Main Street of Innisfail

Innisfail (including Nerada)
Attractive and substantial town servicing the surrounding agricultural region.
Located 1631 km north of Brisbane and 83 km south of Cairns, Innisfail is one of the few substantial towns in north Queensland to remain relatively untouched by the tourist boom which has swept the whole area in recent times. Located at the junction of the North and South Johnstone Rivers, the town has an easy charm about it.

The Johnstone Rivers were first sighted by Sub-inspector Robert Johnstone who came upon the current site of the town and wrote: 'a most glorious view appeared - a noble reach of fresh water, studded with blacks with their canoes and catamarans, others on the sandy beaches; deep blue fresh water expanding to an imposing breadth.' On Johnstone's recommendation an expedition led by George Dalrymple set off in September 1873 to thoroughly explore the coastline. About 4 miles upstream one of Dalrymple's men, P. N. Nind, made a camp and on the basis of this Innisfail was originally known as Nind's Camp.

In 1879 an enterprising Irishman named Thomas Henry Fitzgerald arrived in the area to take up land. At the edge of the river near the 'Pioneers of the Sugar Industry' statue is a cairn commemorating the landing of Fitzgerald and his party.

Fitzgerald, an astute entrepreneur, called his property the romantic name for Ireland - Innisfail - however it was not to become the name of the town until much later. In 1882 the Surveyor-General named it Geraldton in honour of Fitzgerald.

The town's name was changed after a Russian ship bound for Geraldton in Western Australia arrived at the port to collect a load of jarrah wood. A public meeting was held in 1910 and the name of the town was officially changed to 'Innisfail' the name of Fitzgerald's property. The name was appropriate as the Irish have played a significant part in the history of the town as the huge and gracious Roman Catholic church on the top of the hill attests. In fact one of the town's earliest major landholders was James Quinn, the Bishop of Queensland, who used to the names of twelve nuns to buy up large tracts of land in the area.

Innisfail is basically a sugar town and its economy is largely dependent on the sugar plantations which surround the town, the bulk sugar loading facilities at Mourilyan and the numerous mills in the area.

Things to see:  

Shire Hall
While the town lacks 'attractions' which would draw tourists to it, it does have some delightful walks beside the river and its streetscapes are genuinely interesting.

By far the most interesting building in the town is the Shire Hall which stands like a beacon towering above all the other buildings in the town.

It was built between 1933 and 1938 after the previous three Shire Halls had been burnt down - the first in 1891, the second in 1913 and the third in 1932. Financed in part by the shire's commitment to provide relief employment during the depression it was built of reinforced cement to withstand the cyclones which sometimes hit the town. Today it is still a remarkable building. The hall upstairs, which was state of the art when it was built, is a massive place still used for civic occasions. It has huge roll-a-doors on the windows so that on hot nights the hall can be opened to catch the slightest breeze. By any measure it is one of the strongest civic statements in Australia. It cost the council £54,725 to construct - at a time when they couldn't afford such a large outlay.

Chinese Temple
In sharp contrast the Chinese Temple in Ernest Street is another dimension of the town's history. This small red building with its incense and brassware is a reminder that the goldfields of North Queensland attracted considerable numbers of Chinese and that after the goldrushes they dispersed south settling in towns like Innisfail.

Pioneers Monument
At the bottom of the town's main street is the Pioneers Monument a rather handsome statue made out of Carrara marble depicting a cane cutter with his knife at the ready. Donated to the town by members of the local Italian community it is a reminder that another group to have left their mark on north Queensland are the Italians who arrived in the 1880s to become cane cutters.

Nerada Tea Gardens & Tourist Centre
28 km west of Innisfail is the Nerada Tea Gardens & Tourist Centre. Here, nestled into the foothills below Mount Bartle Frere (Queenland's highest mountain) are 250 hectares of tea plantation. Started in 1959 Nerada prides itself in being the only commercially productive tea plantation in Australia. The plantation is open from 9.00 to 4.30 each day and visitors are shown the processes from withering to crushing, oxidising, drying, sorting and packing.

Innisfail has a long association with tea production. It is believed that the first tea planted in Australia was planted at nearby Bingil Bay in 1884.

	Tourist Information
	Queensland National Parks & Wildlife Services Rising Sun Shopping Centre Owen St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 4291
	Motels
	Barrier Reef Motel Bruce Hwy Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 4988 Rating: ***
	Black Marlin Motel 26 Gladys St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 2533 Rating: **
	Carefree Motel 14 Owen St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 2266 Rating: **
	Moondarra Motel 21 Ernest St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1989 Rating: **
	River Lodge Motel 84 River Ave Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 3888 Rating: **
	Robert Johnstone Motel Fitzgerald Esp. Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 2444 Rating: ***1/2
	Walkabout Motel 20 McGowan Dve Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 2311 Rating: **
	Hotels
	Commonwealth Hotel 137 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 6026
	Crown Hotel 27 Ernest St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 4722
	Goondi Hill Hotel 173 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1379
	Innisfail Hotel 100 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1175
	Queens Hotel 74 Rankin St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1399
	Caravan Parks
	August Moon Caravan Park Bruce Hwy Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4063 2211 Rating: **
	The Mango Tree Caravan Park 2 Couche St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1656 Rating: **
	Flying Fish Point Caravan Park 39 Elizabeth St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 3131 Rating: ***
	River Drive Van Park River Ave Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 2515 Rating: ***
	Restaurants
	Gumloon Restaurant 96 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1164
	Lee Yick's Joung Var Chinese Restaurant 168 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 1360
	Wai Young Chinese Restaurant 156 Edith St Innisfail QLD 4860 Telephone: (07) 4061 3309