Hinchinbrook

After a quick overnight at Orpheus Island with a full moon, we head towards Lucinda, a small coastal village at the southern entrance to the Hinchinbrook Channel. Long before we see Lucinda, we sail along the Lucinda Offshore Sugar Loading Jetty stretching 6km (almost 4 miles) out into the Coral Sea. The jetty is the world's largest bulk sugar loading facility and longest jetty in the southern hemisphere - so long it actually curves with the earth. Sugar takes 22 minutes to travel along the conveyor from the on-shore storage to the ship loader.

We motored through the narrow Hinchinbrook Channel (Bolan Milbirmi as the aboriginals called it), known for its fjord-like peaks and vine-like creeks. Running 44km between the Australian mainland and Hinchinbrook Island, the channel is lined with mangroves hiding a variety of juvenile fish. When the fish mature they swim out of the mangroves to the open ocean. Predator fish and saltwater crocodiles know this and wait in the channel for their dinner. Many fisherman are also in the channel looking for dinner.

Hinchinbrook Island is Australia’s largest island national park with untouched mountainous peaks and a waterfall. Previous resorts could not withstand the powerful cyclones common in this area. We kayaked into the beach at “The Haven” and were greeted by a WARNING SIGN: Crocodiles inhabit this area – attacks may cause injury or death. There was a camping area near the beach and a hiking trail through the trees running along a crystal clear, rocky creek with butterflies and a frog living in a rotten old tree stump. No crocodiles were seen.

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Gma & Gpa