Well not far today, only about 100 km. We wanted to tour a sugar mill and so Tully Sugar Mill was the one. Checked out of Innisfail right on 10:00 as it was only 49 km to Tully and we didn't need to be there until 1:30. Arrived at the tourist information centre in plenty of time to collect our tickets and view the exhibits. We then went for a walk around town, including an obligatory climb to the top of the 8 metre high Golden Gumboot which represents Tully's (and Australia's) highest annual rainfall of 7.93 metres in 1950.
Tully (inland) and Mission Beach (on the coast) are the heart of the area where cyclone Yasi came ashore and more than 6 months after the cyclone there is still plenty of evidence of the power and destruction it brought.
The sugar mill tour was very interesting and very informative. It took us through the whole process from cane harvesting to loading raw sugar on ships for export. 100% of Tully Sugar output is exported to Japan and America. Tasting of sugar and molasses was allowed at various points in the process.
The tour over we headed a further 50 km south to Cardwell. Again we witness plenty of evidence of cyclone Yasi.
Tea was at the Cardwell RSL Club, a truly wonderful club with great volunteer staff and a courtesy car from the caravan park to the club and return. The meals are excellent value for money, so much so that we had to abandon the prospect of enjoying a dessert.
The Golden Gumboot, Tully
Tully Sugar Mill