Paronella Park is a mystical rainforest wonderland around 130ks south of Cairns set in the foothills of the towering Mt Bartle Frere (1622m), the Wooroonooran National Park and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. 

José Paronella, an entrepreneurial and visionary Spanish immigrant arrived in the area in 1914, working hard yakka in the surrounding sugarcane fields until he’d saved up enough money in 1929 to purchase 13 acres of scrubland along Mena Creek. He quickly began creating a pleasure garden hand carved out of the virgin rainforest, even building a castle, inspired by none other than Antoni Gaudí. 

The rainforest has pretty much consumed much of Paronella Park today, which makes it all so gloriously wacky and dream-like. There’s really not that much left of the castle, the majority of it destroyed by fires, major floods and devastating cyclones over the years, but what is left of these largely decaying concrete structures is kind of magical, with Gaudí’s inspiration evident at every turn. It’s not something you’d expect to find buried as it is in the wild jungle rainforest – it reminds me of the long-abandoned Mayan pyramids and temples we explored in the thick jungles of the Yucatan. 

Over the years, Paronella tirelessly hand built his pleasure garden ‘in harmony with the rainforest’ for the public to enjoy (at a cost of course), complete with a dark tunnel (lovers’ lane), cinema, bridges, cascading waterfalls, secret gardens, a bamboo forest and a grand ballroom for dancing, complete with ornate chandeliers and a giant sparking crystal mirror ball that would have hosted many a wild dancing party! And if that wasn’t enough, he built the first hydroelectric system in Queensland (by hand) – causing water to flow through an aqueduct into a 30-foot waterfall that, to this day, cascades into a large green (now Crocodile inhabited) lake. During its hey-day as a pleasure garden, Paronella Park quickly became a beloved destination, the lake filled with day-tripping swimmers and surrounded with concrete tables and benches for dreamy afternoon teas and ice creams – all catered for of course by the Paronella family. 

There’s an incredible collection of native rainforest trees here including giant Maples, Hoop Pines, Palms, Bunya Pines, Silky Oaks, Satin Ash, Walnut, Quandong and an amazing iconic avenue of towering Kauri Pines, planted by Paronella in 1933. They live for between 1,000 and 2,000 years, so there’s an awful lot of growth left in these majestic towering trees, but it’ll be a hell of a job maintaining them in the years to come as they continue their journey skywards. 

You’re encouraged to take a guided tour through the grounds, which, given the unique history and evolution, is really essential to get your head around Paronella’s visionary dream. The young animated guide rattled off a much-rehearsed story that skimmed across Paronella’s life, his staggering achievements, the major setbacks he encountered along the way, and his ultimate demise at a relatively young age – peppered of course with amazing anecdotes and stories of this place in its hey-day. Oh, and she had a warning for us that a juvenile Cassowary had been spotted in the lower gardens and that if encountered we were to remain still and raise an arm high. He’ll probably run at you, but don’t on any account start running, that’ll just make him even more curious. Needless to say, we walked around the lower gardens with eyes wide open, ready at any moment to adopt the pose. 

Paronella’s visionary dream continues to this day, thanks to Mark and Judy Evans who purchased the park in 1993, helping to restore, revitalise and preserve José Paronella’s dream. 

I encourage you to take a look at this website and José Paronella’s story. It’s quite the tale! 

https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/paronella-park-story-behind-queenslands-spanish-castle

https://tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au/listing/product/mt-bartle-frere/