MACKAY & SURROUNDING AREA CLICK on image to enlarge.

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 970 kilometres north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar.

There is controversy about the geographic location of the region, with most people referring it as a part of North Queensland, with some, even the Bureau of Meteorology, calling it the far north end of Central Queensland. Equally, there has always been much contention over the pronunciation of the name Mackay. Correspondence received by Mackay City Library in 2007, from descendants of John Mackay, confirms that the correct pronunciation is rhyming with sky, from the Gaelic name "MacAoidh" which is pronounced "i" not "ay".