PARONELLA PARK

30^th April, 2013

We hitch Mitzi up to the van, wave goodbye to our friendly neighbourhood cassowary and drive inland to Mena Creek – a whopping 50 kilometres.  It’s no wonder Wok needed a strong cuppa when we arrived.  Over thirty years ago we explored this area with the kids and stumbled on the ruins of Paronella Park.  Tina and Trent were about ten years old but they still remember the waterfall and the many paths and staircases leading to fascinating structures hidden under the encroaching rainforest.  The story of Paronella Park was the dream of one man – Jose Paronella.

Jose arrived from Spain in 1913 and started working in the sugar cane farms around Innisfail.  After a few years he began buying run down sugar cane farms, improved them and then resold them making a profit and creating wealth.  In the late 1920’s he bought 13 acres of virgin forest beside Mena Creek Falls where he planned to build his dream.  He returned to Spain to marry his sweetheart Matilda only to discover that she had married another.  Well he had been gone for 14 years and how long could a girl be expected to wait?  Did this put spoke in Jose’s plans?  Of course not … Matilda had a younger sister ‘Margarita’ so Jose proposed to her and one year later they were married and on their way to Australia.  By 1930 Jose had built the 47 step staircase to shift building materials between the lower and upper level on the land he had bought at Mena Creek and a hand built stone cottage had been constructed.  Then the cement foundations were laid for his castle and he and his work crew set to work on designing the entertainment area.  The castle contained a movie theatre which was transformed on weekends into a huge ballroom where live bands played under a massive ball of mirrors spun form the ceiling to reflect a dazzle of pink and blue lights.

Seven thousand trees were planted and North Queensland’s first hydro-electric plant was built in 1933 to power the 13 acre park.  Tennis courts were built from crushed termite mounds and a pavilion with refreshment rooms and changing rooms for swimmers was built beside the picnic grounds near the pool at the base of the falls.  A tunnel which took five years to complete was hand dug through a hill to save people having to climb around it to reach the miniature waterfalls he had created and named after his daughter Teresa.  Jose passed away in 1948 leaving Margarita, son Joe and daughter Teresa to carry on his dream.  The park eventually left the family when it was sold in 1977 and two years later a fire swept through the castle leaving only the walls and turret standing.  The park became rundown and neglected until 1993 when the present owners ‘Mark and Judy Evans’ bought the property and began to uncover Jose’s dream.

Today visitors are taken on a range of guided tours where Jose’s story is told.  In 2009 the original hydro turbine was refurbished and once again provides power for the entire park as well as putting excess power back into the grid.  The park is heritage listed and a number of ongoing restoration projects are underway or planned for the future.  The admission price also includes one free night on a powered site in the adjoining caravan park.  The caravan park only has a few sites so it is imperative that you make sure there is a site for you before you arrive.  We set the van up on site and then slot into one of the daytime tours which leave every half hour.  After dinner we join the night time tour – a little different with spotlights lighting up the waterfalls and buildings.  The next morning we decide that it is so peaceful and relaxing we would like to spend a couple more nights at the park.  As it is still the quiet time for tourists we are given the okay to stay.  That’s great!  The facilities are clean, the staff friendly and best of all we can walk down into the park anytime we like and explore all the pathways and tracks.  We won’t be going swimming though as a large saltwater crocodile managed to find its way up the creek during the last big deluge and now resides in the pool below the waterfall.  Over the next two days we take lots of photos and the following shots are a selection of those …

Wok takes a walk on the suspension bridge above Mena Creek Falls

View of the castle and picnic area below the falls

The cottage now houses a museum

The 47 steps from the lower level to the upper level

Mena Creek Falls and the suspension bridge from the picnic area

Marble eels waiting to be fed at the picnic area

Refreshment Pavilion

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Water lily

Fountain pool near Refreshment Pavilion

Balcony seating on top of the toilet block

Wok takes a walk down the avenue of Kauri Pines

Flying Foxes asleep in the trees

We thought this was a colourful butterfly but on closer inspection we think it's a moth

Tunnel under the hill

Micro bats roosting on the roof of the tunnel - they are very tiny - about as big as a
man's thumb.  The reddish brown one (lower left of photo) is a juvenile.

Turtles and fish waiting for a feed in the turtle nesting area

One last look at the falls .... so pretty

We’ve had a wonderful few days at Paronella Park and we are so pleased that someone saw the beauty that we glimpsed underneath the rainforest all those years ago and had the energy and imagination to do something about it.  Everyone has a dream and Jose’s dream lives on …..