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Published: November 14th 2011
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We noticed in a previous blog report that we didn’t finish telling you about the person who built Paronella Park. Well it was a guy by the name of Jose Paronella who was Spanish and arrived in Australia in 1913. He worked hard for 11 years creating his wealth by buying, improving and selling cane farms and whilst travelling through the countryside he discovered a virgin forest alongside Mena Creek Falls which was perfect for his dream of building a castle for his bride and children. The castle was ready to welcome the public in 1935 and Jose did most of the work himself which was quite an achievement for such a large scale project.
We finally left Cairns on the 18th of August after getting our truck back on the 16th which was a few days earlier than we thought, so that was great news. We travelled to Wonga Beach which is a small beachside village 20 km north of Mossman. We chose a beautiful spot surrounded by rainforest trees with heaps of grass around. We were very lucky the time we arrived as the park was putting on a big night on the Friday night with music by
a father and son duo who tour the East Coast each year and they were parked in the same area as we were. It was a night where everyone brought a plate of food which was placed on long tables and we all just helped ourselves. It was a great night as we sat out at tables on the lawn under the stars and listened to the music which was 50s, 60s and 70s. We even had a couple of dances which was the first time we had had a dance in a long time. A lovely night was had by all and I even placed a table cloth and candle on our table which made it so romantic even though there were around 50 people there. The park is one of the best we have been in as it is so quiet and there are lyrebirds, large lizards and other bird types in the park and only about 200 metres walk to the beach from our van. The beach was quite long so we had lots of great walks. Margaret went walking by herself one day and she saw the tracks of a small crocodile going into a creek
from the sea so that does really prove there are crocodiles in the water and that is why there are signs up everywhere telling people not to go in the water because of that so we made sure we didn't even though we saw some brave or silly people in there.
We took a drive up to the Daintree Village which is a spectacular drive along the water’s edge as it is where the rainforest meets the sea, great drive. There are many companies who do boat rides up the river to spot crocodiles, bird life and other wild life, but we didn't go as we had previously been on one of these many years ago.
We also went to the famous Port Douglas market on Sunday morning which was very good with plenty of fruit and vegetables and many other stores selling all local goods. We arrived early which was a good idea because by the time we left at around 10.30am it was getting rather busy. Port Douglas is mainly little coffee shops, eateries and heaps of styles of accommodation, but a very nice area.
The mountains up here are truly lovely from Cairns up
to the Daintree. Mossman Gorge is very nice and they have just built a boardwalk the length of the walk with interpretations all the way telling you about the rainforest. For instance, we did not know that trees on high mountains get 40% of their water by way of extracting water from the clouds that hang over the mountain, very interesting. We also learnt that some trees that grow in the wet tropics have trunks that have about three lines of roots that grow out from the trunk so the tree can uphold in the wet ground and the same tree in a dry area only has the trunk that grows into the ground. It is good to stop and read the signs as you learn so much especially about nature which is so fascinating. Just before you reach the drive up to the Gorge there is an Indigenous Community that owns the land and you can go on walks with the Indigenous guide to tell you all about the rainforest, etc.
We went fishing at long last just prior to leaving as it had been too windy to go and we caught 6 fish (grunters) which was great for the one outing. Only wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to leave and go back to Cairns and get ready for our much anticipated trip up to Cape York on 2nd September for 14 days.
We arrived back in Cairns on 28th August at a different and much nicer park to where we had previously been.
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andrew
non-member comment
Holy Crap
Nice balls