I mentioned in my last post about staying in Agnes Water because there are large gaps along the coast with no Airbnb’s. This was certainly the case as we continued our journey north, driving 7 hours to the town of Mackay. Slade Point is a coastal suburb of Mackay, located about 9km north of the CBD. It’s a peninsula suburb offering views of the Coral Sea to the east and Slade Bay to the west. It’s also one of the few places in the region where you can watch the sunrise over the ocean and the sunset over the water from the same suburb. It has a relaxed, slightly “retro” coastal feel compared to the more modern developments in nearby Northern Beaches. While Slade Point has a population of around 3,500 residents, urban Mackay’s population is roughly 85,000 so there are a lot of amenities within a short drive of where we are staying.
What is Mackay’s claim to fame? The town serves as the central service hub for the Bowen Basin, a massive geological region covering approx 60,000 square kilometers. It contains the largest coal reserves in Australia and is the world’s single largest source of high-grade metallurgical (coking) coal used for steel production, the demand for this specific type of coal remains very high. Located 40km south of Mackay is Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay, two of the largest coal export facilities in the world, shipping millions of tonnes of coal annually to markets like India, Japan and South Korea. What we found interesting is Hay Point has a computer controlled sprinkler system used for dust suppression and to maintain the water content in the coal stockpiles. The Bowen Basin and the port are joined by a highly sophisticated, electrified rail network. Heavy-haul trains, some over 2km long and carrying up to 10,000 tonnes of coal, run continuously from the inland mines to the coast. This rail link is considered one of the most efficient industrial corridors in the Southern Hemisphere.
Mackay has more gyms than we have ever seen for such a small town! We ended up joining a place called Fitness Cartel and I have to say it’s one of the funkiest and nicest gyms we have ever been in. The locker room looks like it belongs in a 5* resort and the very large weight room has amazing murals and lighting that changes from purple to red to blue to green…we’ve never seen anything like it before, and I loved it. This 7,000 sq ft gym also has a spin studio, a pilates reformer studio and a pickleball court. A one week membership cost AUD $69 each and was so worth it. Attached to the gym is a wellness center that costs extra but has red light therapy, oxygen therapy, compression therapy, saunas and magnesium plunge pools. It’s such a cool place you want to go every day 💪
Lamberts Beach and Lookout is Slade Point’s crown jewel. The lookout is the perfect vantage point for panoramic views of the coastline and whale watching during the winter migration.
Just beyond Lamberts Lookout is the Slade Point Water Tower. It has been painted with a Humpback Whale and its calf, becoming a popular spot for photographers and tourists.
Slade Point Reserve covers 73 hectares and protects one of the last remaining areas of coastal dunes and paperbark wetlands in the region. There are several walking trails including the Kommo Toera Trail, a 1km out and back trail that meanders through ancient paperbark forests. The Weeping Paperbark is one of the few trees that survive being ‘knee-deep’ in water. The shaded canopy provided by the forest along with the high water table has created ideal conditions for the development of an extensive colony of Swamp Water Fern, which is locally rare. It was quiet and surreal walking along the boardwalk through the wetlands. When we researched this trail we noted that all reviews mention the mosquitos and sand flies are ‘legendary’ and bug spray was absolutely necessary. We covered up from head to toe and I made use of my fly net for face protection, feeling a bit silly all decked out like that when we saw about 10 mosquitos during the entire walk 😂
Swamp Water Ferns
On the drive to Mackay we passed miles upon miles of sugar cane fields. Queensland accounts for approx 95% of Australia’s cane sugar production. The town of Sarina is 45 min south of Mackay and the Sugar Shed has guided tours explaining the process of harvesting the cane, extracting juice from the cane and the process to create raw cane sugar. The sugar cane juice is used in a variety of products, one of which is distilling it into rum and liqueurs. Our tour began at the distillery where we learned the steps to go from cane juice to alcohol which is then aged in large wooden barrels for two years, then transferred to small barrels for 6 months before bottling. The Sugar Shed is a very small facility (there are larger operaters in the area) and their rum is sold out before it hits the shelves to ‘members’ of the rum club. The second part of our tour began with the cane field and the steps from harvesting to cane sugar. Something interesting we learned was that the raw cane sugar is loaded onto ships and these sugar ships have a refinery on board so by the time the ship arrives at its destination the raw sugar is refined, bagged and ready to offload. Who knew!! Our two tours cost AUD $42 each for a combined 90 minutes.
We saw a sign that we have never seen before here in Australia, so we had to look up what this meant. Hooning is an Australian/New Zealand term referring to a person who “deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner”. There are ‘anti-hoon laws’ enforced by police and governments targeting anti-social driving activity. We learn something new all the time 😁
While surfing is possible this far north in Queensland we are at the southern end of ‘croc and stinger country’ referring to Saltwater Crocodiles and Box Jellyfish, the most dangerous jellyfish around Australia. We did not see any surfers during our stay and the below sign kept us well away from the shoreline in Slade Bay 😮
Our week was pretty laid back but we enjoyed making good use of the very funky gym we joined and visiting a few local attractions. It was also a week of ‘nomad school’ as we learned about the local coal export facilities and sugar cane industry in this region. The beaches here are rocky and not as beautiful as some of our earlier stops but its nice to have an ocean view from your living room.
Our next destination is not far away, about a 2 hour drive and we will reach Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Fingers crossed the weather co-operates and we can get out to the islands we have read so much about…..