Exploring Mackay

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Tuesday evening we walked one block into town and went to Sorbello"s Italian restaurant for dinner. The place looked promising as it was three quarters fullfull and seemed popular, A very with-it waitress was assigned our table and her service was excellent, recommending wine and allowing us a taste before accepting her recommendation. The menu was also extensive but I settled for a small Fettucine Crab meat and Fletcher chose the Gnocchi seafood. After a long wait the dishes came but Fletcher's was cold. The waitress apologised and got the manager who explained they had a new chef and would we like to have the dish made again. Fletcher just asked for it to be heated. Back it came to find the gnocchi was very chewy and large, not the delicate texture real gnocchi can be. Meanwhile, my Fettucine was hot but it was hard to find the crabmeat and there was little in the way of sauce. A pity!! Back to our room and then Debbie came over for a nightcap. We drank some red and enjoyed catching up on each others news.



The next morning we both decided we would have an easy day. Having been on the move for 5 days we needed some downtime. Debbie wanted to have lunch with us as she was leaving the next day, so we stayed in our room for the morning, Fletcher updating his ranking lists while I wrote my previous blog . Debbie dropped by at 12 and we, then, went in search of a nice place to eat. I had found a restaurant called Oscar's cafe and bar on the internet and as Debbie's dog is called Oscar she thought it a good place to go. It was about a 10 minute walk, but when we got there it was closed with a sign saying; "Have plenty of food and drink but no staff"" A sign of the times. We walked back to Wood Street and followed my Google map directions to a place called The Dispensary. This was an excellent choice.We were greeted and seated by a nice young waiter and presented with a very interesting menu. No schnitzels or battered fish at this place. The wine list was on a tablet and Fletcher ordered a bottle of The Other Wine Co Pinot Gris. Very nice.I ordered the Gnocchi with shredded lamb, zucchini and goats cheese while Debbie settled for the Broad Bean and soft cheese Rotolo. Fletcher wanted the Spatchcock but they were out of that so he settled for the Reef Fish. All were delicious, with my gnocchi, soft and delicate, mixing well withe sauce and lamb. A real find. We enjoyed it all so much that Fletch and I decided to indulge in the tempting desserts on offer.I had the Rhubarb and Ruby chocolate Panacotta while Fletcher chose the Dark Chocolate Peanut and Buttermilk Trifle!! Yummo!

We bade farewell to Debbie and returned to the room where I had a nap and Fletcher immersed himself in his stats. We were so sated that we did not need much for dinner so we had toast and vegemite and stayed in. Travelling and eating well can be exhausting!!!

Thursday morning there was little of interest at the track so we wanted to see a little more of Mackay. It is a city of 75,000 inhabitants and I had not realised how large it was. We set out in the car to explore some of the coastline. We drove to Slade Point where there was Lambert's Lookout. This gave us an excellent view along the coast and out to the Smith Islands with some great scenery and a glimpse of sandy beaches. Then we drove to Mackay Harbour and proceeded along an extensive breakwater which protected the Marina there. We counted 10 ships waiting at anchor for their turn to enter and unload or load up. The export from here is mainly sugar. Tug boats were heading out to bring them into port. The Marina was extensive with many private yachts at anchor.It was a cool morning with a strong wind, putting a chill on the day in spite of the sunshine.

We then headed to the track to see the rest of the day's events. Again it was great to catch up with many friends, including Atmah Maharaj from Fiji,(he now lives in Brisbane), Matt Mahon and Brian and Margaret Smith as well as seeing Bob Snow, Josephine Pinto and others from the day before. We watched with Brent Jones from Norfolk as his daughter competed in the Hammer Throw. She is only 16 and has been training for a couple of months only but she threw a PB which was great. Fletcher has been particularly chuffed that some coaches have sought him out. PHil Henderson came to chat on the Tuesday. Fletch had been his Team Coach back in 1986 when he was in the National Junior squad going to the World Juniors in Athens. Yesterday, Paul Cleary, who was a triple jumper at the AIS when Fletcher was coaching, also found him and they had a long chat. It was chilly out there as I had not taken a jacket, so late in the day we left to come back to the motel.



We set out about 7pm to find somewhere to eat. For lunch we had a sausage at the track, so were in need of something of substance. After walking around the block we settled on Let's Do Greek which was recommended on Trip Advisor. This was a very pleasantly decorated restaurant, in Greece's colours of white and blue. It was also full, so augured well for the food. The friendly proprietor set up a table for us and we soon had the menus. He encouraged us to share and pointed out the Seafood Platter special. Though this was deigned, it said, for one person, he was happy for us to share. He also recommended that we start with a typical fried cheese dish. So, guided by him, we tucked in, washing it down with a Minchenbury Pinot Gris. The cheese was delicious and the seafood platter, generous. Chatting to our host about Greece was also entertaining. A very good night in all.

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