Sarina Qld August 17th 2023

 Sarina Qld August 17th 2023

It’s almost like a time warp: all the roadworks from last year are still there, perhaps even multiplied. They start as you pull out of Bowen and never really stop until you get to Mackay, which they have now bypassed with a Ring Road. I missed t he turn and had to take the old bypass, which was just fine.

The plan was to spend two nights in Marina. On the Friday we were booked to do the Sugar Mill tour, and on Saturday I was going to go the 30km back into Mackay to do Parkrun. The mill tour we had booked months ago based on our experience last year, when it had been booked out for weeks. Judy had done a check and found that they had plenty of availability, so a plan was hatched to do the tour this afternoon, and decamp to Rockhampton tomorrow. As it turns out, I haven’t done the Rockhampton Parkrun, so that’s a bonus for me.

The Sugar Mill tour turned out to be a Sugar Shack tour, which was Ok and informative as the guide told us all about cane, haw they plant and harvest it, and how they process the canes to produce sugar and lots of byproducts. The biggest claim about sugarcane farming is that “nothing is wasted.” Even the muddy sludge gets sent back to farms as a nutrient rich topsoil.

Original sugar cane "billet" planter.. Sarina Qld

Original local invention. Full cut stalk picker-upper. Sarina Qld

Chopped stalk sugar cane harvester. Sarina Qld