Posted September 3, 2023
about September 15 – 18, 2022
It was lovely to wake up and see swallows darting around our boat in the Mackay Marina. These birds can be found pretty much everywhere we’ve been, but they always bring me joy whether swooping around our former home near San Diego or our current home at sea. We especially enjoy it when they perch on our lifelines, seeming to know that we appreciate their presence and would never disturb them.
Our car rental date was a couple of days away, but we met some fellow cruisers who kindly invited us to ride to Mackay with them. It was nice to get a taste of the cruising community again. We grabbed a quick lunch together before splitting off to do various tasks, planning to meet up later for the trip back to the marina.
My impression of Mackay was that it’s more of a large town than a city, with low buildings and a flat landscape. The central area is attractive with parkways and trees, but this rapidly diminishes as the lush green parkways give way to the naturally arid surroundings.
A trek to 31 Flavors took us through urban sprawl that was pretty unappealing, but it was worth it to get some our favorite ice cream from America (OK OK, I guess all is cream is our favorite!). So many countries have Haagen Daz or Ben and Jerry’s, but only Oz (so far) has 31 Flavors.
Update: There are two 31 Flavors here in Manado, Indonesia!
Two days later we had our own rental car and ventured back to Mackay for a round of errands and provisioning. Our jaunt was a whirlwind that included a cheeseburger lunch, visits to Mitre 10 (a Home Depot-like store), Dan Murphy to stock up on wine, Bunnings (another Home Depot-like store), Chemist Warehouse (a drug store), Jaycar (reminiscent of Radio Shack when they were relevant), 31 Flavors (of course), and a big grocery store.
The weird moment of the day came when I wanted to purchase some honey produced on the nearby island of Keswick. My guidebook claimed the flora and fauna of this island makes its honey uniquely delicious, and it could be acquired at the visitor’s center in Mackay.
We finally found the center, and I asked if they had Keswick Island honey. Well, you’d think I was trying to order Starbuck’s house blend at a local artisanal coffee house! I was informed in no uncertain terms that Mackay has plenty of bee farms producing fine honey, and why would they carry honey from some other place?! Oh dear, I’d definitely offended the man working there. I enthused that I was sure Mackay honey is wonderful as I backed away slowly, slinking back to the car with my tail between my legs. Thank you Queensland guidebook for that!
As we drove back to the marina I could see the clouds building—it looked like we were going to have a thunderstorm, a common late-afternoon occurrence in Australia. Sure enough, the thunder started as I was preparing dinner. We kept our curtain open so we could see the lightening followed by wonderful rain! While lightening is a potential hazard to boats, I still love afternoon thunderstorms.
This was our final night in Mackay; the next morning would mark the beginning of our cruise to the Whitsunday Islands through the islands that trail south of them. I was simultaneously excited and stressed about this, excited to finally sail through this renowned cruising mecca and stressed by choosing between the many places to stop. Considering Rich’s lukewarm response to Queensland cruising thus far, I felt I should raise the bar higher in determining which islands would merit a stop and which we could bypass.
I’ll finish this post with a photo of one of Mackay’s lovely sunsets.
–Cyndi
