Happy Easter to all our members at the Mackay Contract Bridge Club A great day of Bridge was had Sunday with 16 pairs of Novices and Mentors competing. This is a fabulous event that is held on the last Friday of every month to give beginners a chance to play with experienced players. Captions Noel, Frances and Alan Jan, Karen and Trish Anne Lutz with Sandy Patterson Weekly Results Monday 18 March 2024 – 6 Table One Winner Green Points N/S E/W 1st David Ting / Eric Goodchild 2nd Monic
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Despite the rainy weather conditions, the Marian Ladies Bowls Club managed to hold their annual Harvest Triples on March 13, 2024. This was well attended with eight rinks used with 48 ladies participating in a great day of bowls. Winners on the day were: First place - J Insch, G Meng, M Stockton Second place - J Caban, C Savage. R Schatkowski Third place - L Jenner, M Mayfield, D McNamara Contributed By Lyn Jackson
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The North Mackay Sinkers Masters Swimming Club are once again splashing for cash to support a charity fundraising event after their successful February ‘Starlight Super Swim.’ This time, the club has chosen to support the ‘Laps for Life’ fundraiser to support Youth mental health during the month of March, where all funds raised will go directly to the ReachOut foundation, contributing to youth mental health in the community. ReachOut is a leading online mental health service in Australia which a
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The 2024 NBL1 North Season Launch Event held at Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane provided an insightful preview into the upcoming basketball season. Local State Government MPs, Julieanne Gilbert and Amanda Camm, lent their support to the event, emphasising Mackay’s backing for our teams. The gathering offered a glimpse into the camaraderie among players and supporters, setting the stage for an exciting season ahead. With Round 1 scheduled to commence on April 12, the McDonald’s Mackay Met
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Approximately thirty runners tackled the treacherous Cape Hillsborough Turtle Trail in cool conditions at 7am last weekend. Front markers, Ashley Miles and Matt Graves put in a huge first half performance to lead the field by some margin in the ten-kilometre, with Matt being the eventual winner, hitting the tape two minutes ahead of Ashley. First female in the ten-kilometre, Jose Short revelled in the tough conditions followed by Emma Johnson and Carmel Mahon. Third placed male, Derek Woods
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REA Group’s data business PropTrack launched a new comprehensive measure of the share of rental properties that households can afford to lease earlier this month. The PropTrack Rental Affordability Index analyses rental affordability across different household income distributions and locations. The report showed that rental affordability is now at its worst level in at least 17 years, when PropTrack records began, driven by the surge in rent prices following the pandemic. Low- and middle-in
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Just as leaving your doors unlocked poses a risk, neglecting to install and maintain smoke alarms in your home can jeopardise the safety of yourself and your loved ones. With more Australians dying in residential fires on average than by all natural hazards combined, it’s sparking a renewed call from experts for Australians to protect themselves with a working smoke alarm. Smoke alarms provide a critical early warning to give you and your loved ones time to escape, so testing and maintaining t
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Back Row: Jessica Moon, Voytek Antkowiak, Kaitlyn Moon, Cameron Grice, Alliara Leppard and Jet McMullen Front Row: Angelina Mihailou, Indie Lovett, Zahlia Leppard and Ivy-Leigh MacNamara. Photo credit: Rachael Smith
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Hi Everyone, Happy Easter! Bonnet parades, school shows, mad dashes to the shops for last minute Easter eggs – this is not a relaxing time of year for parents – but it is a lot fun! This morning I sent my (almost) 7-year-old boy to school with blue hair – it was ‘free dress day’ and he was desperate to utilise the tin of blue hair spray we purchased several weeks ago. We stood on the veranda with a towel wrapped around his shoulders and I sprayed his hair, neck and back of his ears, blue. H
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Sometimes a good deed is more than a spontaneous moment of kindness, it can be working within a system to create real change that helps countless people achieve something simple by removing the barriers of cost. This was a project that the team at Reefside Marine in Bowen embarked upon this year when they realised some of their clients were struggling to get their boat licence because the cost would often be well over $1000 when you include travel, accommodation and the ticket itself. Kate Cu
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A passionate group of community members are celebrating a game-changing accreditation this week with the confirmation that the Whitsundays is now formally recognised as a Whale Heritage Site. The Whitsundays is the first Whale Heritage Site to be declared in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the only site in the world to be in a UNESCO World Heritage Area. This significant breakthrough came about as a result of a dedicated locally-active community program by Whales of the Whitsundays (Wo
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The Whitsunday Regional Council is set to unveil a brand-new bike track, aiming to provide a fun yet challenging experience for local bike riders, scooter enthusiasts and skateboarders. An investment of $300,000 was poured into the project with the help of Bowen Rail Company. Construction works on the Darcy Munro Park Pump Track in Collinsville will commence on April 2, with stage one of the four-stage circuit expected to be ready for locals both young and old to enjoy by early May. Bowen Ra
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The man accused of killing three family members and wounding a fourth on a remote property in Bogie had his case mentioned in the Bowen Magistrates Court Last week. In August 2022, 60-year-old Darryl Valroy Young allegedly invited the neighbouring property owners over to the estate’s borderline to discuss a dispute regarding boundaries. During this conversation, Mr Young allegedly said he was going to "end this once and for all", before allegedly producing a shot gun and firing off five rounds
