Little Lucinda with a very Long jetty

We didn't really know what to expect from Lucinda, but ended up having a great time in this little town, especially fishing off the jetty! Ben is showing off one of our unusual catches....a Remora fish, sometimes referred to as a sucker fish, the ones that are found attached to sharks, manta rays, whales....or boys!
Situated around 140km's North of Towsnville, near the southern end of the world heritage listed Hinchenbrook Island, Lucinda is a small town with about 500 residents, but is a big sugar port.  In actual fact Lucinda's sugar jetty is the worlds largest stretching for 5.76kms.

 It was built in 1979 to follow the curvature of the earth by dipping two metres over its length, and able to withstand cyclones....That was until Queenslands most powerful cyclone in recorded history roared ashore on the 3rd of February 2011 (around 7 months prior to us being in Lucinda).  Cyclone Yasi's epicentre hit the coast 40kms North of Lucinda, badly damaging the towns of Cardwell, Tully, Mission Beach and Innisfail.  Unfortunately it also severely damaged the sugar jetty.

We had a great time fishing off the jetty though.  There were huge schools of bait fish swarming underneath, and every now and then one of us would spot a huge fish jumping out of the schools.  We ended up catching lots of Spotted Mackerel which due to the height of the jetty proved quite tricky to reel up before they flicked off!

The Wanderers Holiday Village caravan park in Lucinda was nice.  Due to the number of campers that bring boats the sites were very spacious.  It was a short stroll across to the jetty and fish and tackle / general store.  The park lost a lot of its palms etc in the cyclone so there isn't a great deal of shade. They have a pool, and the amenities were large and clean.

Dinner at the Pub, a short walk from the campground

On the way from Cairns to Lucinda we stopped for lunch at a little beach called  Etty Bay. There is not a lot here, just the small campground on the beach and a general store / fish n chip shop. It looked like a great quiet spot for the locals to come for a beach holiday and get away from it all.  Oh and the Casuaries quite like it too!

We were amazed by the obvious damage done by Cyclone Yasi, the forests were stripped of their leaves, huge tree trunks were suspended horizontally in the forests, and many houses still had tarps covering their rooves.  Below is a picture of the kids on Mission beach standing under the roots of a massive tree that had been ripped out of the ground.

Next stop is Cape Hillsborough National Park.  At this point our holiday felt like it was over , and it was just all about getting home. We were keen to see friends and family...comfy beds, and clean bathrooms!