Paronella Park

Whilst visiting Townsville we read of Paronella Park and thought it may be worth a visit just to see what 1 person could do with his dream. It sounded as though it may be interesting as we enjoy looking at old buildings and gardens.

When we first arrived at the entry we were told that we could look around by ourselves or to join a guided tour. As it was only a short time till the next tour was to start, we went and enjoyed a lovely cup of coffee.

When the tour began, we were immediately impressed with the young man guiding us. He was very friendly, easy to understand and was more than willing to answer questions from the group. As the tour progressed we were told the story of young Jose Paronella and his dream of building his castle.

With all the small stories that we were told eg making his own concrete, using his sandbox to roster his daily jobs, excavating his “tunnel of love” etc. it was almost as though we were watching him at work. His hydro electric scheme must have seemed a minor miracle to the locals. It will be so exciting when that is back to working condition.

It is such a shame that the ballroom was burnt, it sounds like it must have been very lovely, it must have made such a wonderful location for having dances or showing “moving pictures”. It was hard to believe that Jose had no architectural or engineering training.

The time that we visited was just after the hurricane that caused major devastation. The gardens were not in the best of condition, but you could tell that the keen and dedicated staff were not going to let it stay that way for long.

We were so impressed with our visit that we bought the DVD and showed our friends on returning home, it was such a lovely story and even though the park was not at its best we were still extremely impressed with what we saw and heard. We will certainly be returning for another visit when we are in the vicinity.

Helen