\
Camouflaged kauri tree - inspiration for the Army
This morning we left the beautiful tropical surrounds of Mission Beach for the 45 minute drive to Paronella Park – factoring in rest stops proved a little difficult this morning!
Paronella Park is at Mena Creek, in the hills south of Innisfail, and was the home and vision of Jose Paronella. Originally built in the 1930’s by Jose, using concrete and old railway lines as re-inforcement, the property suffered badly as the result of natural disasters – mainly cyclones and floods. Falling into disuse, the jungle very quickly reclaimed the concrete structures. The current owners have followed Jose’s vision and cleared the jungle from the ruins and paths, as well as re-instating the hydro electric power. The result is quite beautiful.
We are staying in the overnight caravan park attached to the attraction – a very jungly site, probably with lots of nocturnal wild life! A visit to the reception area and café revealed the skin of the resident 4.2 metre python – this was shed only a couple of weeks ago. Cat took one look at it and vowed not to set foot outside the caravan again while we were here. Next, we came across the golden orb spider (larger than a man’s hand), along with quite a few friends) outside the conveniences (thank goodness for our onboard facility!!!). Our conducted tour of the site took us to the pool below the waterfall – complete with fish, turtles and a saltwater crocodile! We were assured, after entering the tunnel of love to look at the micro bats, that the pythons no longer came into the tunnel to eat the bats as they had discovered the local chooks – made us feel so much better.
Tonight we will have a chance to feed the mosquitoes when we enjoy the night tour, which is supposed to be rather special.
1 comment:
It only seem like last year that we were there.
Post a Comment