Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
More than 70 young golfers teed off at the Mackay Golf Club last weekend for the 2025 Gardian Mackay Junior Open, a popular event on the regional junior golf calendar. The tournament saw competitors take part across four divisions – 3-hole, 6-hole, 9-hole, and full 18-hole rounds for both boys and girls. The event continues to grow in size and prestige, drawing promising talent from across the region. The club extended its thanks to long-time event sponsor Joe Rickman and Gardian, as wel
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Jennifer-Lee’s Journey Of Talent, Tenacity And Tutus VAULTING At just 14 years old, Jennifer-Lee Houseman is showing that regional youth can lead with talent, creativity, and compassion. Whether she’s flipping on horseback, striking a pose in front of the camera, or rallying support for sick kids, Jennifer-Lee is making her mark across multiple fields, including sport, fashion, and community service. Since joining Sarina Christian Vaulting in February, the Mackay teen has soared to success
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Made of 98 per cent silica, the sand at Whitehaven Beach is so pure it never gets hot under your feet. Even the scientists are unsure how it came to be so pristine, but The Sinkers Masters Swim club isn’t asking any questions, they’re just planning to host the Whitehaven Open Water swim on the King’s Birthday long weekend, October 5th 2025. Choose from a 500m, 1km or 2km swim with medals to be presented on Whitehaven Beach. Come prepared for a day of fun in the sun topped off by the afte
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BRIDGE Mackay Novice Pairs 2025 Sixteen Novice Pairs competed for the title of Mackay Novice Pairs 2025 and red points on Sunday. It was fantastic to see so many brave new players participating in the event. Although scary playing in competitions at first, it’s like any sport or game, the more we play, the better we get! Congratulations to Mary Cruickshank and Geoff Cowan taking out first place with Annie Lynch and Ann Whitmore as runners up. Weekly Results Monday 7 June 2025 –- 6 Tab
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Junior cricketers were back in action on Sunday for their first games after a few months off, and what a cracker of a day it was, with the sun shining and excitement all around! There were two games running at both Walkerston and Harrup Park. Over at Harrup Park, the U17s hit the turf with intent. Matthew Logan lit up the scoreboard with a blistering 100 off just 61 balls before retiring not out! He was well supported by solid contributions from Casey Forrester and Aarnav Reehl, helping t
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Test Flight Of Bowen's Eris Rocket Delayed FRONT Australia’s first private orbital rocket launch has been postponed again, with Gilmour Space Technologies confirming the Eris rocket will now lift off no earlier than July 27. The delay follows operational setbacks and upper wind forecasts that ruled out a safe launch during the original July 16–20 window. The Gold Coast-based company announced the change in a social media update, saying they were “standing down from this week’s launch window” a
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Hi Everyone, Exciting news! The latest issue of Core Life and Tripping Magazine is hitting the stands this weekend—so keep an eye out for the brand-new edition. A huge thank you to our incredible team for creating yet another amazing magazine—an impressive 116 pages of blood, sweat, and passion! Speaking of blood and sweat, in this edition of Core Life, you can read about my Metabolic Diet journey with local nutritionist Bec Tarver. Together with my husband, I spent a month with no sugar, no
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No one knows a stringed instrument quite like Roger Buckmaster. For 60 years, strings have been his profession, from crafting violins to selling handcrafted banjos through a shop in Nashville. Now retired, Roger has been pulling on the heartstrings of the community by freely restoring cherished stringed instruments for those in need. Now 81, Roger has spent a lifetime making and repairing violins, banjos and guitars. Trained in London, and originally from Loughborough, Roger has travelled acros
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Family Thank Community For Support As Local Dad Faces Fight Of His Life A local family is facing one of the most challenging times of their lives, but their battle has been buoyed by an incredible wave of community support. In February 2024, Brad Lindsay was diagnosed with Testicular Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He spent the next nine months undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiation, and by October 2024, he was considered in remission. Tragically, several weeks ago, w
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The twelfth annual Smart Arts Exhibition, will open this Friday 18 July and it will be showcasing art work from local artists of Cannonvale Smart Arts. A special feature of this year’s event will be an auction of pieces from the exhibition’s African-themed section, with all proceeds going to Aid for Africa Down Under AFADU). The works will be judged by renowned artist Carol Bell, with the live auction to follow, conducted by Brad Sobott of Taylors Property Specialists. Suzi Hancock, founder o
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The Whitsunday Regional Council’s public consultation regarding Short Term Accommodation closes this weekend Sunday 20 July 2025. Open from 11 June Council has asked the community to ‘Have your say” relating to Council’s scheme. The Whitsunday Regional Council announced change to the Whitsunday Planning Scheme 2017 following resident's concerns that short term accommodation was conflicting with the availability of housing for long-term residents. Council said that the changes were to help bet
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The Airport: More Than A Gateway It’s fantastic to see Whitsunday Coast Airport (WCA) reaching new heights and truly flying high. In the past year, we welcomed over 522,000 passengers, smashing our previous record and cementing WCA as one of Australia’s top regional gateways. But this milestone is about much more than numbers. The airport is a powerful driver of our regional economy, creating local jobs, opening doors for small businesses, and strengthening our tourism and hospitality sectors.
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Whitsunday Conference Reveals Next Program Rounds The Whitsundays Chamber of Commerce and Industry has released the next wave of program highlights for the 2025 Whitsunday Business Conference, showcasing eight practical breakout sessions designed to give local businesses real tools, insights, and strategies to grow and adapt in a changing regional economy. The conference—scheduled for Thursday 28 August at TAFE Queensland’s Whitsunday Campus—will feature two more rounds of concurrent sessions.
