Day 72 - Paronella Park, 7th September 2025

Set the alarm this morning for an early morning walk along the beach to go cassowary spotting. We drank our coffee in the rain and waited and waited!





No cassowaries! It was raining so we went back to the vans and I started cooking Ian a Father’s Day breaky of bacon and eggs.  I sent Ian off to the car to get bread and as I’m looking out the window I see a cassowary walking under our awning!! 


 I raced out (forgot to turn the pan off lol), yelling to Ian to come quick. Luckily, the cassowary was not in any hurry to disappear and wandered around the campsite for ages and then onto the beach.






We had a yummy bacon and eggs for breaky feeling very satisfied that we finally saw a cassowary lol.

Back on the road for the short drive to Paranella Park. Our entry to the park included a night’s accommodation so we set up in ‘The Paddock’ which was awesome- great facilities and beautiful gardens.



We walked down past the pub…


…and over Mena Creek Falls…




…and headed to the park to check in.  What a fabulous place with an incredible story. 



Jose Paranella built the park complete with Spanish castle in 1933. 



The grand ballroom was used for weddings and functions until it burnt down after a wedding in 1979.


The  pool at the bottom of Mena Creek Falls was used for picnics and public bathing. 





There was a theatre and an Ice-Cream parlour run by his wife. He made a waterfall to replicate the Mena Creek Falls so that he could name it after his daughter Teresa. There was a tunnel of love that he built which is now inhabited by a colony of microbats   There were even tennis courts. All of this powered by the hydro-electric generator that he built , the second in Queensland and the first privately owned. 







It was closed for 14 years after Jose and his son died until a couple from Fremantle bought it in 1993 and reopened it. Not long after they opened they had a visit from Teresa who was Jose and Margerita’s daughter. She took them on a tour and told them all the stories and it has now become a piece of history.  We had an incredible day. The scones in the cafe were delicious.


We had a fabulous guided tour through the park with Bas and then spent hours wondering around marvelling at the museum and gardens and pure genius of Jose.

We went back to the vans to chill for a couple of hours before we headed back for the night tour, complete with a lights and music show. It was incredible.






Father’s Day dinner was at the Mena Creek Hotel, a beautiful old country pub, friendly service and delicious food. A fabulous day from start to finish! 









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