Dinner on the Dunes, Queensland

“Why would you want to go to Mackay?”

That was the resounding question asked over and over when travelling Australia - it has a reputation as a small industrial town on the edge of nowhere. The answer was simply to visit friends of friends who were living there, get to know them, and of course enjoy the privileges of local knowledge. It turned out that there were plenty of good reasons to visit Mackay and that rather than being on the edge of nowhere, it was actually on the edge of sand dunes, rain forests and the Great Barrier Reef.

We had a blast there, and this one particular evening stood out. After a day swimming in rivers and rock pools (as you do), the evening was spent on local sand dunes with our host family, the Theo’s, enjoying fresh, local fish and chips as the sun went down. The vibes were so good it was almost painful. We hadn’t been there long when a guttural roar broke through the air, accompanied by a beat up old ute driven by a 17-year old cowboy, Seth. He ragged that thing up and down the steep waves of sand, and before long we got talking and ended up joining in the fun, smashing through the sand, creating a tightrope between the vehicles and sand surfing until it was pitch black outside.

“Why would you want to go to Mackay?”

Well, why would you want to go to Sydney when you could go to Mackay?