Leaving Townsville was very difficult. After the death of our beautiful Labrador, Marvel, we felt like we were leaving a part of our family behind. Every time I got anything out of the back of the car, I would see his 'spot' under the canopy and it would hit me like a tonne of bricks - he was gone and wasn't coming back.
I have always had dogs around me but they had always died from old age. It was hard to understand my feelings about Marvel's death. I kept trying to tell myself I was overreacting but as we all know, we can't control our feelings! I was missing him so much and having a very hard time dealing with it.
I think it was made worse seeing how upset the kids were. Our little boy Zaccy, who is 3 was very confused and kept asking when Marvel was coming back. When we explained that he wasn't coming back, he would cry and say things like "if he comes back, I promise I wont tell him off for licking me!" of course, this would start us all crying!
After Townsville we drove north about 60ks to a little campground at Rollingstone called Bushy Parker Park. It is a lovely big grassed area, with clean toilets and drinking water taps on every campsite (a very rare thing).
We were parked next to a lovely couple called Paul and Pat. We instantly hit it off and spent a long time chatting about our adventures and swapping stories.
We took a drive out to Balgal Beach one sunny afternoon and had a look at the campsite there. It was nice and very close to the beach but was so busy on the long weekend. We stopped at the little pub/cafe and had a nice cold beer then went for a walk along the beach. I am starting to really freak out about crocodiles the further north we are getting, and it's all I can think about whenever we are near water! I spent most of that afternoon scanning the water for eyes looking back at me.
We have been told that a trip up to Wallaman Falls is a must-do while in the area. The road up the mountain was a bit scary and I was feeling a lot of sympathy for my friends, Mark and Amanda, who wrote off their car on that road last year.
However, the hairy drive up to the top was worth it when we got there. Wallaman falls is the highest single-drop waterfall in Australia. Measuring over 260 meters, it was a very spectacular sight. As the water falls to the ground below it looks like it becomes a really fine mist. It's hard to believe that it's still water!
Unfortunately the path down to the bottom of the falls was closed so we could only go down to the first lookout. It was a beautiful view looking over the valley.
Our next stop was Kurrimine Beach. We stayed at the Kurrimine Beach Tourist Park at the end of town. We arrived on the Monday of a long weekend and I was once again, so impressed by Dan's ability to manouver our long caravan through the very tight caravan park to the far corner where our site was. The caravan park was completely booked out and nearly every site had at least 1 car and a boat. There were people and kids everywhere and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us park our rig. I was holding my breath waiting for someone to lose a wing mirror from their car, but Dan was awesome!
We decided to take a drive up to Innisfail for the day and came home via the Calcutter Way.
The Top Tourist park in Kurrimine Beach has everything! A huge inground pool filled with inflatable balls, slides, climbing toys etc, a big jumping pillow (complete with inflatable sumo-suits so the kids can have 'belly bumper' competitions) a playground with a cubby house, and a big rec room filled with toys, board games, and a big flat screen tv connected to a wii! Needless to say we spent a lot of our time up that end of the caravan park!
We had a lovely afternoon drive down to Mission Beach and had lunch at a cafe on the sand.
We drove up to Etty Bay which is a hot spot for viewing the elusive Cassawary. We managed to see one from a distance but didn't have the camera at the time.
There were signs everywhere about the danger of cassawaries, and how they can become quite vicious and attack. There was a recent news report about a man and his grandson who had been attacked and pushed off a rock ledge. The man survived but was badly injured. There were also signs warning of crocodiles at the beach and word of recent sightings.
Of course all of these warnings completly freaked me out and I couldn't relax while we were there. We had a nice picnic lunch then went for a walk but I kept such a tight rein on the kids that they couldn't really enjoy themselves! Dan is so patient with me, even though he knows I over-react. He just simply asked me if I wanted to go and then rounded the kids back into the car.
On the way back to the caravan park we called in to the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre in Mourilyan. A small museum where you can learn of the people who made the industry, investigate their life style and the rich folklore associated with one of Australia’s great rural industries.
We spent a magical afternoon and evening out a a wonderful place called Paronella Park.
