From Townsville we drove a couple of hours north, via Ingham, to the small seaside town of Lucinda. It was an interesting drive through sugarcane fields, which are currently being harvested. The main claim to fame of Lucinda is the 5.7 km long pier for exporting sugar, the longest in the world. The rugged Hinchinbrook Island is just off the shore, and with the pier dominates the view from the beach. We arrived here at lunchtime, and as there is not much to do here we had plenty of time to relax. We hope to travel a little slower as we head north, and expect to make it as far as Cooktown.
'Round Australia' 2008-09 > index
Lucinda: Too Much Sugar
August 6th, 2008 : lucinda-too-much-sugar
More in this category: Queensland
1 response so far ↓
1 Andastar // Aug 7, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Hullo!
the reason for the LONG SUGAR JETTY is that the Hinchinbrook Passage is a drowned valley that is nearly full up, trapping fine silt entering from rivers (and full of mangroves). It has been established scientifically (Aust Inst of Marine Science) that it can take 52 days for the water of the Passage to be exchanged with water outside it.
The tidal range is close to 4 metres. The tides rush in from both ends, meeting around Haycock Island, and creating strong currents that keep the silt in suspension, so that if you were to dredge an access channel for the sugar ships across the huge sandbars you would have to be dredging continuously (a mainland marina created in the shallows at the northern end of the Passage is having exactly this problem) so the long jetty, although an expensive undertaking and costly to maintain, is the only feasible option.
May you have safe and enjoyable traveling!
regards
Andastar