Hi, I moved from Leicester to Mackay in March of this year so am pretty new still and still finding my feet. I am a 31 year old civil engineer working out in the mines at present too. I work on a drive in/ drive out so have since moved to Airlie Beach.
I must echo the previous posts. I took the advice with a pinch of salt on my move but there are certainly issues with accomodation. I was lucky to have an arrangement with work before I moved for them to arrange 3 weeks accomodation, I then dropped on and took over a house of someone who left work. You will have to settle for what you cant get but expect a motel room to cost at least $100 per night whilst you are trying to get somewhere. Gumtree might be a good shout for a temporary house as there are sometimes ones advertised on there.
As a Town Mackay is OK. It has everything you need with the shops, cinema, lagoon etc, but by no means is it a metropolitan city. There are limited pubs/ cafes although i have to admit i have avoided going out in town at night on the weekends on the advice of work colleagues. Even mates who have grown up in Mackay avoid town on a weekend in preference of going to Airlie Beach as its much more relaxed. I have heard of girl fights in Mackay on the weekend too!!! As previous Mackay is a mining town and there is the feel of this. There are alot of people with a fair amount of disposable money to spend and this shows. People working on a rosta tend to head to Mackay with money for a blow out. I personally neither like or dislike Mackay, it has positives and negatives as all places, but i do now prefer being in Airlie Beach, which again has pro's and con's.
Most of the people here are very friendly and helpful, however i have found it difficult to make real friends. A lot of people work out in the mines so it can be hard. My GF has also found this difficult even so in Airlie to meet new people. We are still trying tho.
With respect to $70k I would say this may be on the low side. There are affordable places to rent i paid $340 in mackay for a 2 bed unit 30 mins walk from CBD. I now pay $360 a week for a large 2 bed apartment in Airlie which has full air con, hot tub on balcony and use of 2 pools (in complex). You can survive on $70k but with the strong $ you will compare to UK and find alot of things are expemsive. As I ern $ my personal approach is to put things into perspective which makes it seem more affordable.
If your partner wants to find work Mackay is a good place. Mine is struggling in Airlie as its alot smaller and there are alot of bakcpackers around taking all the part time jobs.
As all places it will never be what you expect, it may fall short or it may exceed your expectations,its just how you deal with it and get on. If you stay positive you will enjoy life here. Alot depends on your personality.
If i can help you with anything else please dont hesitate to drop me a PM.
