Mackay, Sarina and All About Sugar Cane

We got up quite early this morning and left Airlie Beach around 9. We drove to Mackay where we stopped for a coffee and a bit of a look in the main shopping centre. Next we drove to the Harbour precinct and parked at the beach to make lunch - with a view!

We knew the weather was looking unstable and that rain was forecast, despite the heat and humidity. As we continued our journey south we got about a minute’s worth of heavy rain, then just as suddenly as it started, the rain stopped. But it did start up heavy again as we neared Sarina.

In Sarina we decided to do a tour of the sugar mill, so as they aren’t dog friendly I went in the afternoon and Gadi will do the tour in the morning.

The tour took about an hour and we learnt how sugar cane is grown, how it gets to the mill as well as all the stages of processing. Finally, we got to taste fresh cane juice, as well as sample some of the products that they make including chutneys, sauces, ginger beer and several types of rum.

Following the tour we checked in to one of the caravan parks in town, where it kept raining on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Gadi had a swim in the small park swimming pool and later we barbecued dinner before settling in for the evening.

Here’s hoping we have a good night’s sleep as we have to get up early again for us as we need to check out before Gadi does his sugar mill tour in the morning.

Good night xxRead more