DUARINGA
Heading West from Rockhampton we stopped overnight at Duaringa, a very large town Rest Area with free camping including hot showers in the amenities block and a Dump Point. They do ask for a donation to maintain this and a few dollars is well worth giving to keep these sort of camp spots open.
BEDFORD WEIR
From here onward towards Emerald we turned North at Blackwater (“Queensland’s Coal Capital”} to Bedford Weir, another “donation” camp provided by the council’ once again with hot showers but only non potable water (bore water) so a stay is limited by your water useage. We managed to easily stay four days here before moving on to Emerald.
EMERALD SHOWGROUNDS
So on to Emerald and the Showgrounds for a two night stay. This is a new camping ground run by the Council and can take 22 vans with an overspill allowed in the peak (+/-Winter) season. The amenities building for the campers is brand new with all separate toilets and showers; the town Dump Point is also in the Showgrounds.
While here we took a drive out to Fairbairn Dam (Lake Maraboon), the largest water supply dam in this part of Queensland.
At present a lot of work is going on in patching and repairing the spillway. There is also a Caravan Park and boat ramp, and further around the lake a Ski Club.