Paronella Park

On another trip to Innisfail in North Queensland for some flying lessons, we had some time throughout the day to visit the award-winning Paronella Park. A place on my wish list since my travel agent days it exceeded my expectations.

Mena Creek Falls and  Hydro Electric Station

While we momentarily balked at the admission price, the free night's camping, return entry for two years and the inclusion of several tours was what sold us. Plus the friendly, knowledgeable, well trained, professional staff. No wonder this place has been voted the Number 1 Must Do in Queensland.

We parked Delvy around the back of the visitor centre in the small, shaded 1950's designed caravan park. Your manoeuvring abilities will be challenged in this park, but the serenity will soon wash over you. 

Paronella camping ground

Stepping back in time, we joined the day tour of the 13 acre site, immersing ourselves in the story of the Spanish creator Jose Paronella. Purchasing the virgin scrub alongside Mena Creek in 1929 for 120 pounds, Jose laboured for six years to build his dream.

The Castle

Museum in original residence

Using river sand to make concrete and old railway track for reinforcement, a Grand Staircase, Castle and Tea Gardens emerged out of the jungle for the enjoyment of tourists. People came from far and wide to swim beneath Mena Creek Falls, play tennis, promenade the gardens and cool off with refreshments served on the balcony. Movies were shown in the Theatre every Saturday night, and the Hall was the place for dances and functions.

Refreshment rooms in the Tea Gardens

Up to 7000 trees were planted by Jose, creating a garden wonderland. Traverse the creek over hand made concrete bridges and stroll through the lush rainforest, bamboo jungle, and the majestic Kauri Avenue. The soothing sound of water can be heard throughout the park; major natural and man-made features are creatively placed with views of the falls. This truly is a place of tranquility.

Grand Staircase - built first to cart sand up from the river

Picnic area

Kauri Avenue

For a different perspective, the night tour encompasses some wildlife spotting and spectacular photo opportunities as the floodlights shine on the park's best features. Using electricity generated by the restored 1930's Hydro Electric Plant, the whole park is powered by Jose's pioneering vision.

Night tour- note the lit windows of the Hydro Station on right

In 1933, Jose, with the help of engineers from the South Johnstone Sugar Mill, designed and installed the first hydro-electric system in North Queensland by harnessing the waterfall. Join the dedicated Hydro tour to learn about this magnificent creative and technical achievement.

Paronella Park is an extraordinary place; not only for its visual appeal but its history. The current owners, Judy and Mark Evans, have preserved and maintained this site as a work of art and it is well worth a visit, or two. 

Jose & Margarita - married 1925 in Spain and honeymooned in Australia

Tales of two chickens

It can actually be quite stressful having chickens as pets. They are endearing creatures and when there are only 2 or 3 of them it's easy to become attached, and sad when you lose them.

Building the chicken house

White chook and Brown chook

Living on five acres in the Whitsundays hinterland, not far from Airlie Beach, in amongst the dry vine forest up on a hill is not for the fainthearted when it comes to native wildlife.

One night I awoke to a loud squawk from the chicken house and wondered why White chook was wandering around the front lawn. As I pulled myself up out of slumber I soon realised that that's not meant to happen. Uh oh! What am I going to find out there? Heart racing as I fumbled with the torch and tentatively walked the garden path at midnight, I could see something slithering along the chook house. I don't know who was more frightened; me or the chickens. Our visiting bird, Big, was frozen to the roost and still didn't move when I opened the side door as an escape route. I shone the torch on the scrub python (from a distance!) hoping to move it along. I didn't know what else to do and I certainly didn't want to upset it. Eventually it moved off slowly up into the tree, all 1.2 metres of it, as the girls and I breathed a sigh of relief. Big chook then launched herself out of the chook house, practically into my arms. I had to relocate them for the rest of the night, settling them on the garden bench seat in the carport. It took me an age to get back to sleep, thinking the snake will return and my head full of snake images. A pity I didn't get a photo though.

The other hazard of living here is the presence of hawks - according to the locals they are only prominent during August and September and then disappear down south. Hawks are bold daytime hunters and love the tasty chicken necks to take back to the nest for the young ones. Their modus operandi is to corner the chicken, stand on it and rip the head off with a clean bite. They don't leave a mark anywhere else on the chicken but feathers are strewn around the carcass.

