Posted August 29, 2023 about
September 14, 2022
The Mackay Marina sits in a deep basin, where long covered ramps angle up to the Mackay Marina Village which overlooks it. This village includes several apartment buildings, a few eateries, a fish market, and the marina office. An interesting landmark is the Pine Islet Lighthouse, the last functioning kerosene lighthouse in the world, restored and re-located here in the 80s.
What made this village uniquely attractive was the well-designed, curving lines of the apartment buildings, echoed by a waterfront walkway that meandered through topical landscaping and swaying palms. The feeling here was easy to sum up: resort-like.
Below, a gallery of photos of the marina village and the lighthouse (click any photo to enlarge).
We headed first to the marina office, got checked in and booked a car so we could later visit the city of Mackay, a few miles away. My excitement to see the fish market/restaurant soon turned to disappointment at finding a limited and unappealing selection of seafood. In the following days, my disappointment increased as all the village restaurants seemed to be circling the drain, not open when they said they’d be, or not open at all (at least two have since permanently closed).
There was a bar that looked nice enough, but their insistence on playing classic rock relics at high volume drove us away. I guess some of the local boomers, maybe starting to loose their hearing, don’t mind the noise. But I think businesses need to be mindful that musically dredging up old times doesn’t always lead to happy feelings. Even if they had turned down the volume, we would have avoided the place. The only thing sadder than poisoning oneself with alcohol is doing so while listening to Ted Nugent’s greatest hits.
We ended up getting a pizza from the fish market. Another sad thing was being at a Queensland fish market (Queensland is the seafood capital of the south pacific) and ordering pizza because it was the best looking thing offered.
Below, photos of the marina office, the fish restaurant, our pizza, and an ibis demonstrating how these birds got their nickname: bin chickens.
The pizza was OK, leaving us satisfied as we made our way to the boat. There, we opened a bottle of wine so we could assault our livers while watching great TV (all the while having control of the content and volume).
So the Mackay Marina Village was not the eatery hub I hoped it would be. I still looked forward to visiting the actual city of Mackay in hopes of finding interesting things there. We’d already mapped the location of a 31 Flavors (pralines and cream, here we come!) and Dan Murphy, the adult-beverage wonderland and happy place.
Meanwhile we’d settle in and relax, enjoying access to laundry facilities, plenty of water to wash off our salty boat, and not giving a hoot about the weather. –Cyndi
