An early start again in cool but fine conditions. The wind was variable sometimes across us and other times in our faces. Although our speed was lower than other days we reached Mutarnee our 1st stop by 9.00 am. Very neat servo but not much stock. All the pies were beef and there was no veggie options at all so Joe had to get a pack of chips, less than ideal fuel for the morning.
Saw this sign on the way into Ingham. Of course we know what makes a Maltese cross, but what makes a prawn wild?
Arriving at Ingham by 11.00 am we found the only cafe (Cafe Fiorelli) that was open and settled down to catch up on the blog. The staff were not fussed that we sat there for 2 hours and only ordered tea and coffee while we had the laptop and phone plugged in to recharge.
Back at Granite Creek rest stop Tony Pike who was travelling there with his wife Suzy had taken pity on us and provided some red wine with dinner and also recommended that we go to Lucinda. So after another lunch of lettuce, cheese and tomato rolls we headed the further 30 km to Lucinda.
An interesting ride along the Herbert River and through some mangroves to Halifax and then Lucinda. Lucinda is located near the south end of Hinchinbrook Island, the largest island national park in the world. If you are walking the Thorsborne track from north to south (as Peter Howard and Tony did), a boat from Lucinda picks you up from St Georges Point to take you back to the mainland.
We checked into the local caravan park. Shane the manager was very helpful including showing us where Tony and Suzy were camping. Unfortunately Tony wasn't able to keep his promise of a feed of prawns as the weather meant he hadn't been able to put the boat in the water. It was nice to catch up. Thanks for recommending such a super spot.
A big feature of the area is the "long pier" which is used for loading bulk tankers with sugar from the storage facility. It is 5.7 km long. A bit of an eyesore in such a beautiful spot but interesting anyway.
We arrived too late to buy fresh fish so we had fish and chips for dinner. The battered barramundi was superb. Here is the pier at sunset. You can also see the swimming area in the foreground. It is surrounded by crocodile nets as there is a croc just around the corner at the boat ramp.
Apparently the captain of the Palm Island ferry will not walk down the boat ramp to get into his tinny to go out to the ferry because he believes the croc has it in for him. The tinny is mounted on a fork lift, he gets in and then the fork lift takes him down and places him and the boat on the water.
Another big day tomorrow as we enter the Cardwell Ranges.
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