Gordonvale - Sugar Cane and Walsh's Pyramid
Sugar Cane harvesting at the base of Walsh’s Pyramid. View from the southern side.
Less than half an hours drive south of Cairns is the small township of Gordonvale. I have many customers and friends that live in this area. At the time of writing this (07/10/2019) the sugar cane harvest is in full swing. The main landmark of Gordonvale is Walsh’s Pyramid.
Walsh’s pyramid on the left viewed from the northern side near the base of Desmond Tranmore Bridge.
As you leave Cairns and head south if you turn right at Gordonvale you head up the Gillies Range to the Tablelands. Much of that land and all around the area is used for sugar cane farming. The hills you see to the right however are part of Wooroonoran National park as is Walsh’s Pyramid.
This photo above was taken a little bit south of that turn off under the Desmond Tranmore Bridge that crosses the Mulgrave River on the Bruce Highway, the main road along the coast.
A truck crossing the Mulgrave River into Cairns over the Desmond Tranmore Bridge.
Usually on the eastern side of the Desmond Tranmore Bridge is a camping area. At the moment it is closed as it is being totally rebuilt by the local council.
Flowers from a Tamarind tree near the base of Walsh’s Pyramid.
The early part of 2019 saw so much rain in the area that everything was wet and green. It is so nice to at the moment to have some other colours on display and some clearer skies.
Looking up to the summit of the Pyramid from the Mulgrave River.
From a distance the 3klm plus hike to the summit of Walsh/s Pyramid looks quite inviting. The warning signs at the base of the climb are a must read. Make sure you allow at least 2 hours each way. If it rains, slow down big time. Those rocks get very slippery.
The view to the summit closer to the base
As you approach the Pyramid you start to get a more realistic idea of the climb ahead. Believe it or not people run up and down here. When I visited most recently in September 2019 I said hello to someone running down.
Every year The Great Pyramid Race is held. The record for running the 12.2klms from Alley Park in Gordonvale to the top of the Pyramid then back to Alley park is 1:15:34 set in 2007 by Neil Labinsky, a mountain specialist runner from the Sunshine Coast.
The view south west from the summit late afternoon.
Once you arrive at the summit the view is spectacular. I have climbed it quite a few times and some days you have no view as you are in the clouds. An equally wonderful experience.
The view west as sunset approaches.
In all my visits to the summit I had never stayed for a sunset and this time I would. If you do decide to stay for sunset make sure that every person is an experienced hiker and has a good torch and backup torch. Going down the Pyramid in the dark is not something to attempt. It says so on the signs before you go up.
Looking west colour starts to enter the sky as sunset gets close.
You never know what sort of sunset you are going to get but clouds help and early on this looked very promising. It is a long way to go back down in the dark if the sunset is no good.
Sunset that day.
Unfortunately the clouds cleared too much by the time sunset and those that remained were a bit high resulting in a lot of haze. I still had the after burn and blue hour to look forward to!
Some times you have to wait and stick around and on this day I was glad I did. The after burn went well into the blue hour as the city lights became visible :)
In the photo below the top left is the Tablelands with Cairns city top right. The Bruce Highway runs from the bottom left corner at Gordonvale up to Cairns. In the bottom right corner you can see the smoke stack of the Gordonvale Sugar Mill.
Looking north to Cairns.