Mackay Queensland Webcam

Category: Urban

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 603 miles north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia’s cane sugar.

Captain James Cook, reached the Mackay coast on 1 June 1770 , and during this trip the Endeavour’s botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, briefly recorded seeing Aborigines.

Two young men, John McCrossin and Scottish-born John Mackay, assembled a party of eight, including an Aborigine named Duke, and left Armidale, New South Wales in January 1860. After exploring almost to the mouth of the river, which they named the Mackay, the members of the party began the trip back to civilisation. On the return journey, they all suffered from a fever that claimed the life of Duke.

In 1918, Mackay was hit by a major Tropical Cyclone causing severe damage and loss of life with hurricane-force winds and a large storm surge. The resulting death toll was further increased by an outbreak of Bubonic plague.