The sugar industry dates as far back as the 1860s and 1870s with a strong labour base from South Sea Islanders. In 1884 this labour was prohibited, which made prices take a plunge. The sugar industry came back strong after the first world war with a total of 71 returned soldiers taking on the farms, the cane back then was sent to South Johnstone river, which began operations in 1916. After many years of surveys, soil testing and politics, the government approved the commissioning of Tully Sugar mill in 1922. The first crushing began on the 5th November 1925 bringing in 32,075 tonnes of cane and crushed 3,946 tonnes of raw sugar. Today the mill can crush up to 2.9 million tonnes a year with 360,186 tonnes of raw sugar. Tully Sugar employs between 200 to 300 workers depending if it is crushing or maintenance season. The mill has independently powered itself and 5,000 other homes since 1997, it uses remaining fibre from the cane called “bagasse” to generate electricity through steam. Shovel’s Dad and Sister were up for a visit, so we went over for a tour of the mill, the factory was an eye opener, with marvellous works of people and machinery making the world buzz through its mass produced exports of sugar.
This unique castle was built by José Paronella, he arrived in Australia on 1913 and started cutting cane for a living, over the next 12 years he bought 15 properties and made his fortune through developing farms and planting cane. After 12 years he went to get his bride Matilda, Matilda wasn’t available when he arrived so he married her younger sister, Margherita instead. Jose and Margherita had their honeymoon in Europe and made their way back to Australia, with the fortune José made out of farming, he purchased 13 acres of land in 1929 on Mena Creek with the ambition of building a castle for the people. After years of labour, building the various castles using sand from the river and donated railway tracks, the park was opened in 1935. It had a grand hall, which was used for the theatre on Saturday nights and for other parties and dances and a smaller castle in the lower grounds used for refreshments. José’s hard work has taken a battering over the years with cyclones and floods, but still stands graciously between the Mena falls and surrounding rainforest. Shovel’s dad came for a visit, so it gave us a good reason to show him some sights and come out to Paronella Park for a look, its history is rich, you could visit time and time again and still discover something new.
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The JourneyChoose Curiosity The Catalogue
November 2023
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