By the numbers
1 room serviced breakfast
21.58 kms walking
28529 steps
I woke up just before a knock at the door that meant I had my breakfast delivered to my room. I thought it would be best to put pants on before opening the door in case the poor person got a shock. Lucky I did as the girl was waiting around a metre away and I thanked her before picking up my coffee and food. It was different ordering room service in the morning and its put down against my room, so I will have to pay when I leave, but that is alright. I was happy to wake up properly with a coffee without having to go anywhere. Last time I was in Mackay, I did not have the interests I had now like with history and heritage buildings including cemeteries. I was more interested in seeing Daredevil at the movies that I walked to the cinema and looked at the shops. Though I was working in the Airlie Beach region at the same time too.
Once I was fuelled and ready to move, I was heading to the local Mackay cemetery as it was the closest one to visit and I had other places I wanted to visit too. The walk through the streets were not that bad, but I was happy that I could follow my map on the phone as the maps showed me which direction I was heading in. The Mackay cemetery was actually on the Heritage trail for the city, so I was happy they provided information about it being established around 1868,but wasn’t the first cemetery as there was another one elsewhere, but then floods. I wandered around the cemetery for a little bit before deciding I would like to try some more of the Bluewater trail as I had done some of that trail the day before. The Botanic gardens in Mackay wasn’t actually that far away and I wandered there. While exploring the gardens the information about the plants native to the area including similar plants surviving in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. The cafe was shut, so I wasn’t that worried as I followed the trail back towards the city. Part of the trail takes you under the Bruce Highway and behind the Mackay hospital. I was aiming for the shopping centre that was closed the day before.
It took around an hour of wandering before I found the shopping centre and entered. It wasn’t very busy even though it was school holidays. I was after a bag for my laundry and a pair of socks to replace the ones that I had a hole in that I didn’t know I had. Target had all I required and I made sure to use the app in the store. I did the same for Coles and I was thanked by one of the workers. It wasn’t hard to find the food court though it was actually upstairs. I had a quick bite before heading back to the hotel where I stopped at the cultural centre on the way. I looked around Jubilee Park that was where the local war memorial was located. The Rotunda had plaques of the different conflicts the area and the country was involved with including a plane crash during WW2.
On making my way back to the hotel, I didn’t stay for long as I wanted to see if the local Coles I had found close by had sandwiches as that was all I felt like for dinner. I was distracted again by some of the heritage trail and was meant to head back, but the Forgan Bridge had its own information trail about its history that included being damaged in the 1918 cyclone and the repairs made did not last very long as the whole bridge had to be replaced. The wreck of the vessel that had hit the bridge during the cyclone was of historic significance. I knew it was starting to get dark and was worried that it might rain as the weather was cloudy the entire day. I ended up with a pie and a roll for dinner from the local bakery. I thought it was good to get back early enough that I can pack for the bus trip to Airlie Beach tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer.
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