Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
The New South Wales and the Queensland State of Origin Shields stopped off in Bowen earlier this week, as part of their regional State of Origin Regional Tour. Encouraging and sharing the love of rugby league, the shields were brought to Bowen by former Queensland Maroons Shane Webcke, Josh Hannay, and Brent Tate. Stopping off for a quick break at the Big Mango, the Shields started their tour in Toowoomba on September 20, hitting Mackay on September 23, before stopping over in Townsville. Bow
Read more
Stage 2 of the Airlie Beach Boardwalk upgrade, from the VMR Boat Ramp to Shingley Drive, is well underway, with demolition works completed early last week, and the new materials ready to be laid. The construction of the new boardwalk, using composite fibre materials, began on Monday September 25. The eco-friendly material will extend the boardwalk’s life cycle and reduce maintenance costs. The new boardwalk will also be wider by one metre, allowing better ease of travel for users and reducing
Read more
Tourism Whitsundays is excited to announce its new Board of Directors for the 2023/24 term, at the TW Annual General Meeting held yesterday. The AGM served as the catalyst for change for TW, welcoming four new members onto the Board of Directors, joining the existing directors of Julie Telford, Crystal Lacey, Jenn Honnery, Matt Boileau, Tom Young, and Daniel Gschwind. Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer, Rick Hamilton said an Annual General Meeting is the time to reflect on the success
Read more
The Whitsundays has received a glowing report card from the National and International Visitor Survey (NVS and IVS), cementing the region as a popular destination for holidaymakers. Over the year, prior to June 30 2023, The Whitsundays had 765,000 domestic visitors choosing to come into the region, an increase of 11.7 per cent from the last three years, and each spending on average 5.5 nights in the area. While international visitor numbers are down, The Whitsundays welcomed 68,000 internation
Read more
With Bowen Rocket Launch Site Excitement is building ahead of the much-anticipated launch of Gilmour Space Technologies’ rocket ship, with the inaugural flight expected to depart from its base in Bowen before the end of the year. If the launch is successful, Australian company Gilmour Space, could be the first to send a hybrid-rocket into space, and currently the race is on to see which global entity can get there first. Hybrid rockets use a mixture of solid fuel and liquid oxidiser, and desp
Read more
There’s plenty of activity around town with school holidays filling accommodation places around the region creating a real buzz throughout both Airlie and Proserpine. Airlie Main Street - Chamber met with Council CEO Warren Bunker last week regarding maintenance, restoration works, and traffic management in Airle Beach. Our region welcomes around 900,000 visitors annually and there are plans to increase cruise ship visitation to over 100 annually. To ensure a world-class experience for both res
Read more
The team and the guests of Queens Beach Tourist Village in Bowen have had a busy winter tourist season, having fun and raising funds for the Bowen Queensland Country Women’s Association. Hosting live entertainment every second week throughout the peak season of winter for their guests, Peter and Jennie Greer were excited to raise funds for the local Bowen branch of the Queensland Country Women’s Association. Over $8,300 was raised for the branch, with businesses across Bowen donating supplies a
Read more
Puppetry Of The Penis Graces Airlie Beach Hotel Stage The capes are being donned once again, with the original and Australian leg of Puppetry of the Penis hitting the Airlie Beach Hotel Stage for one last show. Stemming from a simple past time of a young boy playing with his bits into a full-blown live comedic performance, Puppetry of the Penis offers a unique insight into the male anatomy, giving the audience a hilarious and adrenaline pumping display of grown men showcasing their genital orig
Read more
At Proserpine Community Market Absolutely jampacked full of some of the best handmade and locally produced jewellery, pillows, baked goodies, crockery, and decorations, the Proserpine Community Markets are any treasure hunter’s delight. Happening only every three months, this quarter’s community market is gearing up to be an event not to miss, with new stalls welcomed, as well as Wildlife Whitsundays Encounters bringing the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful animals for all to see and interact
Read more
Over 3000 people browsed the Hand Made Markets, held at Fair Tree Park on the Airlie Beach Foreshore on Sunday, with many picking up a unique item or simply enjoying the lively atmosphere of this vibrant event. With 32 stalls, the markets offered a variety of handmade wares including pottery, candles, jewellery, and homewares. This year for the first time, organisers also incorporated a food element to the event. “Food is one of the most important handmade items!” said festival coordinator, J
Read more
The glitz and glamour is coming to Bowen, with the annual Bowen Cup making our spring perfect. Dressed in your best and taking to the race course, Bowen Turf Club will be the place to be. For those wishing to ease the day away, perhaps The Field VIP Marquee package, sponsored by Filby’s Motors Mitsubishi is perfect. Including an exclusive drinks package, gate entry, access to the VIP Marquee and so much more, as well as an up-close look at the Bowen Cup Fashions of the Field. The Brown Broth
Read more
Over the weekend 3 Cannons travelled to Mackay to participate in the Duel in the Pool. Remy Hedges, Jacob Bell, Holly Perrin with Coach Mark Erickson were selected for the NQ team which competed against a CQ team. Even though NQ lost to CQ, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. A big thank you to SNQ (Theresa Manning) for organizing the event and a big thank you to Andrew Bell for officiating. The Cannons hosted another successful Club Night on Wednesday Night. Congratulations to Leo Mulli
Read more
Sunday 24th September saw 28 shooters competing for the day. We had visitors from Silkwood, Burdekin, Mackay/Sarina, and Caboolture joining us for a great day of competition. The day was extremely windy with a scattered shower in the afternoon. The winners were: Ev 1: 25T DB Sweepstakes AA: G Maltby, A Lemphers 25/25, T Coco 24/25 A: J Cerqui, R Zarb, D Stitt, B Gall, C Edgerton 23/25; B: A Perna 24/25, N Kirkman, L Dalton, M Populin, A Aitchison 23/25; C: M O'Reilly, P LeBlowitz 23/25,
Read more
From the early days of playing basketball by himself to making the U18 Division 1 Mackay Meteor team, Liam Steen has come a long way. Recently competing in the State Performance Program (SPP) trials, Liam is one of five youths selected from Mackay, and one of 10 selected from the trials, where a total of 45 youths were vying for a prestigious spot in the squad. Undertaking the professional development and training through SPP, Liam is looking forward to a shot in the North Queensland U18 team.
