Living in MacKay

[JCL]

Hi

There's a possibility we may be moving from Perth WA to live and work in MacKay. As we have never been to MacKay we wondered if anyone could tell us anything about the area. No kids but would still like to know the best areas to live, what's good about the place, any clubs (thinking of getting back to masters swimming and we scuba dive), what are nice areas for wildlife etc. Any information at all would be most appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for feedback.

Jules:smile:

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Hi @JCL I now know your username on here lol. I only had your mums. @Bobj may be able to help a little although he is based North of Mackay

[vickyplum]

I think @Eera is also in Mackay.

[JCL]

Thanks

[Bobj]

G'day mate, best areas for quiet living and being in suburbia are north and northwest. I live about 50 km NW and it is a 40 minute commute. Quite a few estates going up, nice looking houses, but no idea of prices. A couple of estates being Settlers Rise (West) and Richmond Hills, (NW)

Wildlife is good the further out one goes, lotsa wallabies and a few bandicoots, ducks in lotsa gardens, brush turkeys,etc. In the Eungella Nat Park, there are platypuses and hosts of rare marsupials.

The beaches south of the harbour are partly patrolled...I think

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[JCL]

Thanks for that Bobj. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Tuesdays interview as can't wait to explore a new area - love wildlife, especially birds, although I understand there are way more snakes in your neck of the woods, so even more interesting wildlife to spot. I've only seen a dugite at the beach here in WA. Spotted a couple of white back and red back spiders here, actually had a white back in the bed one morning. I call my husband the spider whisperer because everywhere we go they the seem to gravitate towards him.

 

We'll need to rent initially but always good to know where the nice areas are whether buying or renting. We wondered about the dolphin heads/black beach area.

[xxlornaxx]

I used to live in Mackay, I lived in mount pleasant, nice area n very cheap rentals in Mackay compared to where I came from...blacks beach is nice n lot of ppl choose there, I almost did too but wanted to be nearer the hospital for work n shops. I loved it there although I did struggle in the summer...I never saw any snakes or spiders, saw my first snake in Armidale NSW last week!

[Eera]

Thanks Vicki, yes I'm in the guts of town.

 

Where are you working? Most areas at at tops half an hour from each other, at present there's only one major road between Northern beaches and south of the river which can get a bit exciting around school run time, but outside of those hours it's a clear run.

 

There's an absolute motza of local clubs and activities; it was sports sign-on day recently and something like 130 different clubs and sports were represented.

 

It's a renters' market right now; we've gone from having to beg landlords for a rental a few years ago, to having about 10% vacancy so you can pick up good places cheaply. Be wary of Blacks Beach; there's a load of cheap rentals on the market (particularly in The Cove) for a reason right now; local nickname for that development is Ice Island...Outside of that particular cheapy area is not too bad. Dolphin Heads tends to be very large houses and a bit exxy but if you want to pay for a sea view go for it.

 

Cape Hillsborough is good for wildlife, all the Whitsundays are there, you can go hiking on the islands, there's a few national parks within 2 hours' drive, plus plenty of diving up Airlie way - there are local charters for it as well. I've only ever seen three snakes in the 12 years I've been here so not a major concern. Have only seen one redback too; the geckoes eat most juvenile creepies (apart from the industrial sized cockroaches)

 

There's about to be some big developments happening and a lot of money pumped into the local infrastructure by State Government. You'll see people say that it's a dying town but when you work with town planners then you get a good idea of what's happening in the background.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Eera

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Thanks for that Bobj. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Tuesdays interview as can't wait to explore a new area - love wildlife, especially birds, although I understand there are way more snakes in your neck of the woods, so even more interesting wildlife to spot. I've only seen a dugite at the beach here in WA. Spotted a couple of white back and red back spiders here, actually had a white back in the bed one morning. I call my husband the spider whisperer because everywhere we go they the seem to gravitate towards him.

 

We'll need to rent initially but always good to know where the nice areas are whether buying or renting. We wondered about the dolphin heads/black beach area.

Good luck for today @JCL

[JCL]

Thanks xxLornaxx, Eera & Pom Queen.

 

Interview is next tue so lots of nail biting to go I'm afraid.

 

Good point re staying in MacKay as I'll (fingers crossed) be working in the hospital. I've been looking at rental online and the rentals are way cheaper than here in Perth, even with the big drops in rental here. I've had a wee look at rentals in Mount Pleasant and they look good and I definitely don't want to be near any ice and we're not exxy! The other bonus of being local is we can walk to more things or cycle and there will be buses for my Mum.

