Paronella Park

Paronella Park

Paronella Park is not a place that many people would know, but once you know the story you will remember it for evermore.

You would never think you may find the ruins of a Spanish Castle in amongst the rain forests and cane fields of Far North Queensland, but here it is.

We had read about it many years ago, and my brother Neil, with wife Adrienne, had visited here many years ago, whilst holidaying in the area. Ever since then, we have wanted to visit, and now here we are. We had found out from other travellers, that Paronella Park now had its own small caravan park, the cost of which was included in the price of 2 general admission tickets. Accordingly we booked ahead, and for $60.00 we got our powered site, a full daytime tour, access to the entire park all day, as well as a night tour. The caravan park has very small sites, which are quite hilly and awkward to get into, but we did. The section we were in had 3 sites, but with us and another large van in place, there was no way a third was getting in!

Mena Falls at Paronella Park

The story of Jose Paronella is a classic tale of living your dream. He arrived in Innisfail from Spain, in 1913 to seek his fortune, and make a new life for himself and his betrothed Matilda, whom he will bring to Australia once settled. He worked very hard in the cane industry for 11 years, amassing wealth by buying, improving and selling cane farms. He returned to Spain to collect his bride, but given that he had never written to her in the 11 years, found her happily married to another! Undaunted by this minor setback, he proposed to her younger sister Margarita. After the wedding, they toured around Europe, picking up the latest architecture and engineering ideas, and then headed back to Australia.

The Grand Staircase

He purchased his magical 13 acres at Mena Creek, beside the waterfall, and set about building a castle for his family and friends to share. First he built the grand staircase, to allow building materials to be moved between the lower and upper levels. The river provided all the sand and gravel he needed, and he used steel rail from the cane railway for his structural steel. He built a cottage on the upper level, and by Christmas 1929, they had moved into the new home.

Amazing fountain

The castle kept growing. A ballroom which was also a cinema was constructed, along with fountains and picnic areas. The landscaping was done, with ultimately 7,000 plants being used. Pathways were constructed, and always they pointed back to the waterfall. These pathways were lined with Kauri Pine, now 80 years old and enormous, palms and bamboo. All the fountains were run by gravity fed water sources constructed by Jose. They still work fantastically. A tunnel was built to link the gardens to another small waterfall, which he named Theresa Falls after his daughter. The tunnel became known as the Tunnel of Love, is now closed, and now home to a colony of micro bats!

The main gallery taken
from the tennis court

In 1933, Jose installed his own Hydro Electric Plant, imported from Germany, and powered by his waterfall. Electricity transformed the place. Lighting was installed throughout the complex, 20 plus years before electricity came to the region. He built tennis courts using crushed ant nests! He opened the place to the locals, who would come to use the picnic areas, go boating and swimming on his river, and every Saturday night to see the movies in the grand ballroom. He hosted lavish dances in the ballroom complete with orchestra. It was a magical place for all who came. He opened a cafe, and served cold drinks and ice cream, a luxury the locals had not known due to no electricity!

Living in the tropics presented a number of natural hazards. Floods and Cyclones have ravaged the area, and in 1979, fire badly damaged the main building. Jose died in 1948 from stomach cancer, but his wife, son and daughter continued to live at the property until 1977, when it was sold. The new owners could not afford the upkeep, and with the fire in 1979 the place went to ruin, until the current owners purchased Paronella Park in 1993. With help from Jose's daughter, they wrote the story of Jose Paronella, and restored much of the history to the place. Old photos and furniture have been brought back and the property slowly restored, including in 2009, the original Hydro Electric Plant, which now once again  provides all the power to the site.

Feeding the eels.

We did our daytime tour in the rain. The lush gardens were beautiful, and the river had risen to the stage that the picnic area was partly flooded, and the waters of the river very muddy. Still it didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the eels, fish and turtles that climbed over each other to get the food we had to give them!

The main tower at night

The night time tour was fun. We all got a torch, and although the showers held off, we all tramped around in the wet and dark, marvelling at the fireflies,the bats in The Tunnel of Love, and the turtles that came to the light. We all assembled on the tennis court to await the lighting up of the central building, which when it came was beautiful, and accompanied by classical music, it was quite a romantic scene, that topped off a wonderful visit.

Early the next morning, Carol and I took one last walk around the park without all the tourists, which was a nice benefit of staying there and having the run of the park. If you would like to learn more about Paronella Park, go to www.paronellapark.com.au