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Mackay, Qld



Mackay Marina


Main shopping precinct


Mackay Mines Building


Vernon Rocks


Brampton Island resort


Cape Hillsborough


Eungella National Park

The centre of Australia's largest sugar growing district, Mackay is the point of departure for a number of barrier reef destinations and for air and launch services to Hook, Brampton, Lindeman and Whitsunday islands to the north.

Where is it?: Queensland: Capricorn Coast. Mackay is 970 km north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River, and 150km south of Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays.

Things to see and do:

The Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens showcases the beautiful tropical flora from Mackay and the Whitsundays, along with other Australian native and exotic plants from similar climates around the world. More >>

Lookouts: Mount Basset lookout overlooks the harbour; The Rotary lookout is located at North Mackay.

Surrounding area:

Brampton Islands National Park, at the southern entrance to the Whitsunday Passage, consists of Brampton and Carlisle islands. Rocky headlands dotted with hoop pines, open grasslands, woodlands, sheltered bays and long sandy beaches make these islands some of the most scenic off the Queensland coast.

Set in mist-shrouded mountains west of Mackay, Eungella National Park (80km west) is one of Queensland’s most ecologically diverse parks. Much of the park is wilderness, dissected by rugged gorges.

Sarina Sugar Shed is a miniature working sugar mill and distillery conducting tours on the Queensland Sugar Industry where three generations of farming come to life.

The picturesque beach settlement of Ball Bay (35km north) offers secluded camping on a small grassy campground. Armstrong Beach (46km south) is renowned for its fishing and prawning, both of which are best attempted from the beach.

Cape Hillsborough (49km north) is one of the most scenic mainland locations on the central Queensland coast; it features rock-strewn, sandy beaches, hoop pine-dotted hillsides plunging towards the sea, subtropical rainforest and mangrove-fringed wetlands. But what visitors like best is the rare treat of viewing wallabies on the beach around sunrise or late evenings. They go down to the water's edge to nibble seed pods that have been washed up onto the beach overnight.
One of the finest walks in the area is the Beachcomber Cove Track. It starts from the northern end of the Cape Hillsborough picnic area and passes through open eucalypt forest and remnant rainforest with hoop pines, ferns and vines. The track ends in Beachcomber Cove.

Cape Palmerston National Park (115km south east) features sandy dunes, unspoilt beaches and rocky headlands, with Mount Funnel towering to 344 metres.


History: One of the first Europeans to travel through the Mackay region was Lieut. James Cook, who reached the Mackay coast on 1st June 1770 and named several local landmarks, including Cape Palmerston, Slade Point and Cape Hillsborough. It was during this trip that The Endeavour's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, briefly recorded seeing Aborigines. The City of Mackay was later founded on Yuibera traditional lands. Although several other maritime explorers sailed through the waters off Mackay, it was not until 1860 when moves were made to claim the region's virgin pastures.
Two eager young men, John McCrossin and Scottish-born John Mackay, assembled a party of eight, including an Aborigine named Duke, and left Armidale, New South Wales in January 1860. Two men left the party in Rockhampton while the others reached the top of the range overlooking the Mackay district's Pioneer Valley in May. After descending into the valley and exploring almost to the mouth of the river, which they named the Mackay, the members of the party selected land and began the trip back to civilisation. On the return journey, they all suffered from a fever that claimed the life of Duke.
Mackay returned to the area with 1200 head of cattle in January 1862 and founded Greenmount station. Although the other members of his first expedition had marked runs, none but Mackay took up their claims. However, Mackay remained in possession of Greenmount for less than two years. Ownership transferred to James Starr in September 1864 and, despite Mackay's protests, he never succeeded in regaining control. Greenmount passed through a number of owners' hands before being bought by AA Cook in 1913. Before leaving the district, John Mackay chartered the vessel Preston, which landed stores from him on the riverbank about a kilometre upstream from the present Hospital Bridge. Mackay made a survey of the river and the chart was sent to Rockhampton. The Port of Mackay was then officially declared a port of entry.
In 1866, a white settler was killed by a local Aboriginal tribe which was then hunted down by the police. A mother, Kowaha, with her infant girl, was chased and pinned between the top of a cliff and her white pursuers where, according to legend, she made the decision to jump to her death rather than be caught. Her baby miraculously survived and was raised by local white settlers. The cliff is now known as The Leap: a reminder of the darker side of Queensland's past.
In 1918, Mackay was hit by a major Tropical Cyclone causing severe damage and loss of life with hurricane-force winds and a large storm surge. The largest loss of life in an Australian aircraft accident, with 29 deaths, occurred on 10th June 1960 when a Fokker Friendship flew into the sea five nautical miles east of Mackay Airport. As a result of this crash "black boxes" became compulsory in Australian aeroplanes.


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Mackay Region Tourism
Sunzine: Mackay

Where Is It?: Queensland: Capricorn Coast