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Whitsunday Sailing Club (WSC) is thrilled to announce naming rights sponsors, Ocean Dynamics and Mount Gay to 2024’s Airlie Beach Race Week! Organisers are thrilled to have already received 60 registrations for the 36th annual event, signifying it will be another vibrant regatta this year. Ocean Dynamics is a perfectly aligned sponsor, the family run luxury charter business demonstrating a love for the ocean and all its vessels. Carolyn Lewis, director of Ocean Dynamics said, “I am excited t
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Australian music royalty, Kylie Minogue touched down in the Whitsundays over the weekend, choosing to enjoy a much-needed mini-break in our beautiful region. In the middle of her Las Vegas Residency entitled, ‘More Than Just A Residency’, Kylie decided to fly back to her home country, posting photos of herself at 5-star luxury resort qualia on Hamilton Island. The 55-year-old singer was seen to be enjoying the views wearing a red bikini and white combat pants, indulging in a bottle of her own
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One of our favourite local real estate agents is celebrating this week with the news that they have once again claimed a sweep of prizes at the Rate My Agents Award. Taylors Property Specialists took home five top gongs for the regions of Airlie Beach, Cannonvale, Cannon Valley, Strathdickie and Jubilee Pocket. One of their star Property Specialists, Mel Butcher, was also the recipient of the prestigious Real Estate Agent of the Year Award for Cannonvale. This is the fifth time in her seven-y
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Returning for its 12 year, the award-winning Airlie Beach Festival of Music has released its first line-up, announcing a host of iconic names that will grace the main-stage at the big top tent located at the Whitsunday Sailing Club. Renowned as one of the most picturesque and inspiring festival locations, festivalgoers enjoy a four day event to the back-drop of the stunning Coral Sea. There are also dozens of break-off live music gigs held at venues right across the town and featuring a range
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The Rotary Club of Bowen are creating and opening up little libraries as part of their goals for the year. Current President Helen Woodhouse, who has been President for six years, said one of her goals was to have little libraries all over Bowen. Little Libraries are small, bird house-looking, honour-based enclosures. The concept is people take a book and leave a book, some even have donation boxes. Helen wanted to create them as she believes it is important for children to read books. T
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Chaz Height: 6’4 Age: 15 Position: Centre, Power Forward Liam Height: 6’2 Age: 16 Position: Small Forward, Shooting Guard Two local boys are celebrating a once in a generation sporting achievement, with both junior athletes recently selected to play in their respective Northern Region School Sport (NRSS) Basketball teams. 16-year-old Liam Steen is now playing in the Under 19’s team and his sporting buddy, 15-year-old Chaz Calder is in the Under 16 squad. Both boys were awarded their place
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It’s been another busy week for businesses in the region, preparing for the lead up to Easter and the school holidays. Cyclone Megan was the fifth tropical cyclone to impact the country this season, and has left another indelible mark on Far North Queensland as the cyclone season draws to a close. Recent weather events are a timely reminder about the importance of having up-to-date information to help make decisions about insurance and your business. The Department of Employment, Small Business
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The latest Thriive event hosted by the business culture specialists at Shiift last Thursday night was a huge success and took attendees on a deep dive into the personality traits of introverts and extroverts. This informative and lively workshop showed how our differences are our strengths by explaining the underlying biology of extroverts and introverts. While extroverts thrive in a noisier, action-orientated environment, introverts prefer smaller groups, and a calmer, quiet atmosphere. This
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Tourism Whitsundays is a dynamic and forward-thinking company that drives the marketing of our region, promoting local tourism and actively bringing holidaymakers from around Australia and the world, to the Whitsundays. While we know what they do outside of the region, there is still a lot of dedicated work happening right here in the Whitsundays. To showcase the local team and share how connected they are to local tourism, we are starting a new monthly segment called ‘Out and About’. I
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In the early 1920s, residents decided to build a community hall and recreation centre. Mr G A Jenkins deeded one acre of ground in a convenient corner position bounded by the main Strathdickie road to the west, School Road on the north and the mill tramline to the south. The corner of the road, known as Hall Corner, is now known as the Strathdickie Smithy Corner. Two acres of scrub land was felled on Alec MacPherson’s property and planted with Badilla cane, all done voluntarily. When the cane
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Its Easter! And who doesn’t love a Bilby at Easter? Well, me! Did you know that a Bilby is a species of Bandicoot? Here in the Whitsundays, we see a different species of Bandicoot but they are here and in good numbers. I actually enjoy the little creatures and I have often watched them sneaking about in the night BUT I do not want them in my veggie patch (unless they are made of Chocolate – note to my family). Bandicoots are lawn grub destroyers, which is fantastic. Lawn grubs are the larva
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Standing proudly among the pack in a traditionally male-dominated trade, Mel loves the working environment at Master Butchers Whitsunday and always gives her all, representing a strong female force, paving a way for other women in the industry. This born and bred local is always ensuring customers receive the very best, perfecting her cuts, and curating her craft, in her apprenticeship with Master Butchers Whitsunday. Having joined the team in 2020, for Melanie, it was no surprise she has found
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