Info on Mackay please

[Maria6]

Hi everyone,

My husband, who is a Kiwi, has applied for a job in Mackay with his current employer. I've had a look on the internet for information but wondered if anyone on this forum can help add a little real life info. It seems they get a lot of rain and that it's humid most of the time. Does that mean it's cloudy a lot or the rain goes as quickly as it arrives? How about mosquittos and midges? What are the schools like? As we have 2 girls, 5 and 7. What's day to day life like? I have a picture in my mind, but it may be too rosie, but then sometimes I think of all the negative things.

Sorry there's so many questions - I 'spect there'll be many more!

Many thanks,
Maria

[AussiePool]

Hi Maria,

We currently live in Hervey Bay, Queensland but used to live in Townsville which is approximately 5 hours drive north of Mackay.
I regularly used to visit Mackay on business and can offer the following information.
Yes Mackay is in the tropics. Yes Mackay does have humidity and yes, it can rain a lot. However........
Mackay's humidity is only really high during December, January and February (summer months) and this is also the time when we get the most rain. It tends to be hot and humid during the day and then the rain comes in the late afternoon (due to convection!). However, this is not a rule of thumb. It can rain at any time. The winters are the drier months (usually!) with temperatures between 10 and 22 degrees, summer being between 18 and 30 degrees.
Mackay is also quite unusual in that it doesn't get as hot as some places due to it's geographical orientation. Rockhampton, 4 hours south of Mackay, get's hotter. With any climate, it takes about 1 year to get used to it and then the humidity is not a problem (although your power bill from air-conditioning will be high!). Remember also that Mackay is firmly placed in the tropical cyclone region and can suffer from these devastating storms but are thankfully, rare.
Mackay is a city of about 40,000 people and is trdationally a 'sugar' town but recently due to the mining boom in Queensland, it has become a popular place to live. The downside to this is that the house prices in Mackay are dis-proportionatly high. House's there are amongst the highest priced outside Brisbane and this keeps a lot of people form being able to afford to live there. There is a shopping centre and a few pubs and restaurants although coming from the UK, it will seem like a 'country backwater'. I will say that Mackay feels very isolated also. It is 5 hours drive to Townsville and the same the other way to Rockhampton, with very little in between. Personally, I would rather live in Townsville or Rockhampton (better infrastructure) but I don't want to completely put you off living there.
Mackay IS a nice city with a very relaxed, laid back lifestyle but it does have it's drawbacks (house prices being the main one) but being biased, anywhere in Queensland is fantastic to live.
As for mosquitoes and sandflies (midges), yes they are an issue. They are an issue ANYWHERE in Queensland. The summer months are worse of course and you do get used to the bites (they don't carry malaria). The best way is to wear a good repellant (Off! is a popular one) and try not to live too near many mangroves as the sandflies there will drive you insane.
Wherever you chose to live, I know you will love the Queensland lifestyle and the people. We moved to New Zealand in 1998 (from UK) and Australia in 2002 and wouldn't live anywhere else in the world now. Hope this helps and hasn't put you off Mackay too much!

[hoochie]

My view of Mackay is slightly different , but perhaps thats because we came from the uk without a reckie. Mackay was too hicksville for us , but thats a personal opinion. The main things that i didnt like ( i have children too) were no infrastructure , no public transport , no dentists , the education is ok only if you go private ,then its expensive and still not as good as the uk ,not much to do for teenagers ,everthing shuts on saturday at 3pm!! , no nice restaurants wine bars ect, the sandflies are awful you have to watch where you live ,we stayed 4 months i couldnt take it anymore!! hope this helps you , it sounds negative ,but its the truth. ps housing is non existant expect to pay around 500 a week.

[Halo]

Mega Hicksville.....

The only thing good about it is the BUS that takes you to Airlie Beach

[Maria6]

Thank you very much hoochie and AussiePool for your honest and valuable opinions of Mackay.

As our main reason for looking at Oz is to give our 2 girls a better start in life by being able to give them more time and a good education it seems that maybe Mackay is not the place for us. We are hoping to buy property without a mortgage so the fact that house prices are relatively expensive in Mackay is not a good start. If the schools are not good that's a def. negative as I doubt we could afford to go private and the lack of infrastructure is also a worry when you have to drive 5 hours to go to the dentist.

I currently run two businesses which I want to give up so that I have time for our girls before they stop wanting to spend time with us. Hence the need to have no mortgage.

The company my husband works for has bases all around Oz so maybe we look else where.

Thanks again for sharing your views.

Maria