Paronella Park - The story of a Spaniard's Dream

As we left Palm Cove at 8:30 the winds were still blowing like they had for the past four days. Unfortunately they were blowing from the south east which had us driving into a severe headwind.

Today's drive of 137 km sees us heading to Paronella Park which is situated 17 km south of Innisfail on a section of the old Bruce Highway beside Mena Creek Falls. 

Powered caravan accommodation is free if you purchase a ticket to tour the park. For the cost of $76.00 we were part of the day, night and hydro electric tours. They even through in free Wi-Fi. 

We received a very warm welcome from Mark Evans who shook our hands as we arrived. We found out later that he and his wife Judy actually owned the park. Talk about great PR.

Jose Paronella arrived in Australia from Spain in 1913. He was a pastry chef by trade, but he had a burning desire to build a castle. This desire came from stories told by his grandmother when he was young.

For eleven years he worked cutting cane on farms around Innisfail. He never spent his money on alcohol or gamble like the other cane cutters did, but saved every cent he could. With the money he saved he started buying cane farms which he would improve before selling. This is one of the ways he gained his wealth. He also entered into money lending to help increase his wealth.

With this money Jose purchased 13 acres of land in the rainforest next to Mena Creek Falls. 

He had promised to write to his financee Matilda who was in Spain but this never eventuated and when he returned to marry her after eleven years she had married someone else. He then married her younger sister Margarita and returned with her to Australia.

Before his grand plan could be put into place, Jose needed a way to move materials from the lower level to the higher level. He achieved this by building a grand 47 step staircase.

The picnic area beside the waterhole including the picnic tables.

He then built their stone cottage.

His castle was the focus point for the park. Its hard to understand how a pastry chef could achieve so much. In 1933 he installed the first Hydro Electric scheme in North Queensland to power his park and the castle grounds. 

The first two photos are taken from the entrance to the Hydro Plant.

The opening in this photo is the entrance to the hydro plant and the pipe below that returns the water back to the creek once it has passed through the turbine.

By 1935 he was ready to welcome the public.

Attached to the castle he designed an entertainment area which included a movie theatre.  On weekends this area was transformed into a ballroom with live bands.

More than 7000 trees were planted in 1933 including including the smooth barked Kauri pine that make up the Kauri Avenue.

The lower refreshment rooms were built and contained changing rooms for swimmers and overlooked the tennis courts which were built using crushed termite mounds.

In 1946 logs from a clearing upstream blocked the creek before descending over the falls and wrecking the refreshment rooms. The Paronellas were undaunted by this mishap and within six months were up and running again. 

Worse was to follow with Jose passing away in 1948 from stomach cancer. Wife Margarita, daughter Teresa and son Joe continued on. Margarita passed away in 1967 and Joe died of cancer in 1972 with the park eventually being sold in 1977. 

In 1979 a fire destroyed the castle and leaving just the Turret and walls. Plans are now underway to reopen the ballroom within the next three years and bring it back to its full glory.

In 1993 Mark and Judy Evans purchased the rundown park and have been slowly bringing it back to life. In 2009 the hydro turbine was refurbished and is once again providing enough power for the entire park.

In 1993 the park employed ten staff but that has now grown to sixty five. During the holiday season from June through to October Mark told us that they require between 200 to 300 visitors daily to make the park viable. 

Our night tour was booked for 8 pm. We had experienced some minor showers during the late afternoon. Just before our tour started the heavens opened with rain falling for the majority of the hour while doing the tour.

The castle with its original stained glass windows.

Mena Creek Falls.

The refreshment rooms with the fountain that is gravity fed from the stream.