Tuesday 7 March 2017

To Lucinda, Queensland

After one month of staying in the Cairns area we began our journey south on August 5, 2016 Australian Winter to a place called Lucinda which we had heard about but wanted to see for ourselves.

The area we were travelling was and is sugar country so Lucinda is home of Lucinda Bulk Sugar Terminal which was constructed in 1979 and is the longest service jetty in the southern hemisphere at 5.76 k (about 3 miles), long and supported by more than 660 concrete and steel pylons.  The jetty is an engineers masterpiece with it's length actually following the curvature of the earth.

The jetty enables Lucinda to handle large bulk sugar ships up to 50,000 tonnes.
There are approximately 20 ships that export sugar from Lucinda to various markets around the world.

On February 3, 2011 a Category 5 Cyclone Yasi crossed the Northern Queensland coast in the early hours of the morning, bringing measure peak wind gusts of 185km/hr at Lucinda.  At the height of the storm, waves  over the deck of the jetty destroying the shiploader along with the Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory (LJCO).  The LJCO was located at the end of the jetty and delivered valuable optical data regarding local coastal waters and atmospheric conditions.
The Lucinda Jetty sustained extensive damage from the cyclone, costing an estimated $50 million and re-opened after 18 months of repair.


The photo above it only a small part of the Jetty.


Lucinda is off the main highway, this photo taken as we travelled on the road to Lucinda and is of sugarcane growing.

42 comments:

  1. I like the scene with the jetty. It seems to go on forever.

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    1. It did seem to go on forever, it took a while to find the end of it due to the weather on that day

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  2. Replies
    1. Always interesting mountains, always different as is the sea.

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  3. The area around Lucinda looks lovely - I wonder if the jetty the biggest in the world?

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    1. I don't believe it is the longest in the world, only the southern hemisphere.
      There is a wooden jetty in Australia that is long.
      The Jetty at Lucinda people can't go on it, there is a conveyor belt that carries the sugar to the ships.

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  4. Wow. The size of that jetty and the cost of the repairs are both incredible. Big money in sugar...

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    1. Must be a lot of money in sugar - it was cheaper to rebuilt the jetty rather than build a whole new one.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks Jo-Anne. We hadn't heard of the town either until someone we met on the road told us about it, so we thought we would stay to take a look.

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  6. That jetty is incredibly long. Impressive.

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  7. A pleasant jetty to train on for marathon running, football etc etc.
    At least you'd be getting a cooling sea breeze.
    Great report and photos as per usual, Margaret.
    Colin
    PS: I think Terrigal is trying to compete with the Victorian Mornington Peninsula
    for 4 seasons in one day weather. All that is missing is the "Roaring 40's" - ha ha.

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    1. Can't run or go on it Colin, it's a conveyor belt only..
      Thanks.
      Oh well, weather is strange at times.

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  8. The terrain resembles that of the sugarcane growing area in northern NSW.

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  9. Thanks for the interesting background and marvelous pictures

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  10. Both subjects seem to stretch out into infinity. I like 'em!

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    1. It was hard to see the end of the jetty with the naked eye, it took awhile to find the end.

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  11. I don't think they burn the cane anymore do they. That is a decent drive to the end of the jetty. Truly amazing and I had never heard of it.

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    1. Can't drive on that jetty Andrew, there is a conveyor belt along it.
      Cane is burnt in many areas still, but of course some cane farmers don't burn cane.

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  12. Beautiful picture of Lucinda.. love to read your travel stories..

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  13. Hi Margaret, I enjoyed your photos and the interesting info. Hope you both are doing well.

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    1. Hello Mildred,
      Pleased you enjoyed. Yes we are doing ok thanks...xxx

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  14. What is important, of this horrible cyclone, is that there were no human victims, the material damages can always be restored.

    I love that luminosity of the sea.

    Kisses

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    1. Life is certainly the main thing...
      It's really lovely there..

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  15. Yasi must have been horrendous.

    As always, lovely photos.

    Have a great one,

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    1. It was a dreadful cyclone - you recall the boats I showed in earlier post that was of Yasi too.

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  16. It's an impressive engineering project.

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  17. A very long and sturdy jetty, clearly built by experts who didn't skimp during the process. Here in Adelaide we have a concrete overpass, not very old, which is crumbling and having to be propped up. Design and build are both faulty. Shame on them. Peoples lives are at risk everyday because of it.

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    1. Oh really, that's dreadful. Up there in the sea they have managed to build a good sturdy one as you say.

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  18. Lucinda a pretty name and it looks a pretty place to ...

    All the best Jan

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  19. Jetty looks Marvelous to look at!
    what SWEET area you visited dear friend!

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  20. I don't know how I missed this post...I sure am running behind time!

    Yasi sure did cause a lot of damage around that area...so sad.

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