HINCHINBROOK ISLAND - THORSBORNE LOGISTICS
Travel and transfer logistics for the Thorsborne Trail, Hinchinbrook Island. What you need to know.
What you need to know:-
- Your choice of how to get to the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island will have a major impact on your enjoyment of the entire trip, and the quality of your memories!
- Cheaper and easier to travel to Lucinda via Townsville (over Cardwell via Cairns)
- You travel no further when making Lucinda your start/finish point (actually, slightly less)
- You see more natural beauty and will more than likely enjoy it more
- Increase your safety and comfort with thorough preparation info and support given by Absolute North Charters’ extensive “local knowledge”.
Absolute North Charters get a lot of enquiries from hikers and bushwalkers from major cities around the country, about getting to Hinchinbrook Island to hike the Thorsborne Trail.
AIRPORTS IN RELATION TO HINCHINBROOK ISLAND AND THE THORSBORNE TRAIL
There are two airports in the region that THORSBORNE HIKERS can fly into that helps connect them to Hinchinbrook Island.
Townsville airport is by far the closest with a drive distance of 135.4 km and a drive time of 1.40 hours.
Townsville airport has all the services you need to connect you to Lucinda, which is the closest port to Hinchinbrook Island and the Thorsborne Trail. The drive north from Townsville is not interrupted by small centres as you drive along the Bruce Highway which keeps you cruising at 100kmh.
Shuttle buses from Lucinda and Ingham will pick you up and drive you right to your departure point or accommodation in Lucinda. Alternatively, you can hire a car from any of the major rental companies and self-drive. This option is utilised by hikers that wish to visit other parks in the area after they have returned from the Thorsborne Trail.
If you are self-driving, keep in mind that Lucinda is only 19.5km off the highway, not 35km. That means it’s a 15-minute drive from the turn off of the Bruce Highway. that turn off is 8km north of Ingham and then from Ingham to Lucinda it’s a 20-minute drive. Many hikers have been misinformed that it’s a 35 minute drive.
LAND TRANSFERS FOR HINCHINBROOK ISLAND VISITORS
For the most affordable Townsville Airport shuttle bus transfers to/from Lucinda, please contact John at Absolute North Charters on 0419 712 577.
Drive time and distance maps from/to Townsville Airport and Cairns Airports.
CAIRNS AIRPORT
Cairns Airport is situated north of Hinchinbrook Island and is further by distance than Townsville airport.
Cairns airport is on the north side of the city and the first 30km to Gordonvale is at 80kmh (but much slower during peak traffic times!), and there are many small regional centres that pull you back to 80kmh. The only only option is to hire a car and drive down yourself as no Shuttle buses run from Cardwell or Ingham to Cairns.
Flights to Cairns may be slightly cheaper for Sydney or Melbourne hikers during the summer months, but they certainly jam up the prices during the tourism season in the winter months, which is the busy season for hikers to Hinchinbrook Island’s Thorsborne Trail.
This is because Cairns is a much larger tourism destination than Townsville. You will find better deals into Townsville during peak Tourism months (June to September). Getting in and booking early is the key!
If you are flying in from the South East of the state or Northern NSW, Brisbane Airport has 10 flights daily to Townsville, so do your research. Coolangatta is another Airport that might be of service to you. This will give you less travel time getting to the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island.
TRANSFER FERRY TO THE THORSBORNE TRAIL, HINCHINBROOK ISLAND
Purpose-built for local conditions, our 35-foot, 26-passenger ferry will get you to Hinchinbrook Island (and back) safely and in comfort.
Hikers new to the Thorsborne Trail have on occasions, been misinformed while seeking knowledge about certain aspects of the transfers pertaining to distance of transfers and the time it takes. Unfortunately it would appear the reasons for this are purely profit and results and hikers paying much higher prices.
