Why can’t we do this anymore
In the 1920’s Jos’e Paronella came to Australia. He brought nothing but a promise to come back and pick up his betrothed at some point when he had “made” it in his new land. Apparently 10 years with no homebound communication passed as he made his fortune, first working as a cane cutter then buying and selling cane growing properties until finally he went home to pick up his love, only to find she had moved on. But, she had a younger sister so he married her instead and came back to Oz. He promised her a castle and on his return he built one (or two).
Having bought at some earlier stage some 13 acres on Mena Creek beside the then Bruce Highway somewhere inland of Innisfail and Mission Beach he set about transforming it into a home for his new wife. With the aid of 2 young black boys and sand from the creek bed, using German imported cement he hand moulded concrete beams, lintels, walls, stairs, flower pots to build first a cottage and then a castle. Five (5) years of work resulted in a magnificent resort, some of which still stands today…..
the cottage first then the castle
and this contained a ballroom, a cinema, a museum and a refreshment kiosk. Then came the rotunda, bandstand, changing cubicles, pathways, fountains, tennis courts, toilet blocks, picnic gardens and a complete collection of some 7000 plants placed around the property to create all sorts of garden arrangements. In the meantime he also built a hydro power station to run all of the lighting, refrigeration, water pumps and power the cinema.
Then there’s the tunnel of love..
(now just a bats roost)
There are walking trails throughout the gardens, fountains, waterfalls, fish, eels, snapping turtles and crocodiles everywhere ( can’t vouch for the crocs but there are warning signs)…
In 1935 this was opened to the public and it became a place of large events, picnic outings, balls and cinema. Bands played in the rotunda, people played tennis. Unusually for the time you could also buy an icecream whilst strolling through the gardens. High society attended functions here as well. It was a place to be seen.
We were taken on a guided tour during the day, then a night tour after 8.00pm I was perhaps a bit disappointed with the night tour as the mood lighting was not all that good but we did manage a few interesting shots….
Unfortunately the ravages of time, floods and fire have left little of the obvious earlier grandeur, coupled with his use of railway track as steel reinforcing within all of the concrete works which has flexed and rusted as it has aged causing much of the concrete works to break down. But, now with new owners who were nearly bankrupted by cyclone Yazi ripping through the property there are plans to progressively restore major parts of the site. The Paronella family actually held the property up until about 20 years ago but again the floods and fires and old age weakened their resolve to hold on.
The first “castle” come ballroom is the second major project for restoration at an expected cost of 2.5 mil. The hydro generator was the first project, now fully operational at a cost of 400K and this also feeds the attached caravan park, the use of which is included in your entry fee.
It is beautiful place, marred by time but it is easy to appreciate the work that went into it by one man “with a dream”.
Jude and I came away awed by the scale and boldness of this one mans dream. And we think we achieve in our time.
Despite the work of restoration I’m not sure that this place will survive too many more natural disasters. It is placed in an environment which cannot be controlled . See it soon before it is all gone.
There’s Jude in the ballroom, fish in the stream, a wedding on what was the tennis courts and the change cubicles for people to get into their formal gear for the ball, the imposing tree lined walkway……
From the step marked 1946 flood level you are looking down into the picnic area near the base of the falls. The flood waters were deep.
Recent Comments