting for an unpowered site. The sky was clear so we were hopeful we could at least get the canvas dry overnight. We were able to select our own site and ended up with a great view of the beach with no-one nearby. There were heaps of caravans crammed in to the ocean-front powered sites, but only a few in the expansive unpowered section. Staying in this part of the caravan park we were starting to see why so many people love the place.

We enjoyed a walk along the beach
to the creek mouth

After a breezy, dry night we packed up before an incoming shower of rain arrived and then went for a walk along the beach, and a good look for birds as well. We headed off and stopped in Sarina for a free cuppa at the Visitor Information Centre where we made up our minds to stay at Mackay for the next couple of days.