First to go was Brown chook; hence the visiting chook to keep White chook company until we could source some more chickens. I came home one day to find White chook practically crying under a shrub near the kitchen window. I spent all afternoon looking for Brown chook, and then waiting for her to come home to roost. I knew she had gone but one lives in hope. It took us a couple of days to find her and it wasn't a pretty sight - feathers everywhere and her headless body covered in green ants. We were devastated (spot the novice chicken owners!).

So now we had one lonely chicken and it would be a few weeks before we could get anymore. So, we took a drive down our street to the neighbours who have eggs for sale to see if they knew where we could get some more chooks in a hurry. No luck there, but he offered to loan us one of his until we got more. How kind! So that's how we ended up with Big chook for a few weeks holiday. Thank goodness the snake or hawk didn't get her and we could return her in one piece. She was a lovely bird  - we would have liked to have kept her but she wasn't for sale.

Big chook and White chook

Introducing Red chook and Speckly to keep Whitey company, and to get more eggs of course. Whitey turned into a bully and pecked the other two, but eventually after a few days each chook was in its place. Speckly had obviously had a hard time in the big hen house as her tail feathers were missing and she had a gammy toe, but she had a good temperament and was starting to be less terrified and range around more as time went on. But it was to be to her detriment, as on the sixth day of the two new chooks arriving the hawk struck again. I knew something was up as we pulled into the driveway after an outing with visitors. It was too quiet. I found Speckly in the same predicament that befell Brown chook. The other chooks were nowhere to be seen, but eventually White chook was found unscathed tucked in behind a water tank and Red chook was hiding in the forest behind the kitchen garden. Both of them are good flyers so I think that's what saved them.

Speckly and Red chook

Another collection of feathers and a burial. It was time to build an enclosure big enough for them to roam around in and be protected from the birds of prey. Being free range does have its drawbacks.
It was decided under the balcony would be closed in. The chook house was moved, the perimeter wired up, a gate inserted and some shade cloth installed to create a safe chicken run. Thanks to our visitors (also chook lovers) for their assistance.

New chicken run under the balcony

Now we are back to two chickens, with another two on order. They say if you want two chickens then get four, but it seems the hawks have gone for now. I let the chooks out when I am at home and they seem more bold as they days progress. When they first arrived, White and Brown chook were not afraid to go anywhere - up the driveway, into the jungle, over to next door's garden - but Whitey reined in her roaming once Brown chook died. Then, for a few weeks after losing Speckly, White and Red would only stay in the shadows or hide in the secret garden under the giant monsteria and variegated ginger plants. They were pretty spooked.

RIP Speckly - victim of a hawk

Red chook laid her first egg yesterday, a tiny one in comparison to Whitey's egg. It's fascinating to watch them grow into the point of lay. The comb and wattle become larger and redder as they get older, and once they go into the submissive pose you know they aren't far off laying.

First egg compared to laying for 5 months

Chickens are the best pets really, as they eat all the kitchen scraps, chase down the bugs in the garden (they love grasshoppers!), aerate and fertilise the soil, and produce eggs. They do wake up early though, and if you have a noisy bird it's hard to have a sleep in. Also you have to be prepared to lose one or two along the way.

Book chook

Red chook in the Frangipani

Airlie Beach Air Show

It must have been a record crowd last weekend for the Airlie Beach Airshow at Whitsunday Airport - there were people everywhere! Clear skies made excellent viewing conditions and a stiff breeze gave respite from the hot sun.

Crowds out for the Airlie Beach Airshow

There were a variety of planes on display, on the tarmac and in the air. The military aircraft consisted of a magnificent Spitfire replica, Aero L39 Albatros Fastjet, a T-28 Trojan, a P-51 Mustang, a Wirraway and a Grumman Avenger.

Spitfire replica

Yakovlev Yak 52

North American P-51 Mustang

There were helicopters galore,  including the local army cadets demonstrating a heli medivac. There were Gippsland Airvans, Beavers and Caravans, all doing fly pasts. The Whitsundays own 1940's DH-82A Tiger Moth was also showing his tricks from the open air cockpit.

