Mackay, Queensland

We stopped at Mackay for a few days and caught up with fellow travellers who go there most years.
No photos of Mackay this time as there were many posted in the past.
This city is before you get to Proserpine and the Gunna Go Caravan Park going north and of course after Proserpine going south and of course we stay here on the way north and then on the way south..

A link to Botanic Gardens in Mackay in 2019

Another link to a lighthouse and more.

As we were leaving noticed this lady doing her Yoga in front of everyone.  We often see people doing their exercises of various kinds outside their caravans.

A few days in Mackay, Queensland

We moved further norther on the east coast of Australia to Mackay, a lovely city.
The caravan park is one we usually stay in and there were people there from the year before that we caught up with.

The lady drinking tea or coffee, well she's in her dressing gown, her husband took off to do some shopping in their motor home and left her there.  It did look rather strange so I took the opportunity to take a photo.
Then a sunset at the caravan park.

The marina at Mackay, Queensland.

Up on a hill, the lookout over the sea and beach.  People come here to see if any whales can be spotted making their journey north.

Little history of Mackay.

This past year in 2018 we visited Mackay once again which is on the Eastern side of Australia.

A little history on Mackay from Wikipedia.
'One of the first white settlers to travel through the Mackay region was Captain James Cook, who reached the Mackay coast on June 1, 1770 and named several local landmarks, including Cape Palmerston, Slade Point and Cape Hillsborough.  It was during this trip that the Endeavour's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, briefly recorded seeing Aboriginal people.

In 1918, Mackay was hit by a major tropical cyclone causing severe damage and loss of life with hurricane force winds and a large storm surge. The resulting death toll was further increased by an outbreak of bubonic plaque.
The largest loss of life in an Australian aircraft accident was a B17 aircraft, with 40 of 41 on board perishing, on June 14, 1943, after departing from Mackay Aerodrome, and crashing in the Bakers Creek area.

Down by the Marina is this lighthouse and to the right several restaurants .

Just an odd sculpture I suppose you would call it with greenery growing.

The above photo shows the way to some apartments that over look the marina and not too expensive at that.

The way to get to your boat.

Can't remember what the fruit is called, maybe someone might know?

Sunset and trees

The Caravan Park sunset with the palm trees, the park was nearly empty most mornings by 10am and filled up by 5pm most days.
At the moment Mackay is having flouds. Australia is such a diverse country, one end of it has floods, the other end bush fires.

The beach below is just around the corner from Black Beach as you can see the tide was out.
The boat looks worse for wear, but I guess someone loves it.

Black Beach, Mackay Queensland.

Have been to Mackay many times when travelling and we could see this large expanse of beach but never knew which road to take - finally we did and was rather disappointed.  The beach is far below the road, the parking area spaces is small, but then again I expect people don't often swim in the sea here due to the creatures that will mostly likely sting us.

Building some steps down to the beach.

The car park.

Mackay Botanic Gardens.

The opening of The Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens was in May 24, 2003 and much has been done to improve the gardens since then.

Continuing our holiday in 2018.  These gardens are in Queensland.

The first photo is one of the entrances.  Found it pleasant sitting on the seats provided throughout the gardens, it was a warm day in winter at 30 deg C.

Date palms and one of the walkways to the gardens plus the cafe which is not open early in the week.

A way to the gardens below

Along the way

A lagoon and some flowers

From Bowen to Mackay, Queensland

After spending several weeks in Bowen we headed back down to Mackay to stop for a few days.

The photos below are of Slade Point and it's new building.  Been up there several times to look at the view and to watch the whales going north in Winter, this past winter we did it once again as it had been closed for about 1 year.
We saw some whales and came across some friends who used to live near home in Tasmania.
It's been several years since we had seen them and by sheer chance they were where we were, the photo of them their dog and one of their grandchildren is below.
We ended up having dinner at their house that evening, so good to catch up on all the news.

Photos are of the sea in and around Mackay and also the Wharf.

Mackay Botanic Gardens 2

More photos on Mackay Botanic Gardens.