Paronella Park

I’d never heard of Paronella Park before, but this is what travel is all about.

Jose Paronella was a Spaniard with a dream. He left is fiancé in Spain while he came to Australia to make his fortune. 11 years later he returned to collect his wife, who not having heard from him in all that time, had married someone else. Her parents, who had promised Jose a bride said, not to worry, we have another daughter – so he married her instead and brought her back to QLD with him to build the dream.

He had indeed made a fortune when he first came to Australia and was smart about purchasing land. So when it came to building his park and reception centre for the public to enjoy, he had the funds to do it in style. He wanted a mirror ball for his ballroom and ordered one for $600 (about $10,000 in today’s money) – it is thought that he was the first ever person to have a mirror ball in Australia. The one in the pic is a replica as with fires and cyclones, the park’s main buildings have all been destroyed.

The park was in ruin after Jose and his wife, Margarita had died and this children had moved away, but a couple – Mark & Judy Evens came along looking for a project and took it on – they still own it today. It’s lovely to wander around and you can camp in their adjoining camp ground as well, in fact you get a night’s accommodation with the ticket, so maybe on the way back.

Then on the way home, we stopped in at this little town of Silkwood. They still have the old police station, where you could come out on the verandah and mount your horse straight from there, the National Bank was right next door – bless it’s heart, and we stopped off at the Silkwood pub for a small bevy where Larzy promptly won a pair of QLD socks. The luck of this kid is amazing!