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Blogs from Mackay, Queensland, Australia, Oceania
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April 20th 2013
Hi all! So, today was the longest ride (distance-wise, but not time-wise) that I've done so far. The trip was 732 km, or 455 miles, and it took about 8 hours and 45 minutes. It would have been faster, but there was a lot (A LOT!!!!) of road work on the highway from Hervey Bay to Rockhampton. It seemed like every 10-20 km a lane was closed so they were only letting one way go at a time. Not much sucks worse than just sitting on the bike in the sun when it's hot and humid! Well, I guess a lot sucks worse, actually. :) It was a pretty nice day, actually. Partly cloudy, probably low 80s, humid. But it felt good going down the road. Once I got past Rockhampton, the road and scenery was ... read more
December 4th 2012
The weather is really starting to heat up. We got to 39 degrees today with about 50% humidity. We are loving the air-conditioner in the Eagle! We headed for Mackay today. We had a stop at the Capricorn Caves but decided not to go in as we had to wait about 40 mins for the next tour. We then went back into the town and Peter got himself a crab sanga (sandwich for all you non aussie Qld speaking people). It put him back $8.00 but he said it was well worth it. We then had another stop at Flaggy Rocks for Peter to get one of their famous homemade icecreams. Boy what an icecream! Note the theme here - Peter eats I just watch. We then stopped at Koumala Hotel for lunch. Peter had been ... read more
Camilla Beach-Mackay-Airlie Beach-Alligator Creek
Published: October 23rd 2012Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Mackay
October 22nd 2012
22nd October 2012, Woke up at Camilla Beach and went for a morning walk along the beach. Decided to leave early and headed towards Mackay. Spent a refreshing afternoon at the Blue Water Lagoon in Mackay. After lunch we headed off to Airlie Beach where Daniel and I spent part of our Honeymoon here. It is just as amazing as it was then, maybe a little more crowded now. The area seems to be very popular with backpakers. We had a beautiful Thai dinner with a view of the sunset by the bay. The girls had Cold Rock ice cream for dessert and then we headed off to our next campsite, Alligator Creek. Of course, there had to be drama before we got there. Daniel stopped for a coffee and heard Taylor hissing. He discovered one ... read more
Mackay, QLD - Some photos, again.
Published: October 12th 2012Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Mackay
October 12th 2012
Hi again, everybody! I'd first like to express my deepest sympathy for those of you who have been experiencing the cold wrath of snow already, and I'd also like to apologize for the lack of blog entries we've had as of late. There really is not much to report here. We've been working, sometimes, swimming many times and eating all the time. Fortunately for us, October has brought us heat in the low 30's rather than snow, and we've been spending as much time sunbathing as possible. Which is why I will make this short - I want to get out by the pool and spend some quality time with my book. Everyone seems to be wondering what we did to celebrate Thanksgiving (Thanks for making me very hungry with all the talk of turkey and ... read more
September 27th 2012
Well, there isn't much new to report since our last entry, seeing as life in Mackay has just become a routine for us. During the day we walk around the town for a few hours, do some grocery shopping, cooking, and relaxing. and work keeps us busy during the evening hours. Slowly, the days are getting hotter and hotter here, and frighteningly enough, it's only the beginning of their spring. The bats here are as big as foxes (which is why they call them "flying foxes") and that's been a constant scare for me during evening hours. Around 5 o'clock every evening, the rainbow lorakeets come out (beautiful colourful birds that we mistakened for loud parrots at first) and I've been meaning to get some pictures of them. Anyways, I have a couple of photos to ... read more
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September 25th 2012
We apologize for not having updated our blog, but the causes of that have been lack of available wi-fi and a lack of excitement. We have been settling into Mackay and have found jobs at a local restaurant by the name of Ribs & Rumps. It is a part of the new Caneland Mall, and as such is quite an expensive place. Incredibly busy as well, it keeps us on our toes while we scurry back and forth. I've even gotten to bartend a couple of nights, which is something I hope to do more of. It's good experience to have. Other than that, we've been playing a lot of Mario Kart on our hosts' Wii and have wandered around town scouting out the city. It's a decent, little place with a population of about 80,000, ... read more
September 19th 2012
Rockhampton to Mackay is approximately 6 hours of driving with little to see in between apart from gum trees and plantations of sugar cane but we pulled over for lunch and fortunately were lucky to hit a spot right on the coast to enjoy the view. We are attempting to use the Camp6 book we have purchased for free camping sites as much as possible but as they are not usually right in the middle of most towns we stayed in a camping ground in the centre of Mackay for the night and made use of the endless hot water to have a wonderful shower seeing as we were paying for it. Mackay seems a lovely place and has a 19km bike trail passing through all the highlights such as the botanical gardens, marina, environmental mangrove ... read more
September 17th 2012
From Bundaberg we camped the night by a free rest area with at least 40 other motorhome, caravans and trents at Calliope just outside Gladstone and had a good chin wag with our neighbours before being chased indoors by the many mosquitos. We continued on the next morning to Rockhampton and spent most of the day there visiting the very impressive botanical gardens with its huge bird walk in bird aviary. They also have a small zoo and even more surprising it was all free! Next stop was Emu Park, a very beautiful coastal area east of Rocky before moving further up the coast to Yepoon where we stayed the night at a friend's house hooked up to their power. Emma put on a lovely meal and breakfast the next day so duly refreshed we took ... read more
September 16th 2012
After an incredibly long, 18 hour bus trip, we are finally settled in Mackay. We arrived shortly after 7 this morning, picked up by our Filipino friends Lilibeth & Jerry, who definitely did not have to wake up early especially for us. They showed us our room, and we had a quick, four hour nap. I didn't even feel my head hit the pillow, I was so exhausted. After we woke up, they drove us through town to the mall, where we found a few job openings that we are hopeful for. A short drive to the marina had us meet up with Jerry's boss, with whom we had a good chat with. Besides a couple hours of Karaoke with Jerry, there's nothing much else to report. But, I've finally a chance to upload photos, so ... read more
