Paronella Park was one mans dream that came to reality. Jose Paronella left Spain as a young man to come to Australia in the early 1900s, to be able to earn a better living, he started working in Mt Isa then went into sugar cane cutting in far North Queensland, it wasn't long before he had saved enough and was buying small run down sugar cane farms, he would build them up and sell them at a good profit. In ten years he had worked and sold 12 farms.
After 11 years he returned to Spain, brought back his wife and took her to the site which is now Paronella Park.
It took him 3 months to build their stone cottage, while he was doing this he installed a hydro electic power station in the river on his property, they had hot running water and electric lights, 20 years before anyone else in the area of Queensland.
He alway wanted a castle so he built one, the family didn't live in it, they stayed in their cottage, the castle and botanical gardens he made were all part of a business he got going.
He built a huge ballroom, on the lines of the great European ballrooms, in this he would hold weddings, shows the latest movies and newsreels, hold great balls for all sorts of dignitaries. All this was possible because he had electricity, with freezers people could enjoy ice cream, a real luxury, a lot of the time he could have up to 500 people a day in his park, his wife and family done all the catering for the restaurant that was there.
There is a beautiful waterfall in the river beside the property, that is what enabled him to have the hydro system.
At the bottom of the waterfall was a swim area in which he had small boats people could paddle, there is a cave that runs in behind the waterfall which was popular for paddling.
He also installed change rooms as he had a dress standard, no one was permitted walking around in their swim costume.
He built everything by hand and it is very decorative, there was 500 separate plant pots he made for around the tops of buildings etc.
Unfortunately he died at 62 with stomach cancer, his children and their children continued to run it, during its time it had servived 3 massive floods and cyclones
but it wasn't until a fire burned the big hall that his aging daughter with her children decided to sell. It sat untoched for 15 years.
New owners are finally working to restore what is possible, it is a national trust now so they are a bit ham strung but the hall is going to be rebuilt, they are not allowed to work on the decaying walls of the castle.
The gardens and paths he put in are magnificent, there are tree ferns there that are the largest in the world, an avenue of Queensland karrie trees which can grow to an age of 900 years with and a diameter of 3 metres, black bamboo forest, just beautiful plants everywhere.
The army used to go to the area for training and r&r during the war so they built him a great swinging bridge over the waterfall.
We stayed in the caravan park, the people were very friendly, there was day tours that ran every half hour and an evening tour at 6.15 at which time they light up the ruins and the waterfall.
If you are staying in the park it is free for one night.
The whole experience was inspirational, peaceful and beautiful, well worth doing.
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