Visiting Paronella Park at night was like walking through a dream. The ruins of the old Spanish castle situated in the rainforest of tropical Queensland Australia are now covered in moss, yet the magic and romance that once dominated this fortress is still apparent.
I hope to return to Paronella Park some afternoon. It was a long day and we got there just as the sun was setting. I would love to see it in the daylight.
Tips for visiting Paronella Park:
- The night tour is included in the admission price, so I think the ideal time to arrive would be a few hours before dark, to have both the day and night experience.
- We hired a car for the day and drove the 120km from Cairns, which allowed us to visit several interesting waterfalls and other sites along the way.
- The park has overnight cabins, which we might try next time.
A Twisted Victorian Tale: Halloween at MOTAT in Auckland
Johanna Bradley
Love the golden waterfall shot 🙂 What on earth is a Spanish castle doing in Cairns?
Corinne
This does look like a deliciously scary place to wander at night! I would NOT be swimming anywhere near those eels!
Lisa Ross
Love the bats!
Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor
It looked great until I got to that picture of the eels! Now, I have something new to have nightmares about 🙂
tom
great
Vicki
Wonderful photos!! What an awesome place to check out!
Julie K Pick
Bats and eels, oh my! I think I could only visit Paronella Park with an armed guard, and a shower cap!
Rhonda Albom
If you stay out of the cave you probably won’t need a shower cap. I do have a White baseball cap that I wore in a cave in Belize, and the best list little droppings all over it. I guess the shower Would’ve been useful.
Theresa
Just seeing if my comment went through 🙂
Theresa
Creepy and beautiful, all in one. I’d love to see some daylight photos if you ever go back. I find old places like this fascinating!
Alissa Apel
I have not visited or heard of Paronella Park, or been to Cairns, Australia. I wish I had. It looks amazing. I love old castles. I did walk through old cemeteries and castles in Savannah, Georgia when I lived there.
imaddy
Thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures. Although bats and eels are scary.
Indah Nuria Savitri
love to see those photos…I really the waterfall photo with its golden hue :)…interesting place indeed, complete with bats and eels..
Heather L
Looks like an interesting place to visit, night or day. Love the waterfall! Thanks for stopping by my post.
lana
amazing photos
kristi
Paronella Park is beautiful. I love the waterfall pic. I could leave the eels and bats but would love to visit Australia someday. 🙂
Rhonda Albom
Eels and bats are in New Zealand as well, So I guess they didn’t really freak me out. Although, I’ve never seen a bat in New Zealand
L. Diane Wolfe
I would take so many photos there!
Leovi
Yes, indeed, wonderful place full of beauty! Excellent framing ! Nice castle at night, great shot!
Shere
we visited Paronella Park as well!! The owner was so kind to keep the lights on so I can take some pictures in the dark (normally the switch the lights after 5 minutes or so). Very interesting place!
Rhonda Albom
You know firsthand how really amazing this place is. How lucky that they kept the lights are longer for you. I’ll bet your photos are fantastic, especially if you had the tripod.
Barbara
I would love to visit Paronella Park; stunning photos – I think that waterfall is calling my name too
Joyce
This actually looks quite cool. I’d love to go there.
Rhonda Albom
Did your daughter get here when she was in Australia? It’s pretty far away from where she was, But if she went up to the Great Barrier Reef, she might’ve visited here.
Emma and Buster
Oh my what a lovely place to visit.
Meow!
Indrani
This place is new to me and I had a great tour through your pics.
Happy WW!
Jay @CraftySpices
Have never been to Australia and never really heard about this park, but it does seem very interesting.
Rhonda Albom
It’s quite a bit off the beaten track, About 120 km from Cairns, where most people go to visit the great Barrier reef.
YAM
Hari OM
Worth pointing out it is a 1930’s immigrant’s ‘castle’!!! Great fun though. 20 years since I was there. Cairns is one of my most favourite places in the whole world (I say that as intended!) – not so much the town itself, but all the places around…if I hadn’t gone to India, that would have been my next home… ah the twists and turns… YAM xx
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Yam, and yes it is well worth pointing this out. I debated about running it for wordless Wednesday, or including more history, So I’m glad you did it for me. I agree, The area around Cairns is amazing. Unfortunately for us the weather wasn’t so good and we didn’t make it out to the great barrier reef.
Christina Morley
The bats would have been okay, but the eels certainly seemed out of place. Kind of spooky.
Rhonda Albom
The eels really didn’t seem out of place we were there, as it was a body of water. And there were turtles too, And probably Fish.
Comedy Plus
I’ve not been there before. Looks like a great place to explore too. In the daylight though. Looks kind of spooky in the dark.
Have a fabulous day. 🙂
Rhonda Albom
I don’t know if it would’ve been spooky if we were off on our own, but with the tour guide it was fine.
Merlinda Little (@pixiedusk)
Wow. This is such a quirky place! The eels are like so random too! Stunning photos as always =)
Alex J. Cavanaugh
That’s cool it can be explored at night. Bet the place comes alive. And with more than eels and bats!
Patrick Weseman
So Beautiful. Great pics. Super in love with New Zealand.
Karren Haller
What a great tour, the night shot of the castle is awesome!
Life in Pieces
Beautiful, though a bit creepy, place. Your night photos turned out beautifully.
Terri
Wow. Really gorgeous; what a great adventure.
Hilary
Hi Rhonda .. Paronella Park looks amazing .. bats and eels – I’d have loved it .. and I think a night or two in the Park would be amazing … I’d love to see it .. whenever I get to Cairns … cheers Hilary
Rhonda Albom
When you say night or 2 do you mean evening or overnight? I don’t think I want to sleep there with all those bats. But, they seems to be self confined to the cave.
Diana @ Toronto Teacher Mom
So glad to hear they are retrofitting. Looks like an incredible place!
stevebethere
Interesting place & photos Rhonda, until I got to the eels LOL …shudders although I used to like jellied eels heheh!
Have an eellesstastic week 🙂