Read more
This week’s 9-hole stableford saw Peter Bitz in first place with 24 pts and scoring a hole in one on hole 2, second place with a 21 c/b was Edwina Pettiford and third place with 21 pts Dennis Moss. Fridays 9-hole stableford saw Scott Morrissey in first place with 21 pts, second Dee Norman with 20 pts and third place Dom Lipski with 19pts. Sundays 4 ball better ball competition was a great turn out which saw Scott and Jack Williams-Hayes in first place with 50pts, second on 45 pts was David Wall
Read more.jpg)
A few drops of rain frightened off a few this week. It certainly wasn't as windy as it has been and fortunately the rain held off for most of the day. Ladies were in short supply with only 1 A grade lady, Tiina Randmae a winner with 33 points while Helen Deighton took out B grade with 35 points on a countback from Paula McQuat, with Vickie Wallace in 3rd place with 29 points. Men's A grade winner was Louis Neethling with a very commendable 40 points followed by Warren Deighton with 38 points.
Read more
Tim Deffner had a very nice round of 42pts to win the Tuesday Stableford, followed by Louis Neethling on 39pts and Ben Smith on 36 pts. Rehab Hull was the generous sponsor for the Ladies 3 club and a putter day, Heather Luvis playing well with limited clubs to beat Tiina Randmae on a countback with 34pts and Trish McNeill in 3rd place with 33 pts. Steve Stewart edged out Gavin Kerwand on Thursday by one point, winning Division 1 with 37 pts, Gavin in 2ndplace and Blake Lovelock in 3rd place wit
Read more
On Wednesday, men and ladies played a single stableford for a club trophy. Ladies’ winner on a countback Ruth Dunn 42pts, runner up Amanda Parter 42pts. Men’s winner Scott Pearce 40pts, runner up on a countback Brett Richards 39pts. On Saturday we played a 2-ball 18-hole footy themed ambrose. Winners were Jeff Jackson and Tom Wikander 61.5, 2nd Robyn Slade and Ron Edkins 62.75, 3rd David and Peter Martin 63.25. Best dressed went to Grace Nott and Toss Eisemann. NSW won the shield this year.
Read more
On Tuesday, winners were Merle Elphinstone, Jude Vigar, Deb Retchless, and Sugar and Ian B, Bill, Ron, and Denis Walker. The jackpot didn’t go off. Our barefoot bowls on Friday Night is still been keenly contested by our new up and coming bowlers. Winners for the night were Wendy, Ian, and Les. Sunday winners came out on Rink 5. They were Deb Retchless, Ron Boskma, and Kennedy Whitton, others Linda Scells, Jim Chadwick, and Fely Duncan. The jackpot didn’t go off.
Read more
Club Competition Coming Into Final Stages On Sunday morning the Final of the Club's 2 Bowl Triples was held. Last year's winners Shane Kinnear, Scott Hamilton and Wayne Handley proved too strong for their opponents Todd Leys, Jonathan Bye and Gavin Milne with a 37 - 9 win. The Champion of Champions for the 2Bowl Triples will be played at Pioneer Valley on October 28 and 29. Also on Sunday morning the second Semi Final of the B Pairs was played. This game was close throughout, with it being
Read more
As spring just about enters its second month and warm week of lawn bowls starting on Tuesday afternoon with 3 great close games in play and the highest winning score belonged to Wendy Pomeroy whom combined with Henny Tattam comfortably beat the rest of the field, Wednesday afternoon Jackpot Bowls capably run by Merve Stewart saw the combination of the knee Mens A Grade Champion Alan Pershouse with the above-mentioned Merve Stewart run away with the prize money. We have Mixed Triples and Pairs in
Read more
MACKAY’S CUTEST BABY COMPETITION FINAL WEEK!
Read more
NQ Sportstar Awards To Honour Athletes And Achievements The Mackay region is getting ready to celebrate the rising sports stars of North Queensland. Nominations closed on September 1 for local sporting stars to be nominated for the MM Electrical NQ Sportstar Awards and the list of nominees was revealed last week at a media launch at Mackay ARC. Mackay Regional Council councillor, Laurence Bonaventura, who is also North Queensland Sports Foundation director, attended the launch and said this year
Read more
A Woolworths bakery worker in Ooralea has gone above and beyond this week, committing an act that earnt her some ‘brownie points’ on a local community forum. Racheal Van Damme took to the Mackay Noticeboard Facebook page to commend a mystery staff member on her thoughtful actions. Racheal states, “To the beautiful lady who works at Ooralea, who asked if I needed help while I was looking at cakes for my daughter’s birthday. “[She] took the cake to the counter along with the flowers and chocolates
Read more
Imitation, they say, is the sincerest form of flattery. And if that's the case, then we should all be glowing with pride here in Mackay and the Whitsundays. Why, you ask? Because our community newspaper has not only captured hearts and minds in our neck of the woods but has also ignited the spark of inspiration elsewhere. This week, we proudly ushered in the debut edition of Burdekin Life, a new weekly community newspaper. Folks in the Burdekin had come across Mackay and Whitsunday Life and want
Read more