Stopover in Mackay

18th to 23rd September, 2021

John and I love Summer Breeze however, it’s always good to have a little sojourn on-shore – a “land-change” rather than a “sea-change.” Sometimes it takes a day or two to get rid of the wobbly sea legs. Tallis always loves it.

On land we get to see friends, check out local sights, go to restaurants and do the never-ending, ongoing boat maintenance. This visit to Mackay our old mate Tim was kind enough to invite us to stay at his house.

In the past John and I had driven through Mackay but not taken the time to check out the region. Tim offered to take us to Eungella National Park. Sitting in the back seat, I spent the whole hour and

half drive tightly clutching the back of Johns chair due to the wildly erratic driving style that Tim seems to enjoy. We went to a viewing spot in the park where we saw lots of turtles but unfortunately no platypus. We did not continue to the dam as I couldn't bear to go on any more steep and curvy roads and I suspect Tim wanted to get to the pub. Desperate for something to calm my rattled nerves we stopped at the local, the Eungella Chalet…what a great view… and a had lunch and a drink.

On the way back Tim showed us more of his favorite locals (he has a lot) at Gargatt and Mirami. I would describe the clientele at these pubs "interesting."

The following day Tim took us to some more favorite places like Bunnings and BCF and then to the Magpies Club for lunch. As we left about 20 young blokes dressed in 70’s style tennis gear (wigs, very short white shorts, rackets) got out of a few taxi vans ready to start what looked like a big day.

As our host was working out of town for the week, John and I had the house to ourselves. Most of our time was spent doing boat stuff – cleaning, maintenance, re-provisioning, trying to find someone to fix our wind instrument (bloody thing stops and starts at will) and

someone to look at our outboard motor which also stops and starts at will (still to this very day). Yamaha couldn’t give us a spot for a few weeks so repairs had to be put off. There is such a skills shortage in the marine service industry.

We were so busy we hardly took any photos which is very unusual for me.

John and I had a good look around checking out all the shopping centres and got our second Covid shot at the showground (so quick). We went to all the beach suburbs up to Black’s Beach and tried out the Lighthouse pub.

Heather Smith, who pops up in the most surprising places, rang us to say she was moving to Mackay for a while. We met up and had a

really tasty lunch and great conversation at the Grazing Goat.

On the 21st September, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a juicy steak and some asparagus. It has been a big year with both our 60th birthdays and the anniversary. Life is very low key now - no big parties.

At the end of the week, Tim returned to his house and we moved back onto the boat all prepared and ready for our trip further south below the cyclone zone.

Next: Passage: Mackay to Great Keppel Island