Paronella Park

José Paronella arrived in Australia from Catalonia (Spain) in 1913. Over the following 11 years, he worked cutting sugar cane at first, then buying, improving and reselling cane farms. In 1924 he returned to Spain and married Margarita in 1925. The trip back to Australia was their honeymoon. José first saw these 13 hectares of virgin bushland beside Mena Creek in 1914. He finally bought it in 1929 for just 120 pounds and began building his gardens and reception centre for the public's enjoyment. Today, visitors can take various tours of the grounds and learn the history of this beautiful spot in far north Queensland, Australia.