Rockhampton Ski Club Camping with river front views

On our leg up to Airlie Beach for a Whitsunday Yacht Hire adventure, we stayed at a heap of different camp sites, with varying levels of quality. Our worst night was next to a truck stop, and was a last resort after skipping a number of earlier rest areas.

After 1900km in 3 days, with two young kids in the back though, we were really glad to arrive at Rockhampton Ski Club, and stay for 3 nights to recover, and really get stuck into our Queensland adventures.

Why Rockhampton Ski Club?

We generally spend a fair bit of time looking around for camp sites, and our first choice for Rockhampton Camping was Kershaw Gardens, but this was ruled out by a photo of the sign that said you had to have a toilet installed in your vehicle. Now, looking at the CMCA regulations for grey and black water containment I think we probably do qualify, but its written differently to the sign at Kershaw gardens, so we gave it a miss.

As it turns out, the Rockhampton Ski Club was insanely quiet, with magic views and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer spot anyway.

Where is the Rockhampton Ski Club?

The ski club is located right on the Fitzroy River, roughly 15 minutes drive from Rockhampton centre.

What does it cost?

For an unpowered site, we paid $20 per night, which is pretty reasonable. If you book on Hipcamp, you’ll get stung more money, so go directly to the ski club.

Amenities at the Rockhampton Ski Club

You’ll find rubbish bins, toilets and showers at the Rockhampton Ski Club. The toilets were reasonable, and so were the showers, but they are certainly not 5 star caravan park ones, and you’d be very disappointed if that’s what you were expecting. They do the job, and despite being old and ‘interesting’ they are not overly fancy.

See more on our vlog

What’s the camping like?

I actually couldn’t believe the area we had to camp here. We were given spots right on the river, with spectacular views, and a nice breeze blowing. The powered section is opposite the amenities up the top and under a lot of shade, and whilst its nice, its not got the views that the unpowered section has.

Can you swim in the river?

I was really hanging out for a swim, and spoke to the caretaker, who said just stay close to the jetty. Initially I thought he was referring to the boat activity, and then I did some more reading online. There are saltwater crocodiles in the Fitzroy River, and whilst they are normally only seen much closer to the coast, they have been seen at the Ski Club, and when the mural on the wall is a lady skiing on a crocodile, one has to question whether its worth swimming.

I did speak to some locals who said they’d swim there without a second thought, but we didn’t. I’m kind of fond of my legs and arms, and want to keep them intact.

Mosquitos

One thing that I really didn’t like too much was the mosquitos, but so far we’ve found them common in a heap of different camp grounds in Queensland, and its not something specific to this camp site. I do think that the camping closer to the river (unpowered sites) were much worse in terms of the mosquitos than the top section, but they were a pain in the backside from just before dark for about an hour.

Even with a big Thermacell running, they were hungry, annoying little bugs that I took great pleasure in smearing on any possible surface I could find.

Would we stay here again?

Yep, we really liked this place. It was quiet, had great views and was a fantastic place to relax after 3 long days of driving. If you want a decent place to camp in Rockhampton, the Rockhampton Ski Club is certainly worth a look.

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