| This is the small township of South Johnstone, you
pass through it on your way to Paronella Park. This town
featured in the terrible movie "All men are Liars",
a production that managed to plumb new depths in the
sometimes proud tradition of Australian film making |
 |
| But a few kilometres on, at the township of Mena
Creek, you are greeted by this view of the Paronella Park
castle. This shot was taken from the suspension bridge
over the waterfall that was erected by the Australian
Army Corps of Engineers a few years ago. Given the
number of Army erected suspension bridges that feature at
many scenic spots around North Queensland it is
appropriate to record my appreciation here.
I must add that the young Japanese couple who were
also on the bridge did not like the way I walked briskly
across it causing a degree of movement in the structure.
They stopped, grabbed hold of the hand rails, and glared
at me until all movement ceased
|
 |
| Jose Paronella's cottage still stands. It is
constructed from local stone and is now used as a coffee
shop and refreshment centre. Behind and to the left is
the museum where there are many wonderful artefacts. I
have not included any photos from the museum as I am all
too aware of the "theft to order" market in
significant historical items. I was in fact quite amazed
that the owners allow photos in the museum and have
suggested to them that they ban cameras from that part of
the complex. |
 |
| Stepping down the path from the cafe you come to the
entrance of the ruins proper. What you can't see here is
a wishing well, the proceeds of which are used to
refurbish to working condition various pieces of
equipment from the park's past. |
 |
| An alternate view of the same area. When I was here
as a child, you could explore the turret area and the top
parapet. This is now blocked off and most of the access
stairways removed due to the damage suffered in the fire
and subsequent exposure to weather. |
 |
| I remember standing here as a child eating an ice-cream purchased at this little cafe. The ferns you can
see growing on the concrete structure are slowly
destroying it as their roots work their way into the
concrete. In addition to the stress the growing roots
place on the concrete matrix, they also provide a path
for moisture which slowly rusts out the old railway iron
used as reinforcing. |
 |
| Walking on past the ruined cafe and through the ball
room, you come to the "Grand Staircase". It's
47 steps long and they are pitched a little steeper than modern building practices would allow. The journey back up
gets the heart rate up a bit. The plaques you can see on
the steps mark flood peaks. The lower is the 1974 floods
and the upper one the flood during the 1940's. The
staircase was apparently the first structure made by Jose
Paronella as it provided him with access to the river to
collect the sand and gravel required for his concreting
activities.
|
 |
| Turning right off the grand staircase leads to the
old picnic area. Whilst the tables and chairs are still
in excellent condition, they are clearly disused and they
all have a thick layer of moss. I suspect that modern day
family picnic goers do not wish to carry the makings down
and then up the grand staircase and therefore use the
upper picnic area. Pity as the lower picnic area is
steeped in atmosphere ++. |
 |
| At the lower picnic area looking upstream at the
right hand side of the falls and the turbine room for
what was the first hydro-electric generator in North
Queensland. |
 |
| A better view of the waterfalls. The pool looks
inviting for swimming, and has certainly been so used in
the past, but I would not recommend it now. Aided by the
food handed to every visitor to feed the fish, the local
eel population is close to saturation and they are
fearless of humans.
Actually, so are the fish, I had a very large fresh
water bream eating out of my hand, unfortunately when I
reached behind myself to get the camera to record the
moment, the little bastard tried eating my hand.....No
blood drawn but I did get a surprise.
|
 |
| Going back to the base of the grand staircase and
continuing past the ruined lower refreshment rooms you
come to this magnificent fountain. The fountain was
rendered inoperative some years ago and has only recently
been repaired. It is gravity fed from an underground pipeline.
The area to the right of the fountain used to be two
grass tennis courts, it is now maintained as a grassed
area and leased out for weddings and other functions.
|
 |
| This in fact is the view of the "tennis courts"
I was talking about. Behind the fountain is the lower
refreshment rooms. |
 |
| Jose Paronella planted over 7000 trees around the
Park complex. This line of Kauri pine trees is one of a
number of "avenues" leading off from the tennis
courts. |
 |
| A disused toilet block in a field of native ginger. |
 |
| I mentioned the hydro-plant earlier. On every
previous visit I have made, the stairways to the turbine
room have been blocked off. Today for some reason they
were not and I quickly took advantage to satisfy a
curiosity that has burned unquenched for 20 years. The
green item on the left is the actual turbine, followed by
a large steel disk flywheel, then belt drives to the red
240 volt alternator and lastly to the 32 volt generator
at the rear.
Remarkably when I applied pressure to the flywheel, it
all turned freely.
The photo quality is not what I would like, but seeing
as it was taken in a black room with focus and indeed
framing totally guessed at I am rather proud.
|
 |
| Time to leave. Back over the suspension bridge into
the 20th century and away...... By the way, according
to the owners Jose made 400 of the planter boxes you can
see next to the path. Apparently 380 of them still exist......
|
 |
| Only in North Queensland...... |
 |