waterfalls | loveliness.

Tag: waterfalls
- wailua falls
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on July 20, 2015
  
  Wailua Falls is a pretty famous waterfall on Kauai. If you’ve ever been to Kauai, you’ve probably been there. There is a viewpoint right off the road, so if you want to go see it, it’s very easy to jump out of the car and take a few pictures.
  
  The first time I was in Kauai, that’s all we did. This time, I was with my sister who has spent a lot of time in Kauai, and she wanted to show us a better view. We ended up jumping over the stone fence and hiking down the side of the mountain to get down to the bottom of the walls, despite about 10 signs instructing us not to do that.
  
  Local people on the island do it all the time, and I had seen people down there the last time I visited, I just didn’t know how to get there, so I wasn’t that worried about it. The hike was pretty steep though, and there were a few parts that were a little tricky, so if you are going to try it, make sure to wear good shoes and take your time.
  
  The valley at the bottom was cool and green, with some really cool big rocks that were most likely brought here by aliens. Once we got down to the bottom we wound around the side of the riverbank back behind the falls. It was awesome to see such a big, powerful waterfall from the back, and we got a nice cool down from the hot day from the waterfall mist.
  
  It only took us about 15 minutes to climb down (there are some ropes, but they are definitely old so be very careful) and a little longer to climb back up to the top.
  
  We were walking back to the car when we saw some people coming back out from behind the fence the other way, so we went to check it out. You can walk along a little river to get to the top of the waterfall.
  
  There are a few times you have to shinny across a fallen tree, but it’s not very dangerous until you get closer to the falls, where the water starts flowing faster. You definitely don’t want to fall into the water there, because it’s a long way down, so watch your step.
  
  Wailua Falls was much more memorable my second trip, but if you aren’t into fence hopping, there are so many other waterfall hikes to do on Kauai, just pick one of those instead.
  
  Posted in Hawaii, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged Hawaii, hiking, kauai, wailua falls, waterfalls
- paronella park: australia
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on November 5, 2014
  
  On our way back from Cairns to Byron Bay, we stopped in at Paronella Park, about 2 hours south of Cairns. It was beautiful, and the history of it was super interesting.
  
  Jose Paronella was born in Spain, and trained to be a baker there, but he wanted to make a lot of money, so he left Spain in 1913, and his fiancee behind, and moved to Australia.
  
  He worked as a baker for awhile, but eventually got bored, and started working in the fields. He saved up all of his money from working in the fields, and used it to by land, which he then rented out to other farmers. He also loaned out the money he made from renting the land to other people in the community, and eventually he became very rich.
  
  His dream was to built a castle, so eventually that’s what he did. He designed and built it himself, using mostly found materials and concrete. It had a ballroom, a movie theater where people from the town would come to watch news reels every morning, and a lake/waterfall that served as the community swimming pool for many years.
  
  Jose was very smart. He used the river on the property to build a hydro-electric dam, so Paronella Park had electricity nearly a decade before the surrounding towns.
  
  In one area of land at Paronella, he wanted to build an underground aquarium, but the metal he used to build it eventually rusted, and the water leaked out. He was left with an empty tunnel which was eventually taken over by bats.
  
  Instead of being upset about this turn of events, he renamed it “The Tunnel of Love” because girls would get scared and hold on tight to their boyfriends when they ran through it, and charged couples a fee for the experience.
  
  He also had a wishing well at the entrance to the property, but local kids would come in and steal the coins. So he took an eel from the lake and put it in the fountain, with a sign that said “Beware of Electric Eel” and he never lost anymore money after that.
  
  The property is quite large, with lots of little projects that were completed, and also ongoing at the time of his death, but it wasn’t until a fire in the more recent years cleared out some of the overgrowth that the current owners realized that almost every single thing on the property was built to line up with and frame the waterfall.
  
  It was twelve years before he was able to return to Spain to get his fiancee, and when he returned he found out she had waited for him for ten years, and finally married someone else. Jose ended up marrying her younger sister Margarita, who was apparently much more beautiful, and the two spent the rest of Jose’s life fixing up Paronella Park.
  
  We were only there for about two hours, but we were able to check out everything on the property. It was kind of funny because I was standing on the edge of the lake, and I had this weird feeling that something was watching me, and I got randomly scared for no reason.
  
  Then when I walked back over to the other side of the park, I saw a sign that said “Beware of Crocodiles”. So that happened.
  
  If you are in the area, definitely stop in and check out Paronella, the entry fee is kind of expensive, but the owner was there when we got there and he let us in for student price, with a wink, and also with entry you can camp overnight at their campground for free, so if you time it so you can stay there overnight, it’s not a bad deal, especially because the park is supposed to be even more beautiful lit up at night.
  
  Posted in Australia, travel | 2 Comments | Tagged Australia, jose paronella, paronella park, queensland, travel, waterfalls
- jourama falls: australia
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on October 30, 2014
  
  On our road trip up to Cairns, sometimes we would just get sick of being in the car, and we’d stop at the next place that peaked our interest to roam around and explore.
  
  One of these stops brought us to Jourama Falls, for a short hike up into the hills to see the waterfall.
  
  At the very bottom of the falls the water forms perfect little pools. It was a bit cold for swimming since we were there in August, but there were still a few crazy people wading in the water.
  
  Because it hadn’t rained for so long when we visited, the waterfall wasn’t as lush as in some pictures I’d seen before we arrived, but it was still beautiful, and it was great to get out of the car and stretch our legs for awhile.
  
  Posted in Australia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Australia, hiking, jourama falls, travel, waterfalls
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