Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park is our last stop for our Outback Queensland Road Trip.
Today I’m packing up the Jayco for the second to last time before we drive to Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park.
The Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park used to be called the Rowes Bay Caravan Park until a little while ago and this caravan park is situated on one of the beaches in Townsville.
So a big day of driving is in store with a few stops on the way as per usual.
After packing the camper trailer up and saying goodbye to Hughenden Caravan Park we decided to spend a little bit of time in Hughenden before hitting the road.
Hughenden is a nice little town to do a walk down the main street.
You can park your caravan or camper trailer pretty easily on the main road too.
We parked down towards the end of the main street by the 35ft Comet Windmill called the Wirrila Mill.
This Comet has a fair bit of history behind it and also it is massive.
This mill could, in its day, pump in excess 250,000 gallons or 1 million litres of water per day with average winds.
6 of these were manufactured in Rockhampton and the rest were manufactured in Sydney.
This windmill was number 11 out of 15 that were ever made and was moved to its current place in 2008.
After checking it out we headed up the main street and into the Flinders Discovery Centre.
This centre was humming with tourists, in fact the town was abuzz with people around everywhere.
There are plenty of old buildings to look and murals as well.
And of course a few dinosaurs around too.
After our Hughenden walk through I went back to the car and drove back up to pick up the rest of the family and we headed off for Townsville at 11am.
More importantly, we left for Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park.
I have a story about Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park to tell you.
Before we left on our Outback Queensland Road Trip we pre-booked all the caravan parks and some of the bigger experiences too (Like the Outback Pioneers Big 3 Pass).
When booking the Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park I had phoned them just before lunch.
I had waited a day because I run out of time the day before, and it was lucky I had.
The weekend we wanted to book was the Townsville Supercars 400 weekend and the exact time I called them was just after someone had just cancelled a booking.
So we got the last campsite at Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park leading into this big weekend!
We were very lucky this happened and also that the wet weather held off too.
Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park phoned on the way to Townsville too.
They were just checking to see if we were worried if the site we had booked was backwards for our camper trailer.
No worries with the Hawk, we just unhitch off the tow ball and push it in backwards!
We stopped at Charters Towers for lunch and had a picnic in Lissner Park.
The park is a large heritage listed reserve that has Rotary Centenary Fountain, Commonwealth Fountain, a restored World War One guns, a Band Rotunda, a Yarning Circle, Memorials to William Hann and Jupiter Mosman, and of course, the Boer War Veterans Memorial Kiosk.
There are toilets too in Lissner Park, I thought I’d let you know.
So a great little spot to break up the drive, have something to eat, and stretch the legs.
When you drive to this park if you are going to have a picnic too, you will get to see the main centre of town and also a fair bit of other scenery too on the way to it.
It isn’t too hard to find your way out of town as well from here.
From Charters Towers there was roughly a few more hours to go on our drive.
A bit sad really coming to the piney end of our road trip.
But in saying that we have got a pretty full schedule in Townsville to get through.
Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park, we made it!
We arrived at Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park at 4pm.
The rest of the family went off to get some supplies and I set up the camper trailer.
First impressions of the Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park are very good.
They should be as you pay a little more to be on the beach and to have such a great caravan park at your disposal.
So we were excited to be staying here! And the park was full!
As you can see the Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park is a nice caravan park.
A few key points for you about this park
- Close to the beach
- Bitumen roads throughout the park
- No dust
- Amenities great
- Close to everything including The Strand
- Full to the brim but still spacious
- No mosquitoes
- Friendly staff
- Caravan and Camping Sites
- Cabins
- Swimming pool
- Tennis court
- Free Wifi
- Can book tours etc from office
- Great for kids
- Lots of space
I found out from another caravan park manager that Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park only started taking bookings about 18 months ago.
Lucky for us they did or we wouldn’t have got in at all!
They said it was just first in, first served prior to this which would’ve been stressful for a lot of people and staff too.
Anyway, I haven’t got a bad word to say about Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park other than we tried to extend our stay for a few extra days and they were booked out!
If you want to stay here, book early, you can have a look at availability here or below, “Rowes Bay Caravan Park”.
Time to set up our Jayco!
After setting up the Jayco it was time for settling into the night time routine of dinner, showers, and sleep.
We had homemade burgers tonight and chips from the fish and chip shop just down the road.
A few big days coming up for us in Townsville, The Strand, Magnetic Island, Castle Hill, a visit to Stocklands, hair cuts for the boys, and more.
There are worse places to sleep than in a Jayco Hawk, we will see what tomorrow brings.
Liked reading this?
Head to Day 13 here, Outback Queensland Road Trip Day 13.
Or you can head back to the start of our trip here, Outback Queensland Road Trip.
What did we do or see today?
Looked at the Big Comet Windmill
Walked up the main street of Hughenden
Visited the Flinders Discovery Centre in Hughenden
Flinders Discovery Centre
37 Gray St
Hughenden Qld 4821
Drive from Hughenden to Townsville
Stopped at Charters Towers for lunch
Set up the camper trailer at Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park
Where did we stay in Townsville?
Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park
46 Heatleys Parade
Belgian Gardens Qld 4810
P 1800 751 845
What distance did we drive today?
Hughenden to Townsville
Total travelled = 387 km
Tally of roadkills spotted for Outback Queensland Road Trip = 225
Liked reading this?
Head to Day 13 here, Outback Queensland Road Trip Day 13.
Or you can head back to the start of our trip here, Outback Queensland Road Trip.
