Mackay

Jess and I staying in Mackay for a couple of weeks. We will be visiting Jess's best friends Faith and Glen, who just moved here a little less than a year ago.

Mackay is a tropical sugar town about 3/4 of the way up the eastern coast. It is most famous or being a launching point for the popular Witsunday Islands.

Well into the tropics and in the middle of the wet season, every day has greeted us with lots of rain. Typically, or so I hear, it should be sunny for most of the day, with a daily two-hour shower in the later afternoon. A cyclone of the coast, however, has filled everyday with unbreaking overcast and constant rain. This is supossed to be a beautiful area, but the dismal gray of everything is not doing the city much justice. Though Clark, the guide from the Broome tour told me that Mackay is the worst city in the country. I think that is a little harsh.

The town is surrounded by rivers and green rainforest covered mountains. The lack of quality beaches hurts its tourist appeal, but it seems like a nice enough town. It has 80,000 people, but is quite huge since it is so spread out. Hopefully we'll see some sunshine!