Mackay day 2

This morning was again a fairly casual morning.

Abut 0800, Drew, Angie and me went off for a cycle ride around parts of Mackay. We left their home and wound our way through the streets to get to the Pioneer River. From there we cycled along the river passing various landmarks like St. Patricks Church and its school.

Then we moved on and soon passed by the expanding Sugarland Shopping Centre. It will be very large when it is complete. There is an approximate population of around 130, 000 people here. Next we passed the Mackay Hospital that is also undergoing a massive expansion.

A little while later, we toured through the Mackay Botanic Gardens. These Gardens almost join onto the Tourist Information Centre at the southern entrance to Mackay. There has been and continues to be a lot of work happening in the Gardens. Across from where we were cycling is the extension to the Gardens and we noticed heavy earth moving gear adjusting the landscape.

We returned from our ride along the same track. It was very invigorating but most importantly, I enjoyed the company of Angie and Drew showing me the sites of Mackay. While we were cycling, Prue was out walking around the general area of their home. On the way back, we crossed over a pathway and I did  not hit it at 90 degrees and skidded and had a minor fall. I only grazes my calf a little and rubbed a bit of skin off my knee. I was luck to fall into a small hedge which broke the fall. It could have been much worse.

Mackay is a service and dormitory city for the ever expanding mining industry that is mostly to the west and inland. This is why so much is happening in these northern cities.

Looking south towards to Sugar loader

Angie and me with the Whitsunday Islands in the background

Sugar loader

Some of the apartments near the beach.

Later in the afternoon, Angie took Prue and me for a drive around the foreshores and also through the  CBD of Mackay. It just reinforced to me how big this growing city is. So many schools and parks along with associated infrastructure.


Then we all went to dinner at Sorbellos Italian Restaurant. It was a really lovely meal. We all had different meals. This would have to be on a par with Megalomania in Yeppoon that we went to last weekend. When we returned home, we said farewell to Angie as she has to go back on shift at Rio Tinto's Hail Creek Mine to supervise a training session