Day 52: Paronella Park

Today was one of those perfect days. I'm sure my writings will fail to illustrate how magic the day was, but I will do my best.

Despite the forecast of showers we decided to visit Paronella Park. We were extremely fortunate with the weather as the rain held off until we were ready to depart.

Where do I begin to explain what Paronella Park is? It was built by Jose Paronella back in the 30's and consisted of not only beautiful gardens but also a ballroom that was well and truly ahead of it's time. The grounds hosted many functions as well as catering to day visitors with the lagoon at the bottom of the waterfall and teahouse which hosted bands.

Jose was the first in Australia to use hydro power for electricity and therefore the services he could offer were quite unique including home made ice-cream and movie shows.

The legacy was continued by Jose's son after his death until he too died in 1977, at which time the property was sold. The new owners unfortunately suffered an electrical fire 2 years after buying the property and could not recover so abandoned the business.

The new owners bought the property in 1993 and have "revived the dream."

Jose was quite the visionary and it is amazing to see his buildings lasting the test of numerous floods, a category 3 cyclone and two category 5 cyclones. The buildings are obviously unusable but their sustainability is amazing.

We thoroughly enjoyed walking through the grounds, feeling and seeing all of it's beauty as well as feeding the considerable marine life in the waterways.

The entry fee included some fish food, we visited every waterway feeding not only the fish but the eels and turtles too. We even went back to get more fish food which they kindly gave to us with compliments.

Also included in the entry fee is a site for a night in the adjacent caravan park and entry to Paronella Park for both day and night tours for the next 2 years. We didn't feel like doing the night tour tonight so we are hoping to return on our return leg via the coast.

I cannot speak highly enough of the hospitality of the staff. The owners have done a commendable job employing vibrant employees that add to the experience of Paronella Park.

Our lunch experience was 100% better than yesterday's, the cafe was that good we even had afternoon tea there.

We returned to the van for an early afternoon to find Millaa Millaa covered in a layer of fog, so an easy afternoon was spent playing games and watching TV.

Tomorrow we depart Millaa Millaa for Port Douglas. On the way we are stopping at Atherton to visit the Crystal Caves.