Paronella Park, Queensland

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.