Paronella Park - Mena Creek, Queensland

As we slowly headed south we came across a gem in a place called Paronella Park. The park was once a Spanish style castle, built by Jose Paronella in 1929 complete with ballroom, movie theatre, tennis courts, swimming area, and rainforest walkways all with a view of the Mena Creek Falls. Jose's dream was to create a castle similar to the ones he remembered growing up in Spain for all to enjoy.

The park was sold by Jose’s children in 1977 and wasn’t rediscovered until 1993. Unfortunately, due to natural disaster such as floods, cyclones and fires only the walls still stand leaving a reminder of what had been.

The highlight was the night tour in which the owner of the park took us through a lit up version of the park and gave us an in depth history.

Mena Creek Falls.

The lower refreshment hall

Microbats (stock photo)

Lower refreshment room at night (stock photo)

Mena Falls at night

The night before leaving Paronella Park it poured down rain, however it shouldn’t be too surprising as it is in the wettest area of all of Australia.