Crocodile Bait, Interactive Play and Flying High

Wednesday 14th April 2021

We had a great night sleep last night. We woke up at 645am today. The sun was shining brightly through minimal scattered clouds.

We had breakfast and packed our lunch for another day out.

We dropped Jason off to do some fishing along the pioneer river. He was lure fishing. He himself was crocodile bait.

We went to Queens Park to play at the playground.

Library

After the playground we went to the city library. We read heaps of books.

They had a very good children’s reading section. They also had an interactive play area.

At lunch time we picked up dad and had lunch. We did some shopping and returned to the van.

Today was our last full day here near Mackay. We have enjoyed our time throughly.

Mackay History

In May, 1860 the explorer Captain John Mackay reached the area after travelling overland from northern New South Wales. The town is named after him. By 28 May, 1860 Mackay’s party had started marking runs after drawing straws for the best lots. In 1861 Mackay brought cattle and horses overland from Armidale in New South Wales.

By 1862 the tiny settlement of Mackay was established on the banks of the Pioneer River.

In 1865 John Spiller planted the first sugar cane in the area. He had had a plantation in Java. He built his own small sugar mill. By 1866 Mackay had been connected to Brisbane and Bowen by telegraph.

Sugar mills had been built in the district by 1867 and the first sugar was exported that year. By 1874 there were 16 sugar mills in the district and over 5,000 acres were growing sugar.

By 1877 Mackay was taking more South Sea island labourers (known as Kanakas) than any other port along the Queensland coast. The Kanakas brought to the area worked as virtual slave labour.

In 1885 the government opened rail lines for sugar transportation from Mackay to Eton and Mirani.

The use of Kanakas on the sugar plantations finally stopped in 1906.

Mackay became a city in 1918. That same year a cyclone, which lasted for three days, destroyed 75% of the city’s buildings and killed 30 people.

In 1944 the district produced 141,000 tons of sugar from seven local mills.