CAMPSITE # 160 - Paronella Park, Queensland

Just as we lost one James, we gained another. Right after we said our goodbyes to Tom’s little brother James, we then had to mask our teary eyes and welcome our new visitor, my eldest brother James. Not only did the two James’ swap spots but they also swapped planes. So, within the first 30 seconds of the two James’ meeting for the very first time, my big brother was busy giving little James tips on his preference of air hostess. Yep, welcome to the next four days of our journey, life on the road with Jimmy Mac.

I’m sure the rest of my family would agree with me when I say, James is officially the most out spoken & opinionated person I know. If he thinks the Troopie has a damp mouldy smell to it, you hear about it. If he spots a number of smears & smudges on the windows, you hear about it. If you don’t drive right on the speed limit from start to finish, Mr Backseat Driver is very quick to make sure that you hear about it.

As I loaded his Mont Blanc tan leather laptop case in the car, just for a moment I recalled what it was like to have nice things. His clothes were clean, they didn’t have any holes in them. The soles of his shoes weren’t clogged up with 5 month old red dirt. I think he was even sporting ironed shorts & a freshly pressed t-shirt. I quickly realised though that he wasn’t the odd one out, we were. Everything contained inside our Troopie smells and there are remnants of red dirt on everything you touch. I guess after you’re on the road for so long, you just learn to live with it to a point where you don’t really seem to notice it anymore. That is until, you’re outspoken older brother comes along and promptly points it all out to you.

So, with a imaginary peg clipped onto his nose, we- Tom, Amy & James resumed our journey as a trio on the road. But how many places can we cram into one day??

Lookout overlooking Cairns...

Barron Falls...

Mt Uncle Distillery...

Curtain Fig Tree

It was approaching sunset and we needed to sort ourselves out with a place to stay for the night. But there was one more tourist destination on our list that we had yet to see. We decided to call into to Paronella Park to establish for ourselves whether we could cram in a viewing in under an hour. 

RACQs 150 Must Do’s in Queensland, rate Paronella Park as the number #1 MUST DO destination. With a rating like that, we simply had to check it out for ourselves.

Firstly, I should point out other destinations that Paronella Park was rated ahead of...

# 1 – Paronella Park
#2 – Fraser Island
# 3 – Australia Zoo
# 4 – Maryborough
#5 – Whale Watching at Hervey Bay
#6 – Powerboat Racing in Bundaberg
# 7 – An aboriginal tour in Cooktown
# 8 – Gympie Muster
# 9 – Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame
# 10 – Paddle Boat on Brisbane River

What is Paronella Park? Well, I went onto their website, to give you their blurb about the park...

“Paronella Park tells the amazing story of one man with an incredible dream... Step back in time and be amazed by the ingenuity and determination shown by one man with a dream.  Paronella Park today is a celebration of the Paronella family's achievements, particularly those of it's founder, José Paronella.”

And what did we think of Paronella Park?

Firstly, we were shocked by the price. $36 per person to be handed a bag of fish food, the option to join a 45 minute guided tour and entry into the park.

As soon as you get there, you follow a pathway leading to a dilapidated pile of rotting concrete supported by modern scaffolding. There was never any focal point, it was just a collection of random structures in various states of repair. So, I always felt as if we weren’t at the main attraction yet. But as we were guided along to more and more piles of nothingness, I realised that well, this was it.

I’m sure during its prime time Paronella Park would have been a wonderful place to visit with the family back in the 1930s, while enjoying lunch and a dip in the waterhole. But nowadays, it’s much more of a safety hazard than a tourist destination.

Time hasn’t been good to Paronella Park. We’ve seen wooden hotels and 100 year old buildings throughout Australia that are older than Paronella Park. So, why does a building made purely out of concrete not stand the test of time? Because José didn’t do his research, the building sand used came from the property and was rich in mica. The plate-like structure of mica allows water to peculated through the concrete. Mix mica with reinforcement from reclaimed & rusting railway tracks and you get concrete cancer.

We were expecting to be blown away by the beauty of brilliant architectural design in some sort of Lost City type castle. We wanted to see something mysterious and intriguing. We wanted our $36 worth.

I say, shame on RACQ for associating their reputable name with such a shit tourist destination.  Are they truly trying to tell me that some incompetent fool’s attempt to build a castle with zero know-how and ability resulting in rubble amongst the rainforest seriously beats – The Great Barrier, Fraser Island, reaching the tip of Cape York and The Whitsundays?  All of those are natural wonders. What about better tourist attractions like Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures, Dreamworld or Cairns Skyrail? Oz360 would put Paronella Park at the top of their list. The list of overrated, overpriced places to go to in Queensland.  Tom and I both agreed, Paronella Park was the worst tourist attraction we’ve been to on the trip.

They named a motel after us...

Site : North Mission Beach Hideaway Holiday Village

Rating : 9 / 20

Facilities : Quite pricey $58 for three adults powered site. Across the road from the beach. Nice lawns, backs onto rainforest. Pool. Good camp kitchen facilities but you have to pay for them. 

Quite a popular spot, particularly if you drive an 80 series Landcruiser...