A History of Paronella Park
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. They laboured with unswerving determination, until, in 1935, the Park was officially opened to the public. The Theatre showed movies every Saturday night. In addition, with canvas chairs removed, the Hall was a favourite venue for dances and parties
A unique feature was the myriad reflector, a great ball covered with 1270 tiny mirrors, suspended from the ceiling. With spotlights of pink and blue shining on the reflector from the corners of the hall, it was rotated slowly, producing a coloured snowflake effect around the walls, floor and ceiling. During the mid-sixties the Theatre ceased to be, and the Hall became devoted to functions, particularly Weddings.
Above the Refreshment Rooms was the projection room, and up another flight of stairs was the Paronella Museum. This housed collections of coins, pistols, dolls, samples of North Queensland timbers and other items of interest. Originally, food service was from the lower Refreshment Rooms downstairs.
The concrete slab tables forming the lower Tea Gardens and the swimming pool both proved extremely popular, as they still do today. The avenues and paths were well laid out with the familiar shaped planters which are still to be seen wherever you go in the Park. Two tennis courts were behind the Refreshment Rooms, with a children's playground, The Meadow, situated near the creek.
Upwards of 7000 trees were planted by José. These included the magnificent Kauris lining Kauri Avenue. A Tunnel was excavated through a small hill. Above its entrances are the delightful stonework balconies. Walking through here brings you to spring fed Teresa Falls, named for his daughter.
The creek is lined with rocks and traversed by small bridges. Some parts have cascades built out of rocks, so the sound of water is always there. The Hydro Electric generating plant, commissioned in 1933, was the earliest in North Queensland, and supplied power to the entire Park.
In 1946, disaster struck. Upstream from the Park a patch of scrub had been cleared and the logs and branches pushed into the creek. When the first rains of the Wet Season came, the whole mass began to move downstream until it piled up against a railway bridge a few hundred metres from the Castle. Water backed up until the weight broke the bridge, and the entire mass descended on the Park. The downstairs Refreshment Rooms were all but destroyed, the Hydro was extensively damaged, as was the Theatre and Foyer.
Undaunted, the family began the task of rebuilding. The Refreshment Rooms downstairs were beyond repair, so this service was moved upstairs, and only the structure of the building recreated. In addition, José built the fountain. The Castle was repaired, the gardens replanted, and the Park was alive again
In 1948, José died of cancer, leaving Margarita, daughter Teresa, and son Joe, to carry on. In time, Teresa married and eventually moved to Brisbane with her husband. Joe married Val in 1952, and they had two sons, Joe (José) and Kerry. Renovations and maintenance meant there was always plenty of work, and the floods of 1967, '72 and '74 further added to the load. In 1967 Margarita died, and in 1972, Joe died, leaving Val and the two boys to continue the hard working tradition and keep the dreams alive.
The Park was sold out of the family in 1977 and sadly, in 1979, a fire swept through the Castle. For a time, the Park was closed to the public. Cyclone Winifred in 1986, a flood in January 1994, Cyclone Larry in March 2006, and Cyclone Yasi in January 2011 were all further setbacks and challenges for Paronella Park.
Mark and Judy Evans, the current owner/operators, purchased the Park in 1993 and formulated a plan to put the Park back on the map. They see the Park as a work of art, and work on maintaining and preserving, rather than rebuilding. Small restoration projects have been undertaken, pathways uncovered and improved, and the Museum, an ongoing project, is continuously being enhanced.
The Park gained National Trust listing in 1997, and has been recognised by multiple Regional and State Tourism Awards from 1998 onwards.
In November 2009, the ambitious project to restore Paronella Park's original (1930s era) hydro electric system was completed. At a cost of $450,000, the system once again provides all of the Park's electricity requirements. This work, and other environmentally focused initiatives culminated in Paronella Park being awarded Eco Australia's GECKO award for Ecotourism in 2011. Paronella Park's life as a pleasure gardens continues as José intended, for visitors, and with social gatherings, particularly weddings, continuing to make use of this unique location.
Paronella Park - The Dream Continues …
As I rode my bike around town, I noticed something a bit strange. In nearly every front garden was at least one tractor (one house had five on the front lawn!) I knew we were in Sugarcane Country but we were quite a long way from the cane fields. I got chatting to the locals and they explained the tractors. Kurrimine Beach is primarily a fishing town and most of the residents work in the cane fields and fish in the bay in their spare time. They use the tractors to tow thier boats down to the boat ramps and back to their houses. After being told this I saw hundreds of boats being towed to and from the ramps. A bit weird I thought!
