Goondi, Queensland

Goondi is a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.[2]

Goondi
Queensland
Goondi Sugar Mill, 1930
Goondi is located in Queensland
Goondi
Goondi
Coordinates17°30′15″S 146°00′19″E
Population28 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)4860
Location
LGA(s)Cassowary Coast Region
State electorate(s)Hill
Federal division(s)Kennedy
Suburbs around Goondi:
Fitzgerald Creek Daradgee Sundown
O'Briens Hill Goondi Cullinane
Belvedere Hudson Goondi Bend

Geography

Goondi is riverside land wrapped around the southern side of an elbow-shaped bend in the Johnstone River. It is very flat land, being 0 to 10 metres above sea level, and is predominantly used for growing sugar cane and bananas. Reid Creek flows from the north-east of the locality from neighbouring Sundown though to the Johnstone River in the north of the locality. There is very little residential development in Goondi.[3]

The Bruce Highway passes from south to north through the south-western edge of Goondi crossing the Johnstone River at the Sir Joseph McAvoy Bridge, while the North Coast railway line travels from south to north along Goondi's north-eastern border and crosses the Johnstone River. There is a private cane train tramway in the west of the locality, used to transport harvested sugar cane to the local sugar mill.[3]

History
Goondi Wharf on the Johnstone River, circa 1885

The name "Goondi' is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "elbow", referring to the bend in the river.[2]

The Goondi Sugar Mill opened in 1883, between the end of Goondi Mill Road and Knox Avenue near the Johnstone River (17.5062°S 146.0036°E / -17.5062; 146.0036 (Goondi Sugar Mill (former))).[4] During World War 2 with Japanese air attacks on northern Australia an aerial dog fight was sighted above Goondi Mill between a Japanese Zero and an Allied fighter plane, with the Zero being shot down in the cane fields. Goondi Mill and other strategic assets had been mined at the time with explosives, and should the Japanese attack and land troops, destroyed, with planned guerilla warfare resistance based across the Atherton Tablelands. Up until the 1960's the Mill had its own dairy delivering fresh milk door to door daily. It closed in 1987 after being taken over by Bundaberg Sugar.[5]

Goondi Provisional School opened on 17 February 1898. On 1 January 1909, it became Goondi State School.[6] It was originally located on the south side of Goondi Mill Road (approx 17.5099°S 146.0040°E / -17.5099; 146.0040 (Goondi State School (original site))),[7][8] but, by 1974, had relocated to the school's present location in Goondi Bend.[9][10]

In the 2016 census, Goondi had a population of 56 people.[11]

Education

There are no schools in Goondi. The nearest government primary school is Goondi State School in neighbouring Goondi Bend to the south-east. The nearest government secondary school is Innisfail State College in Innisfail Estate to the east.[3]

See also

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Goondi (Suburb and Locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
  2. "Goondi (entry 45702)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  3. "Queensland Globe". State of Queensland. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. "Parish of Glady". 1976.
  5. "Goondi". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  6. Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  7. "Innisfail" (Map). Queensland Government. 1943. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  8. "Queensland Two Mile series sheet 2m403" (Map). Queensland Government. 1951. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  9. "8162 Innisfail" (Map). Queensland Government. 1974. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  10. "Goondi State School". Goondi State School. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  11. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Goondi (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 October 2018.

Further reading

Media related to Goondi, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons

  • "Goondi". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland.
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