Tiger Moth

Just to drive home that anything is possible, a local man with his Zenair 701 was there to talk about his outback flying adventure with his mates last year: 8484 kilometres over 26 days to the west coast and return. What an adventure. What freedom!

Rogan with his Zenair 701

One of the main attractions, the Paul Bennet Airshow, left everyone in awe of the precision acrobatic manoeuvres of the hand built Wolf Pitts Pro, screaming up to speeds of 300 kilometres per hour.
This amazing pilot looped and rolled then tumbled out of the sky after climbing 2500 feet - there was a collective gasp as the plane went quiet for a couple of seconds as it went into a stall. The grand finale was the triple ribbon cut, at just 16 feet above ground and spaced 300 feet apart this is something that must be seen to believe it is even possible.

Stuntman Paul Bennet in the Wolf Pitts Pro

The final act was the formation display of the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes. The six Roulettes fly at speeds of up to 590 kilometres per hour in their PC-9/A aircraft and may experience up to 4.5 times the normal force of gravity during their aerobatic display. I have seen these guys fly at many places around Australia: Mt Panorama in Bathurst (several times over the years for the annual car race), in Hobart, and Coral Bay on the North West Coast.

PC-9/A designed by Pilatus Switzerland and built under license by Hawker de Havilland in Sydney.
Introduced to the RAAF in 1987.

RAAF Roulettes in action

From an event management perspective, the Airlie Beach Airshow was a very well organised event; from the park and ride to gate entry and layout of the venue. There was a variety of quality food stalls, shade areas and toilets so there was no queuing or standing around in the hot sun. An excellent day out. Looking forward to the next one!

Girls in the jeep

Airlie Beach Triathlon

As a regular bike rider and swimmer, I thought I would enter the Enticer Airlie Beach Triathlon. My only concern was the run leg - it's not something I am particularly good at, except when I have a tennis racquet in hand.

I was able to convince my husband to be my support crew, which actually really only meant him getting up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning with me instead of lying in bed. Registration was the day before, so the various stickers were already placed on the relevant paraphernalia that's required for identification: number 177 was stuck on my bike helmet and bicycle, pinned to my running top and tattoed on my arm.  The pink wristband was adorned to enter the transition area, and the GPS tracker ready to be strapped to my ankle before the starting gun.

Transition area

The weather was superb with a light breeze, 17 degrees Celsius and clear skies - perfect conditions for a 300 metre swim beside Airlie Beach lagoon, a 10 kilometre loop bike ride to Cannonvale and 2.5 kilometre return run along the boardwalk.

Ready for the swim

I didn't break any records, but I put in a solid midfield performance (14 out of 22) and completed the course in just under an hour at 00:59:29. Swim time was 00:09:12, ride 00:32:35 and run 00:17:41.

Start of the 10km bike leg

The overall winner of the Sprint Triathlon, which is twice the distance for each enticer leg, finished in the same time as me. It's amazing how fit some people are.

Finished!

Thanks to my husband for the encouraging clapping and cheering (and photos), as well as to all the volunteers from the Whitsunday TriClub and the emergency service personnel who gave up their time to help make it a fun, smoothly run event.

Bring on the Bowen triathlon next month!

Spring blooms

Colours were abalze at the 73rd annual Proserpine Uniting Church Flower Show on Saturday. It would have been hard work for the judges to select the prize winning bloom for each category as there were so many beautiful entries.

Surprisingly, there were a number of cooler climate flowers such as the rose, alyssum, petunias and phlox, in amongst the tropical favourites of bouganivillea, desert rose, orchids and bromeliads. There was also a native flower category with lovely bottlebrush and grevillea on display.

Orchids are the main attraction of the show - their colour and bilateral symmetry are what makes them so desirable. There are more than 25 000 documented species and these masters of deception grow naturally all over the world. The reproductive parts of many orchid flowers are coloured and shaped to look like the insect they are trying to attract, so once the pollen sticks the insect flies off to find another 'mate'!