 

Fantastic to know there are lots of clubs - sporting and social. Did a look online and found a masters swim club - MacKay sinkers and it looks like they train at one of the schools in town so another reason to stay local.

 

It's reassuring that not too many snakes have been spotted and there is such an abundance of wildlife, parks and diving spots. We had a roach infestation last year and even in the apartment near the top of the building we were still getting roaches invading. Everywhere warm seems to be plagued by them but wouldn't trade in the hot weather for anything although like Lorna I may struggle with the humidity, 40C is ok in a dry heat, could be melting and going loco with humidity:wacko:

 

I hear the ports are expecting a growth in activity and there'll be cruise ships docking in Gladstone in the future as well so good to know there is some growth planned ahead as hubby will be looking for work in MacKay if I get this job.

[xxlornaxx]

ICE is all over Mackay, no area/suburb is free from it...like a lot of Australia unfortunately but if you don't get involved in it..it shouldn't really affect you too much...that's my line of work but I was shocked at how many regular ppl I would get chatting to who took it or dealt it..or both..Mackay is lovely though n I loved working at the hospital too so good luck x

[JCL]

Thanks Lorna, you're right if we don't know then it doesn't affect us or very minimal impact. It's the same everywhere. It doesn't put me off Mackay, it still sounds a great place.

[Eera]

I always think you can get a good idea of what goes on in a town by listening to the police radio over the internets. Not many Catagory 1's in Mackay but they did attend a disturbance at my bosses' house a while back. I had to ask the next day.

 

You don't get many "bad areas" in Mackay, normally bad street within the area. There are also some lovely places south of the River near the hospital; it's an older, established area of town so you get the nice Queenslanders on big blocks and the open spaces that were parks before the land prices shot up. I've always had a soft spot for West Mackay, just check out the flood map first.

 

This summer was the hottest I remember. Usually it doesn't get above 32 degrees, having 35 degrees this year was quite unusual, and yes, with the humidity it was a killer. 40 degrees would be unknown but you get that as an effective heat with the humidity factor thrown in. The other side of the coin is that the winters are glorious; 24 degrees by day, 11 to 15 at night, and no rain for months on end.

 

If you're not after huge amounts of nightlife and don't mind being a bit regional you can make it work.

[Bobj]

Odd spot...Eera mentioned Cape Hillsborough; Jo and I camped there 3 times prior to building our house 9 km away (1985). Cape H is stunningly beautiful, but we only ever saw the turkeys and a few wallabies. We still take a drive out there virtually every week .

 

A couple of houses for rent in my village and, right on the beach front...Views to the southern Whitsundays, too:yes:

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[JCL]

Thanks Eera. No we're not big nightlife people - well not clubbing, a bbq or meal out or a wee snifter at the local is quite enough excitement for us. More interested in nature. I'm looking forward to some gardening and a small veggie patch which hopefully the landlords will agree too, that and a pool for lounging around and I'll be very happy.

 

We've been looking at the flood map so will try to avoid those areas, even renting, I'd prefer not to be flooded. We'll need to book something short term from this end and then we can search on the ground which will be much easier, that said lots interesting on the internet and a few nice places in mount pleasant and I notice some new builds in Ooralea. We love queenslander houses, such great character so we'll definitely be on the look out when we get there.

 

Also good to see there is a local farmers market.

 

Interesting re boss!!!

[JCL]

We love camping so that was a great tip Bobj. I know we'd love to see the sea from wherever we are staying, so another good place to investigate.

Thanks

[Bobj]

We love camping so that was a great tip Bobj. I know we'd love to see the sea from wherever we are staying, so another good place to investigate.

Thanks

 

Camping??? Sheer bliss...without a tent, that is.:yes:

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[JCL]

I'm afraid we're a bit of a wimp there Bobj, I like a campervan, it's a lot warmer.

[David Brown]

Hi my wife has seen a job opportunity in Mackay and we are wondering what it's like to live up there?

 

Are you able to swim in the sea or are the crocs on patrol here? Also do they have stingers at certain times? Any help much appreciated

[Eera]

Crocs are rare but do periodically turn up on the beach (mainly Blacks Beach where they come out of McCready's Creek, and the harbour).  Every time a beach is closed due to croc sightings it makes headline news here so that tells you how uncommon it is.  Stingers only come in at specific times of year and with particular winds from the north.  There's several patrolled beaches which are dragged daily and have lifeguards present so really not that problematic.