Mackay

Queensland (Central East Coast)

Mackay
Mackay, located halfway between Brisbane and Cairns is surrounded magnificent beaches and country charm. The streets are lined with towering Royal Palms and ferns with colouful parrots giving the town a unique tropical appearance. With a population of 40 000 the town is an important centre for the sugar industry shipping almost one third of Australia's total production.

There is easy access to the Great Barrier Reef, and beautiful mainland beaches and the spectacular Eungela , and Hillsborough National Parks are close by. Some 360km north of Rockhampton along a famously unexciting stretch of the Bruce Highway, the fertile Pioneer Valley makes the MACKAY area a pleasant break from the otherwise dry country between Bundaberg and Townsville. Despite encounters with aggressive Juipera Aborigines, John Mackay was impressed enough to settle the valley in 1861, and within four years the city was founded and the first sugar cane plantations were established. Today Mackay radiates a confidence built on sugar and mining operations centred inland on the Bowen Basin coalfields; migrant communities common to the north rub shoulders in town and it’s not unusual to hear English, Pidgin and Maltese spoken within earshot of each other. Now marketing itself as “The Natural North”, Mackay provides some welcome relief from the east coast “backpackers pub crawl”, and with its proximity to unspoilt beaches, plus the delights of Eungella and Cape Hillsborough National Parks, this is not an area you’ll want to miss. Cane plantations surrounding the city offer the chance to tour a mill or photograph a cane fire, while offshore Brampton Island and local reefs promise similar attractions to the Whitsundays but without the volume of tourists. Sugar cane on the tropical coast
Sugar cane, grown in an almost continuous belt between Bundaberg and Mossman, north of Cairns, is the tropical coast’s economic pillar of strength. Introduced in the 1860s, the crop subtly undermined the racial ideals of British colonialists when farmers, planning a system along the lines of the southern United States, employed Solomon Islanders – Kanakas – to work the plantations. Though only indentured for a few years, and theoretically given wages and passage home when their term expired, Kanakas on plantations suffered greatly from unfamiliar diseases, while the recruiting methods used by “Blackbirder” traders were at best dubious and often slipped into wholesale kidnapping. Growing white unemployment and nationalism through the 1880s, rather than any humanitarian considerations, eventually forced the government to ban blackbirding and repatriate the islanders. Those allowed to stay were joined over the next fifty years by immigrants from Italy and Malta, who mostly settled in the far north and today form large communities scattered between Mackay and Cairns. After cane has been planted in November, the land is quickly covered by a blanket of dusky green. Before cutting, seven months later, the fields are traditionally fired to burn off leaves and maximize sugar content – though the practice is dying out. Cane fires often take place at dusk and are as photogenic as they are brief; the best way to be at the right place at the right time is to ask at a mill. Cut cane is then transported to the mills along a rambling rail network. The mills are incredible buildings, abandoned for half the year, with giant pipes and machinery looming out of makeshift walls. Cane is juiced for raw sugar or molasses, as the market dictates; crushed fibre becomes fuel for the boilers that sustain the process; and ash is returned to the fields as fertilizer. During operations the mills belch out steam around the clock and acquire a strange organic quality when they’re lit up at night. You can get to grips with Mackay’s sugar industry at Polstone Cane Farm (tours May–Dec Mon, Wed & Fri 1.30pm; tel 07/4959 7298; $12), where you get a rundown from a tractor-towed wagon; contact them for directions or to arrange a pick-up. Farleigh Mill (tel 07/4957 4727; $12), north of Mackay, is open for tours during the crushing season (June–Nov Mon–Fri 1pm), and lay on a very popular evening tour (Wed 7pm). Cape Hillsborough and Newry Island
Cape Hillsborough, about an hour’s drive north of Mackay, is the site of a pretty beachfront national park with tame wildlife. Offshore from here are the Newry Islands, home to the area’s last remaining koalas. Reeforest Tours and Jungle Johno offer trips from Mackay to the national park. If you’re driving, head towards Townsville and take the signposted Seaforth Road from The Leap. This takes its name from events of 1866, when a settler was killed by Aborigines and the police drove an Aboriginal woman over the cliff during reprisals. The woman turned out to be holding a baby in her arms which miraculously survived and was adopted by a local family. The Leap, one of Mackay’s oldest hotels, is right underneath, and you can contest the details of the story over a cold beer if you’re interested. From here the road passes the inevitable canefields on the way to Mount Jukes, before descending to coastal flats. The road to Cape Hillsborough starts a couple of kilometres before Seaforth township and branches before the park, the right fork heading to the main area, the left terminating at undeveloped Smalleys Beach. Brampton Island and Credlin Reef
Brampton Island, 1hr offshore the Mackay area, and the adjacent, uninhabited Carlisle Island are thickly wooded, their rocky shorelines dotted with pretty coral beaches. Two hours beyond Brampton, Credlin Reef is the most touristed local dive site, complete with pontoon, but there’s a fair amount to see, including shallow coral outcrops and a one-metre-wide sea anemone with resident clownfish and harlequin tuskfish. More adventurous divers should arrange in advance with Mackay Adventure Divers for access to the nearby Catacombs. Getting there and around
Mackay’s centre straddles the crossroads of Victoria Street and Sydney Street, with the bus station a short walk away on Milton Street. Both trains (station on Connors Road, off Milton Street along Boundary Road or Paradise Street) and planes arrive south of town; a taxi will set you back around $8 into town and $25 to Bucasia (for some beachfront accommodation). The tourist information centre (tel 07/4952 2677) is inconveniently located 3km south of town along the Nebo Road (Bruce Highway), but you can get help with bookings from accommodation or the bus station. Eating
Mackay has plenty of good, cheap places to eat. There are snack bars all around the centre, or try one of the places below for a restaurant meal. Downtown pubs all offer lunch specials – around $3 for a full meal as does Mackay Leagues Club. Angelo’s, 27 Sydney St. Mediterranean cooking and genuine wood-fired pizzas. Cactus Jack’s, Victoria St (east end). Extraordinarily popular Tex-Mex joint which refuses bookings. Turn up early and prepare to have a few drinks at the bar while waiting for a table. Coco’s Bar & Grill (at the Austral Hotel), Victoria St (bus station end). A carnivore’s dream, with marinated grilled steaks in 600g, 800g and 1kg servings for $15–20. Globe Cafe, 36 Sydney St. A good range of coffees and cakes, plus an international menu that includes Belgian beer stew and plenty of salads. Open 10am–11pm; closed Mon evening. Sorbello’s, 168 Victoria St. Good choice for pastas and the typical range of Italian dishes for around $20 per person. Lunch specials Mon–Fri; open for dinner 7 days. Toong Tong Thai, 10 Sydney St. Long-established Thai restaurant and takeaway with impeccable food, authentically hot and spicy if requested. Around $20 a head for a full meal. Accommodation
Nebo Road is a virtual landing strip of neon motel signs. For sun and sand, take the highway towards Townsville and then turn off and follow the signs for Bucasia. Whitsunday Waters Resort Maps
Mackay Area (Capricorn Coast) Mackay Area (Capricorn Coast)