Clareview is one of my favourite stops along the Bruce Highway. It is the first time since the Gold Coast that the Highway comes right to the ocean and after driving through long stretches of fairly ordinary cattle country Clareview and its ocean views is a welcome sight.

I remember stopping here when it was a free camp in 1985 with Kathryn and brother John on our Cairns trip. Not much has changed except that the free camping has been replaced by a caravan park. The caravan park is ok though with plenty of open space for unpowered camp sites at reasonable rates, there is even a bar for afternoon schnapps.

It is located conveniently between Gladstone and Bowen as the third stop in the four day drive from Ballina to Bowen. The beach has very big tides and it is a good stroll around the extensive sand flats and rock platforms at low tide.

After a couple of cloudy days at Clareview I observed that my battery storage was dropping even though I estimated that I was getting more power in than what was going out. I resolved to replace the inverter which I knew from Empire Vale was not operating properly.

I also resolved to lose the kayak and all accessories. The decision to buy the kayak was well intentioned but as it turned out, not practical. I certainly did not want to have an unused kayak strapped to the back of the bus while I circumnavigated the continent.