There is now no need to use a land based transfer (shuttle) to get you, the hiker, from one end of the Thorsborne Trail departure point on the mainland to the other. Those days are gone and they are gone because Absolute North Charters weighed up the logistics that face hikers and decided that leaving Lucinda to transfer you to RAMSAY BAY was both cost effective and logistically smarter and adds to your experience when visiting wonderful Hinchinbrook Island. The fact that other operators have copied this logic only reinforces its validity.
The fact that you do this transfer at the beginning of your experience with Absolute North Charters is not something that just happened, it actually is practical logistics and the fact that Absolute North Charters know how you will feel when you have finished the hike.
It also showcases the Hinchinbrook Channel in the beautiful light of a morning sun which is something you cannot get anywhere else.
Morning run up the Hinchinbrook Channel, between the mainland and Hinchinbrook Island
Morning run up the Hinchinbrook Channel, between the mainland and Hinchinbrook Island, from Lucinda to Ramsay Bay
If you left from Cardwell, you need to go back to Cardwell at the back end of your hike So, if you end your hike at George Point, you still have a big 44 kilometre transfer to do through the Hinchinbrook Island Channel or by shuttle bus along the highway to Cardwell.
If you leave from Lucinda to go to Ramsay Bay at the beginning of your hike you would have already done that transfer at the start of the hike. You also would have done the distance from Cardwell to Ramsay bay on the getting-on transfer on your first day.
Maps below outline the journey.
This return transfer to Lucinda is a total of 78.7 kilometres with a combined time for both transfers (to the north and return from the south to Lucinda) takes 1 hour and 55 minutes.
Below maps show you the route you would take if leaving from Carwell.
As you can see, although your first day transfer onto Ramsay Bay boardwalk is shorter, you still have to return to Cardwell at the end of your hike from George Point. And that Cardwell transfer has a combined total of 78.73 kilometres.
So, there you have it. YOU DO NOT TRAVEL ANY MORE DISTANCE WHEN LEAVING FROM LUCINDA. You just do the big transfer at the start of the hike, and get it out of the way. This allows you to get back to the mainland quicker from George Point on the south end of Hinchinbrook Island to Lucinda, which gives you more time to organise yourself for your return trip to your destination that evening.
As a life-long hiker of the Thorsborne Trail, John from Absolute North Charters can tell you, “When I’m done, I’m done!” The last thing I want is a long return transfer from Hinchinbrook Island.
It’s much better to enjoy the inside of Hinchinbrook Island Channel at the start of your hike when you are first embarking on your adventure, not when you are tired and in need of some creature comforts.
If anyone tells you the transfer from Lucinda to Ramsay Bay is 60 miles, or 68 miles one lady was told, disregard it. To put that distance into perspective compared to the actual distance we do is easy – 68 miles would be leaving Lucinda and driving north past Cardwell, past Dunk Island, past North Mission beach, past Kurramine beach until finally we would be just south of Innisfail north of Mourilyn Harbour!
That would take just shy of 3.5 hours!
You need to do your research to take advantage of our local knowledge.
WHY DEPART FROM LUCINDA INSTEAD OF CARDWELL?
As mentioned earlier about logistics, and apart from it being more beneficial for hikers to travel through the Hinchinbrook Island Channel, there are other reasons as well.
John from Absolute North Charters is a local who comes from the area, and without any reservations, he can say that for a boat business to weigh up options, as to what will suit best as an operational port, Lucinda is head and shoulders above the rest. Lucinda also has the added advantage of not having tidal restrictions, where as Cardwell does.
Everything Absolute North Charters do is logistically worked out to help you, the hiker, get on and off the Island in the most convenient cost effective way.
So when you see the variations of pickup times between 2 separate transfer businesses, it is not because of the Mulligan Creek crossing or access to Lucinda, it is because Cardwell is not optimal to transfer from George Point because you are being picked up from George point on a low tide.
The photos below tell the story.
Cardwell Boat ramp at Low Tide.
Lucinda at low tide
SUMMARY
You will save money with Absolute North Charters because logistically, they need to drive past George Point on the way back to Lucinda.
To view their rates CLICK HERE or feel free to call John directly on 0419 712 577