Gordonvale
Interesting sugar milling town close to Cairns.
Located just a kilometre off the Bruce Highway some 24 km south of Cairns, Gordonvale is a sugar milling town which has a charm all of its own. The town was originally called Nelson but it was later changed to Gordonvale to honour a local pioneer, John Gordon.

Unlike most sugar milling towns (which tend to be rather drab and functional) there is a special quality about Gordonvale which is connected to the fact that the town is centred around a park and that most of the buildings date back 70 or 80 years. It also can lay claim to the rather dubious privilege of being the place where the dreaded cane toad was first introduced to Australia. Apparently on 22 June 1935 102 cane toads were released near Gordonvale in the misguided belief that they would wipe out pests which were damaging the local sugar cane crops. Little could anyone in the town imagine the repercussions of these actions.

Behind the town stands 'The Pyramid' or Pyramid Hill, a volcanic core which is shaped as its name suggests. Each year there is a competition to see who can get to the top in the shortest time. The record currently stands at 1 hour 20 minutes.

Things to see:  

The Mulgrave Rambler and Sugar Mill
The town offers a number of attractions of which the most interesting is 'The Mulgrave Rambler' a journey on a steam driven sugar train along a tramway which takes passengers from the town, crosses the Mulgrave River a number of times, passes through sections of rainforest and crosses a couple of roads before reaching its destination at the Orchid Valley, a substantial orchid nursery.

The journey includes a visit to the Mulgrave Sugar Mill which started operations in November, 1896. The first mill in the area was the privately owned Pyramid Mill on the upper Mulgrave River which started crushing in 1885. It had failed within a decade. The Gordonvale Mill replaced it as the main sugar mill in the district. By early 1898 a railway line had been constructed between the town and the port at Cairns.

Edward River Crocodile Park
Located on Redbank Road, the Edward River Crocodile Park is a project run by the local Aboriginal community. Visitors have an excellent opportunity to see crocodiles in captivity. There are also conducted tours. It is open daily from 8.30 am - 4.30 pm. Contact (07) 4056 3095.