Mena Creek

We finally dragged ourselves away from Jared’s place after an amazing month of adventures, the fact that it was raining after a month of sunshine made us feel a bit better about leaving.

We had one last activity to do together, Paronella Park. In typical Brett style he left jobs to do until the morning we had to leave, once they were done we were on our way.

We all explored Paronella Park in the rain ☔️, then went back to the van for a quick dinner, not really leaving ourselves enough time in between our 3.30 day tour and our 6.45 night tour 😩, so we were a tad rushed.

The castle was a spectacular, with a very interesting tale:

José Paronella arrived in Australia from Catalonia in Spain, in 1913. For the next 11 years he worked, cutting sugar cane initially, then purchasing, improving, and reselling cane farms. In 1924 he returned to Spain and married Margarita in 1925. The trip back to Australia was their honeymoon.

José first saw this 13 acres of virgin scrub along Mena Creek in 1914. He eventually purchased it in 1929 for £120 and started to build his pleasure gardens and reception centre for the enjoyment of the public.

The earliest structure, the Grand Staircase, was built to facilitate the carrying of the river sand to make the concrete.

First they built a house to live in, then they started on the Castle itself.

Apart from the house, which is made of stone, all of the structures were constructed of poured, reinforced concrete, the reinforcing being old railway track. The concrete was covered with a plaster made from clay and cement, which they put on by hand, leaving behind the prints of their fingers as a reminder of the work they had done.

The most amazing thing about the castle was the fact it was hydro powered in the 1930’s. Power was a luxury and a must for a luxurious castle and this was the first hydro electric generator in QLD. With the endless supply of water from the waterfall the castle and gardens could be lit up with lights and they also had refrigeration which meant ice cream for everyone. José built the castle as a dream of creating a place of fantasy where many could relax and enjoy life, with tennis, musical performances, movie nights, dinners and dances, he’s passion was to share his most prized possession and with many he did.

Many floods and cyclones tried to flatten the structures and sections were heavily destroyed but the majority survived and it is a wonderful place to visit.

It was then it was back to the van for our goodbyes 😢😢Read more