Saturday 30 May 2015

Paronella Park

We had talked about going to Paronella Park, had been highly recommended  but then decided against it, but after we had had our coffee and cookie in Tully we headed back to the caravan and another couple pulled up, we had a chat  and they raved about Paronella Park, so we thought maybe we need to go it's not far from Innisfail where we were heading for the night so after an overnight in a rest area at Innisfail we headed out there. The deal is you pay for entry to the park and get a free site at the caravan park which is attached, we got there before 10 am which was lucky as its only a small park and not very many sites available, small of course, built for the small vans of the 60s, but we managed ok. 
Paronella park was built by Jose Paronella a Spanish immigrant who came to Australia in 1913, he had a dream to build a castle like he saw in Europe and in the 1920s he bought the land with Mena creek and waterfall running through and started to build his dream, first he built a small house for his family and then he built a Grand Staircase so he could access the lower part of his land, he then built a castle complete with ballroom, the ballroom was used for dancing and a picture theatre and the castle was a tea rooms.  He built another cafe/ tea rooms complete with a tennis court. There was no electricity in the area and he built the first Hydro Electric plant. He opened the park to the public in 1935, quite an amazing achievement.....
Unfortunately a flood in 1946 did a lot of damage to the tea rooms and when Jose died in 1948 his wife and son carried on but when his wife and son both died the property was sold in the 1970s and a fire to the roof of the ballroom and cyclone damage made the the park unviable and it remained in a sorry state until 1993 when the present owners bought it, saw Jose Dream and decided to continue his dream.......
We really enjoyed the whole experience of the park, the guides went to a lot trouble to re create how the park would have been in its hey day, we were free to wander any in the park after our tour and also we went on the night tour, we now have a pass that allows us to visit again with in the next two years.....
Mena Creek waterfalls
Photo of the castle as it was in 1935
The castle as it is now, the Ballroom was to the left
Nothing left of the ballroom, fire destroyed the roof and a cyclone the walls
The Grand staircase runs from the top of the waterfall to the pool at the bottom
Picnic area at pool

Lower refreshment area, used to be tennis courts where the grass is
Changing rooms at the side of the tea rooms
Theresa Waterfall, natural spring, named after his daughter Theresa
Fish and turtle feeding in the creek
Lots of lovely paths to wander along, many tropical plants and overall he planted over 7000 trees on the property 
We had a Devonshire tea after all the walking and  climbing up and down the Grand staircase 

We then went on the night time tour......
Castle
Mena Waterfalls
Theresa Waterfall
The grand Finale was the lighting up of the lower tea rooms, the guide lined us all up, torches off and taa dah...... Nothing, technical hitch she said, poor girl, whatever was supposed to happen didn't and there was the staff running around with portable floodlights to light it up, never mind, good excuse to visit again, we were so glad we went, was a great experience and it's amazing that someone has recognised Jose Dream and is making sure it's not lost 





Wednesday 27 May 2015

Pottering around

After leaving Taylor's Beach we headed a bit further north, deciding we would have a free camp for a couple of nights, no luck with a free one but camped at the Lions Park at Hulls Head out side of Tully for $16 @ night, nice little camp on mouth of  the river, the weather turned a bit windy and overcast and then showery. We spent time at Mission Beach nearby and time in Tully looking around, Tully main produce is bananas and sugar, with a sugar processing plant in town. We have now moved further north to Innisfail, more Bananas and tomorrow we plan to travel to Paronella Park which has been highly recommend.......

A couple of photos of Mission Beach, very windy

Had a lovely coffee in Mission Beach, the sausage rolls were just out of the oven so Brian had to try one
Also we had the Dragonfruit baked cheesecake and it was delicious 
Old Church on its own in the cane fields
Heavy weather in Tully and the chimneys from the sugar processing plant adding to the cloud. 
Managed another lovely coffee in Tully this time with a salted caramel cookie, ate it before I thought to take a photo, and it was really good, will have to find a recipe and make some





Sunday 24 May 2015

Taylor's Beach

After leaving Townsville we  planned to head towards one of the beaches along the coast for a couple of days, we got about 20 mins out when Brian realised the brakes on the caravan weren't working, we pulled into a rest area and after checking found the fuse in the emergency brake had gone, we didn't have a spare so carried on to the next Roadhouse and the next and the next looking for a fuse! Finally ended up in Ingham at an Auto Electrician. Decided to stay at Ingham, nice town, for the night at the Info centre which allows camping up to two nights for $10 a night. We did a shop at Woolworths, then the next morning Brian's tooth and filing fell out........ So we stayed another night while he visited the dentist, he had the rest of the tooth removed, seemed the best choice and not too expensive either.

When we left we travelled to Taylor's Beach for a morning tea stop and stayed 4 nights! Lovely little place, situated on an estuary, a few houses and a very friendly caravan park. Brian has been fishing but first he had to get some yabbies for bait and this entailed a yabbie pump, push that into the sand and pump out the little yabbies and then keep them in a bucket with an aerator to keep them alive, all new to Brian, fishing has been hit and miss, the whiting were undersized so he threw them back but did catch a bream, which is in the freezer.
Wallaman Falls outside of Ingham
Inlet at Taylor's Beach
Lovely walks along the beach

Bentley sore leg happened again so we made him rest, not happy about that....
Took a drive to Forrest Beach which is on the coast, quite rough here

Also drove to Lucinda, this is jetty for loading of sugar, 6ks long
Dungeness, near Hinchinbrook Island 
Have seen lots of crocodile warnings and we are keeping Bentley out of the water 





Tuesday 19 May 2015

Townsville

After a lovely stay in Airlie Beach we moved further north to Bowen, the move coincided with a change in the weather and it was cool and windy in Bowen, we stayed at a lovely caravan park at Queens Beach and had a couple of relaxing days looking around, managed to find at least 4 op shops to browse through.
After Bowen we travelled up to Townsville to spend a few days catching up with Jim and Jenny, Brian's brother and wife and also our niece Yvette who we haven't seen for so so long, we had a lovely BBQ with them and Bentley got on well with their dog Patches, but he wasn't sure about their cat.......
We did a lot of practical things like washing, haircuts for both Bentley and myself and Jim and Jenny gave us a great tour of Townsville, lovely, especially the Strand and a great Fish and Chip lunch, what more could one ask....
A couple of shots of the lovely bays at Bowen
Patches and Bentley, they did get on well......
Lovely photo of Townsville, and Magnetic Island taken from Castle Hill
Brian, Jim and Jenny
Jim, with Magentic Island in the background
More views from Castle Hill
Rock pool on the Strand, beautiful area 
Fish and Chips for our lunch
Tried to take a photo of Bentley before his hair cut but all he wanted to do was cuddle up to Jenny
But there he is all trimmed up 


Tuesday 12 May 2015

Airlie Beach

Well after the long post and photos of our trip to the Whitsunday Islands I thought I had better do a small post and a few photos of Airlie Beach.
We have enjoyed it here, reminded us both of Bali when we first arrived, has a relaxed but busy feel. Beach is only metres away from the Main Street. We will be moving on tomorrow a bit further north, possibly Bowen, not sure yet.....
Beach area at the Harbour where we have taken Bentley each morning
Bentley in action
Old boat at the harbour

Bentleys  beach when the tide is in
Main Street Airlie Beach
Lost Grandad walking to the Beach, lost my camera case here!
I thought this was a wedding but it was a model and photographer
Airlie Beach
Our lovely campsite