A timely segment of Gardening Australia on Saturday evening showcases one gardner's passion for the orchid family.

The local school choirs provided some entertainment while we sipped a cup of tea and munched on homemade biscuits and scones, and we bought some unusal plants on sale on our way out the door.

Flying to Innisfail

It literally was a flying visit to Innisfail, but we did also have the intention to fly once we arrived there!

Departing the Whitsundays on Friday afternoon, we were both looking forward to another Delvy adventure. Heading north on the Bruce Highway, the dusty, tree-stunted landscape, interspersed with fields of sugarcane between Proserpine and the north of Townsville, finally gave way to some tropical vegetation just south of Ingham - our stop for the night. It was as far as we could manage to drive, and we were still only halfway to our destination. We squeezed Delvy in amongst all the other highway travellers at the roadside camp of Frances Creek. The only sounds were those of passing traffic, and as the night wore on it was less frequent.

Awake early and on the road by 6.30am - we had another three hours driving to get to Innisfail on the Cassowary Coast!

The vegetation was becoming more dense and the air thicker with humidity. A stop off at the Hinchinbrook Island lookout was hard to go past. The largest island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, I have always wanted to walk the Thorsborne Trail since my Queensland Travel consultancy days. However, it may remain on the wish list as the resort has just been destroyed by fire.

Hinchinbrook Island

We continued along The Great Green Way, driving adjacent to the Hinchinbrook Channel, through the waterside town of Cardwell. There was no time to explore the hinterland and National Parks - we'll have to have a few more days for sightseeing next trip.

Banana plantations were becoming as common as sugarcane as we passed through Tully, and then finally into Innisfail. It was 9.30am and it was time to learn to fly!

Learning to fly a gyrocopter

Gary had a couple of hours in the air with Rob, the instructor, before convincing me to get in the chair and see what it's like. Terrified at first, I soon eased into it and the wonder of feeling the warm air pass over me as I soaked up the views. Rob flew me over Etty Bay and the caravan park we were booked into that borders the Moresby Range National Park. Our friends who travelled from Cairns to meet us waved enthusiastically - we were only about 500 metres up in the air. Stunning coastline, lush rainforest and Johnstone River views were just mesmerising. The cultivated symmetrical patterns in the red dirt were striking from the air: a beautiful contrast to the lush green ordered rows of papaya, bananas and cane, all neatly contained in square fields. No photos from the air unfortunately, as to have a camera on board was a little precarious.

Cassowary on the beach at Etty Bay

Coming back down to earth I was buzzing. Nearly as much as Gary was - he has always wanted to fly and he was loving it. The gyrocopter is a fascinating machine - it's grass roots flying, completely open to the elements. That's the attraction I think - Amelia Earhart style. Whilst the weather was very favourable on Saturday, Sunday morning was looking less so. Still, we both managed a turn in the air before the showers became too heavy. This time I took control of the stick - only for a short stint though as it's quite daunting!

It was a long drive back home on Sunday, but we were both on a high (pardon the pun) from our flying adventures. Stay tuned for some more gyrocopter action - we are hooked!

Cardwell jetty

Classical music in the Whitsundays

It’s not often we are treated to world class classical music in the Whitsundays, so when the Chamber Philharmonia Cologne was advertising a concert in our local church we were keen to attend.

St. Martin of Tours Church was abuzz with the cognoscenti of Airlie Beach, interspersed with visiting grey nomads, and the likes of us. With front row seats, we were looking forward to the program of popular works from well-known composers Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Bach.

The mesmerizing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons featured two different soloists, and took us to the interval nearly one hour later. The second half of the program featured Tchaikovsky’s somber Pezzo capriccioso (Dmitri Gornovsky was entrancing on the Violoncello); Mozart’s Divertimento in F major followed by soprano Sabine Könner and her magnificent rendition of the Eucharistic Latin hymn of Ave verum corpus; and Bach’s Suite No.2 in B Minor with flutist and composer Michal Rosiak.

The Chamber Philharmonia Cologne tours the world over with the objective of inspiring as many people across all generations to enjoy classical music. Playing 300 concerts annually, you are sure to catch them somewhere near you. Don’t miss it!