ENCHANTING PARONELLA PARK

Everyone has a Dream........ but not everyone's dreams are fulfilled.  Jose Paronella's dream was to build a castle.  He chose a special part of Australia and created Paronella Park.  On 13 acres beside Mena Creek Falls he built his castle, picnic areas at the lakeside, tennis couts, tunnels and bridges, and wrapped it up in an amazing range of 7000 tropical plants and trees. (As written in The Story of A Spaniard's Dream).

Wayne and I just loved this magical place.  His foresight to build a place for everyone to come and enjoy way back in the 1930's was unimaginable.  The history just goes on and on and while the buildings are detoriating by paying to visit, one can help to restore and keep this story going.  The whole place was buzzing with people visiting and the Mena Creek community are helping to allow all to stay in caravan park is progress.

Taking the day tour was so informative so we certainly did the evening tour as well.  The tour commences with the guide taking us to the cottage museum, the grand ballroom remains of the castle with its stage with tiles covered in moss then on down the Grand Staircase before viewing the Mena Creek falls from the moss covered picnic tables.  After feeding the fish and turtles down there we progressed up stairs around to the Lower Refreshment Rooms with change rooms either-side of this building.  The forethought put into this build is amazing.  A skating rink around the fountain beside the tennis courts now all gone.  The Old Toilet Block and then walked Kauri Avenue.  Wow, after cyclone Larry it still stands. Around many pathways and one comes to Teresa Falls purpose built by Jose for his daughter before glimpsing through The Tunnel and back Lovers Lane.  OMG - so much to see so one can wander at your own leisure.  We then went back to bewitched by the sight of powerful Mena Falls, floodlit and spectacular after sunset.

Mena Falls and the hydro power station to the right light up.

Teresa Falls by night.

We stayed a second night as Paronella Park is privately owned and maintained and receives no outside funding.  The entrance fees allow the owners to preserve this unique property and they also have the Mamu Skywalk so off we went to visit and take a walk in the clouds in Wooroonooran National Park to experience the rainforest canopy, along with providing spectacular panoramic views of World Heritage rainforest landscapes.  The Skywalk features elevated walkways, a cantilever and, at 37m, the tallest rainforest observation tower in Far North Queensland.

Plenty of Heritage stories and learn about the traditional uses of many of the trees, plants and animals

Elevated walkway 15 m high meandering from ground to canopy level

Looking down from the 37m high tower

Ma:Mu Aboriginal people painted welcoming stones at entrance.

Later in the afternoon on the second day we walked back from the paddock park where we had to move to this morning over to the swing bridge above the Mena Falls.  Wow - the views from this side are just as spectacular as from the Park itself.

One can see from this way the winding steps beside the falls Jose built to take visitors to his engine room and the dynamo he has had installed to generate power for all the needs of his castle and grounds.  The building of the room and the stairs at the face of a sheer cliff is itself an engineering achievement, and to this day it still generates the power for all and puts back to the grid.

I would hate to think of how many planter boxes Jose made from concrete.

We found a track that wound down to view the Falls from opposite the castle.