Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
There is a whole world out there that you are not aware of: the one of highland and Irish dancing available at Ceilidh Dance Studio Mackay. Some might be familiar with the jig or stepdance where an Irish dancer, clothed in ornate, shimmering outfits, hops athletically to the fiddle with arms pinned to their sides, legs working.
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You wouldn’t expect parkrun records to be set in the warm Mackay summer heat, but that’s exactly what happened last weekend. Jared Havemann joined his fellow runners for the weekly social run through Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens, blitzing the course in 16:27, the fastest time in Mackay parkrun’s history.
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Running onto Suncorp Stadium in a Brisbane Broncos jumper has always been a childhood dream for promising Mackay rugby league half back Adam McSherry. The outstanding 14-year-old schoolboy prospect has taken a giant step towards realising that goal after securing a three-year contract with his beloved Broncos club. Linking up with one of the highest profile sporting organisations in the country has given young McSherry a massive confidence boost in the lead up to this year’s Secondary School
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The Whitsundays helped to make aviation history this week when the first ever Bonza aircraft landed its inaugural flight at the Whitsunday Cost Airport on Tuesday morning. With flights starting from just $49, Bonza aims to be here for ‘Allstralia’ and will open the Whitsundays up to new markets that would not have previously been able to access or afford a holiday to the region.
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For the first time in Bowen TAFE’s history, a range of specialist courses in agriculture will be available thanks to its brand-new $3.4 million upgrade which was celebrated with the opening of its Agriculture Centre Of Excellence on Tuesday.
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RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter transported a four-year-old boy to hospital after he was found unresponsive at the bottom of a pool on Hamilton Island at 1.06pm on Tuesday, January 25. The child – who was swimming in the main resort pool – reportedly gave his goggles to his mother on the side of the pool before disappearing once she turned her back.
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When Harry Russell was returning home from work earlier this week, he spotted an elderly lady walking around at the end of his road looking lost. Deciding to pull over and ask if she was ok, he was informed that she needed to get back up the hill, so he offered her a lift. The lady gladly accepted, and the pair drove up the hill.
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Hi Everyone, It was a great privilege to be nominated for an Australia Day Award this year and I was deeply honoured to walk alongside the other nominees at last week’s ceremony. When I was made aware of my nomination for Citizen of the Year, however, I have to admit to you that I felt like a complete fraud.
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Two new doctors have just arrived at Bowen Hospital and the young couple say they are excited to embark on a career that not only brought them both from Singapore to Australia but also brought them together in love.
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An independent Queensland-based craft beer company with a brewery in the Whitsundays has gone into voluntary administration, leaving locals wondering what’s next for its Cannonvale venue. Ballistic Beer Co - which began its local operations in March 2021 after acquiring Whitsunday Island Brewing Company – announced the decision on Monday, stating it had suffered financially during the Covid pandemic and through a product recall late last year.
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In keeping with tradition, the Collinsville community gathered together for their Australia Day Breakfast and Awards Ceremony and, with over 200 people in attendance, the event was a lively affair fuelled by a delicious hot breakky served by the Lions Club.
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My commitment is to encourage and support a long-term vision for a vibrant and livable Whitsundays whilst keeping our unique visitor experience. I want to see more of the successful types of low-rise development that we had under our old town plan, and it is evident, with over ten times the number of people commenting on our planning scheme compared to the last consultation that the far majority of the public agree.
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Residents and locals are reminded that they have until the end of March to go in the draw to win $2100 worth of holiday vouchers to be spent in the Whitsundays and Mackay regions. To participate in the Passport Competition, simply call in at all three Visitor Information Centres - Bowen, Proserpine, Sarina – and ask for a “passport” which you will need to get stamped at each of the centres.
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The Boathouse Apartments on the Port of Airlie is now under new management. Lea and Ross Andrews, from Victoria say that their family are thrilled to be managing the popular coastal-inspired holiday apartments. Lea, who is an ex-school principal, and Ross, a registered builder by trade, decided to make a career and territory change to the sunny Whitsundays after pondering the idea for many years.
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Do you have scraps of metal left over from jobs? How about old electronic goods and metal household items cluttering up the garage? Or are you embarking on a new project and need off-cuts and inspiration to get you started?
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Celebrating its first year in business on a high note, SeaLink Whitsundays has just announced that they have received 100 per cent five-star customer reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Business Listings over the past 12 months.
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The recent sale of Council owned ‘green space’ has caused concern among a local environmental organisation that believes our small patches of grassland should be protected from development for the benefit of the community. Tony Fontes, from the Whitsunday Conservation Council, said that he was shocked to see so many pieces of natural land sold to developers without public consultation.
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Bringing together three years of careful research, two years of dedicated writing and a lifetime of curiosity, local author Joab Russo, is proud to present his book Absolute Truth to audiences across the world.
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When Shakespeare asked the question, “What’s in a name?” (“Romeo and Juliet’) he was referring to the idea that names themselves are a convention to distinguish things or people, but themselves do not have any worth or meaning. But pioneering families of Proserpine, after whom the vast majority of early streets are named, might just beg to differ.
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More than 100 experts and leaders within the environmental management space converged in Cairns for the annual Reef Synthesis workshop to discuss the ongoing protection of the Great Barrier Reef.
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Steven Spielberg has crafted his newest and most personal film, the Fabelmans, with the grace of his cumulative decades earnt in a lifetime of filmmaking.
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Here is a story as old as music: the travelling artist - guitar strapped to their back - arrives in a beachside town with song on their lips. And they never leave. Airlie Beach has become a rest home for more musicians and maestros, more bards and bands than it may have any right to – it is a place polished in creativity, in which artists have scraped at the sheen, hoping to keep a piece for themselves.
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It’s game day and The Pub is packed: the fever pitch rises at every kick, every crunching tackle, every catch. And a silence descends; only a few huddled gasps and whispered encouragements -- “Go, you good thing!” Then the roar of the crowd. Every day and every night at the Airlie Beach Hotel’s Sports Bar, the big screen is filled with football, with fights, with bat and ball sports. And its atmosphere is always unmatched, it’s like being in the stadium.
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Hundreds of children enjoyed an Australia Day slime-filled fun fest at the Whitsunday Sportspark last week thanks to the first annual event run by Proserpine Youth Space. Photo credit: Rachael Smith and Sophie McManus
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Again, that day sneaks up on us. What to do this year? Picnic in the park? Candlelit dinner for two? A bed of red rose petals spilling across the floor? No – no, not all that again. That’s a lot of picking up roses later. If you’re bereft of ideas for Valentine’s Day – oh, that sweet, sweet, sneaky day – you’re lucky you live in a picture-perfect paradise; a postcard place, brimming with choices for the romantic.
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