Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Concrete in the rainforest.
An introduction to the tropical north of Queensland and the park José Paronella built on Mena Creek.
On this page
Read the region
Mena Creek lies in Far North Queensland, about 120 km south of Cairns. José Paronella came to the region to work in the sugar cane industry before he bought his land on the creek.
A guide can give context without turning a landscape into a backdrop. Notice how the park follows the creek and the falls, and how the rainforest has grown back over its structures.
Concrete and railway track
Most of the park’s structures are poured, reinforced concrete, strengthened with old railway track. The Grand Staircase was the first to be built.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who mixed the concrete or carried the rails, or the conditions in which they worked.
A Paronella chapter
Paronella Park shows one side of the region’s history: a migrant’s vision of European architecture, built by hand in the tropics, damaged by flood and fire and saved by new owners.
Look at the meeting of the two: the formal stairs and towers, and the rainforest that has softened them.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the park’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their conservation or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
