The Drive-in, Ayr Queensland

Ayr still has a drive in theatre. (Have shown pictures of it a few years ago). This visit in last winter we visited the drive-in once again.
The first picture greets you at the entrance, the second is of course the ticket box. The theatre is surround by sugar cane.

I'm sure this Sin-bin as we call them is not used and must be there for decoration, I certainly could be wrong.

Below the screen.

Sugar can growing as taken from the window as we drove along another area of Ayr.

Sugar Cane, Proserpine, Queensland

Winter 2017 in Proserpine, Queensland it's when the sugarcane is burnt in this area. 
We happened to be heading to the caravan park from Airlie Beach when we came across a farmer doing his job. 

Transporting of Sugarcane, Queensland

Many of the sugarcane farms have train lines so the small trains which are usually ever so long can travel to collect the cut cane to take to the mill.
We saw many mills on our travels but this one was the closest to take a photo of.
Some areas burn sugarcane and some don't burn it.

Here comes the small sugarcane train going to the mill.

The sugarcane train goes forever it seems.

Cut cane

Sugar growing near the graveyard at Ingham, Queensland.

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.

On the way further up north.

Headed further up Far North Queensland in Winter 2016 in the Tropics to a place called Mossman.
On the way there were a few canefields.
Sugarcane was brought to Australia in 1788 on the ships of the First Fleet.  However, growing wasn't successful further south in the beginning.
These photos were taken in the moving vehicle as there was no where to stop on the highway.
The house with a big veranda, the trampoline with net around for the children.

At the Caravan Park in Ayr, Qld.

Stayed at Ayr in Q'ld at the Council Caravan Park for a couple of nights before heading further north.
The weather wasn't the best but at least it wasn't cold for winter, by now we are in summer clothing, the temperature was 18 deg C one day and 29 deg C the next. Ok for winter.

On the way to Ayr there were many Cane fields. This photo was taken whilst the vehicle was moving and my phone was used.

A map from Tasmania, Australia to Ayr in Q'ld and it gives some idea how far we are from home. We went a little more inland in places on this map thus making the mileage further.

Upon arriving and after settling in I wandered off to take some photos inside the park itself.

Know to me as the 'Flame Tree' and it's prominent in many places in the north, stands out amid the other trees.

Very old type of ficus roots.

A common flower to see also, a Hibiscus.

Can't recall the name of this one.  Recall it's grown inside in Tasmania.

These two are also grown inside in Tasmania - but of course indoor plants are not popular at this time and haven't been for several years.

Ingham, Queensland.

Ingham is 110 klm (68) ml north of Townsville which I featured in my previous post. It's 1,437 klm (893 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane.
At Ingham sugarcane is grown, it has the largest sugar-mill in Australia and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many Italians live in Ingham so the Australian- Italian Festival is held in May each year with thousands of people attending the event.  The town is known as "Little Italy".

A field where the cane is grown.

 A field of cane growing across the from the Graveyard.

 Some of the Italian graves.