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As a business owner I spent many years, 10s of 1000s of dollars, and a lot of lost time on training my teams and seeing no difference. Big spend – zero shift. Sound familiar? If you’re like me you gave up. So why doesn’t it work No accountability after the training – Your key people attend the session… and then nothing. No follow-up, no expectations, no change in behavior is tracked. One-off events don’t create new habits - A single-day workshop can't undo years of habits. Without repe
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Coral Sea Marina’s Better Boating Expo, held on Friday, 11th July, welcomed a vibrant crowd of locals, visitors, and members of the boating community for a day packed with education, entertainment, and environmental advocacy at the Coral Sea Marina Gardens. From safety at sea to sustainability tips and local reef knowledge, the expo offered a fun-filled and informative day for all ages. Families and children, in particular, were thrilled by the live life raft demonstration presented by Voluntee
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More than 30 people gathered at the Proserpine Swimming Pool on Saturday, June 28, to honour the extraordinary legacy of Des and Janet Erricker, two beloved community members whose selfless contributions helped shape generations of local swimmers. The unveiling of a commemorative plaque was a long-overdue gesture recognising the couple’s efforts in not only helping to fund and establish the original Proserpine pool, but also teaching countless children to swim, completely free of charge. Des,
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Jack Tyree Remembers I came up to North Queensland after the war where I met an old sailor in Mackay who asked, “Why don’t you come and get a job on the boats on Hayman.” It was when Ansett had just bought the island … so there was a lot of construction to be done and materials to be transported. When I arrived, accommodation was in tents with fly sheets and floorboards in rows for all the workers. There was a ranch house where the meals were served. It was a great time to work there … a good
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For over 15 years, long-time locals Marie Bailey and Marg Hurst have been the warm and welcoming faces greeting visitors at Bowen’s iconic foreshore information booth located by Bowen’s Little Mango. As two of Bowen Tourism and Business's longest-serving volunteers, the pair have become familiar figures for travellers seeking insights into the region's hidden gems. Whether it’s recommending a stroll along the jetty, a swim at Horseshoe Bay, or a scenic visit to Flagstaff Hill and Mullers Lagoon
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It’s been a fantastic start to the school holidays in The Whitsundays. Occupancy is up on the same time last year, and it’s been great to see so many families out making memories, whether it’s a reef trip, a sunset sail, a mainland adventure or hopping between the islands. We’re also celebrating our biggest year ever for website traffic, with 1.16 million page views- up 10% on the year before. Bounce rate is also down 5%, meaning visitors are staying for longer and engaging more deeply with our
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Whitsunday Christian College students are proving themselves as forces to be reckoned with on the athletics circuit, delivering a string of impressive results across regional events and setting their sights on state-level competitions. Annalise Kennelly placed 6th in the Under 16 girls division at the Regional Cross Country Trials in Townsville before powering into 1st place in the 16-19 girls category at the Mackay Marina Run. She is gearing up for another major event: The Queensland Sta
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A huge congratulations to Proserpine State High School Year 7 student Shailee Mewha, who has achieved an outstanding result at the Queensland Athletics Cross Country Championships, taking home the silver medal in a highly competitive 3km event. The championships were held last week at Toogoolawah Golf Club, located northwest of Brisbane, where runners tackled a challenging and hilly course. Shailee showed incredible determination, closely shadowing the first-place runner throughout the race and
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Bigger, Bolder, And Better Than Ever Step right up, Airlie Beach – the circus is back in town! Hudsons Circus is rolling in for a two-week season with its brand-new Bigger, Bolder, Better Than Ever tour, promising jaw-dropping acts, colourful characters and heart-pounding stunts that will thrill audiences from ages 2 to 102. Celebrating 12 years on the road, Hudsons Circus has pulled out all the stops for this year’s blockbuster production. From gravity-defying aerial acts and death-defying m
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National Program Now Open for Applications Women in the Whitsundays with a passion for music are being encouraged to apply for a unique opportunity as part of the 2025 Australian Women in Music (AWM) Queensland Regional & Remote Women’s Music Program. Expressions of interest are now open for the sixth annual program, which invites First Nations women, female, and gender-diverse music practitioners living in regional and remote Queensland to apply for a fully funded, two-day professional develop
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Friday 18th July Airlie Beach Hotel: Aaron Saxon (7pm – 10pm) Grand View Hotel: Nite Lightning (from 8pm) KC's: Retro Joe (from 8pm) Saturday 19th July Airlie Beach Hotel: Geed Up (2pm – 5.30pm) Airlie Beach Hotel: Aaron Saxon (7pm – 10pm) Grand View Hotel: DJ Night (from 8pm) Coral Sea Pavillion: DJ Bad Girl (1pm – 6pm) Sunday 20th July Airlie Beach Hotel: Geed Up (2pm – 5.30pm) Airlie Beach Hotel: Sam McCann (6.30pm – 9.30pm) Grand View Hotel: Nite Lightning (4pm - 8pm) Coral Sea Pavillion:
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July 19 Tassal Airlie Beach Marathon Festival, Races between Port of Airlie & Cannonvale Beach with the Race Precinct at the Sound Stage on the Airlie Foreshore 20 Bowen Community Markets, Hansen Park, from 8:00am 22 Tech Help, Cannonvale Library, 2:00pm-3:45pm 23 Whitsunday Quilters & Hand Crafts Group, Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre, 9:00am-1:30pm, $5pp. 26 2025 Mayor's Charity Ball, Proserpine Entertainment Centre, 5pm - 12am, $250 27 Bowen Community Markets, Hansen Park, from 8:00am
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