Paronella Park

We visited Paronella Park after leaving Tully and camped up overnight in their carpark.     You can do a day tour and hear the history of the property and the extraordinary story of Jose Paranella.Way ahead of his time.   Then go back after dark and do a night tour by torchlight before certain parts of the park are lit up. This was the dream property of a young Spanish man, Jose Paranella.   He arrived in Qld in 1913, leaving behind a fiancee.   He discovered the waterfall at Mena Creek and decided it was the best spot to build his future on.  He purchased 13 acres as a future home for his fiancee.   11 years later he went back to marry her only to find she had married someone else.    That didnt deter him, he married her little sister instead.   He built a castle, picnic areas, tennis courts from crushed termite mounds, tunnels, bridges, a movie theatre that transformed into a ballroom with live bands, a pavilion with turret topped balconies, refreshment rooms, changing cubicles so that people could change from their sporting clothes into clothes suitable for the refreshment rooms.   He also harnessed the water on his property and built the very first hydro electric plant in 1933 to power his park and the grounds were opened to the public in 1935.    Electricity to the rest of the area did not come till 1953.   He was so way before his time.     He made all the concrete for his buildings, from soil and rock on the property. He and his wife also cleared the forests and planted more than 7000 tropical plants and trees.   He was one smart dude.   His story was inspiring and I loved it.

He built this 47 step staircase first to reach the start of his castle

Beautiful trees in the garden

The park has been flooded 3 times, had a fire in the ballroom, and suffered damage from two cyclones.   Jose died in 1972.  The park was sold, then two years later a fire swept thru.   The new owners left the park to fall into disrepair.   It sat in the rainforest, badly damaged for 10 years until  the current owners discovered it in 1993 and are working to repair and restore the dream.    The hydro turbine still generates all the power for the Park