Goondi
Goondi, a small sugar town, is five km north-west of Innisfail. Situated on an elbow bend of the South Johnstone River, 'Goondi' is thought to be an Aboriginal word referring to elbow.
Farm selections, each of two sq miles, were taken up at Goondi in 1881 and within a few years Colonial Sugar Refineries built a sugar mill at Goondi (it is thought that the place name was given by the mill manager in 1883). South Sea Islander indentured labourers (then known as Kanakas) were the main labour force. The Goondi Mill made its first crushing in 1885.
Further Reading:
Dorothy Jones, Hurricane lamps and blue umbrellas: a history of the Shire of Johnstone to 1973, Cairns, G.K. Bolton Printers, 1973
Headwords:
