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POSTED: 22 MAY 2011

Destination: Innisfail

ANN RICKARD visits Queensland’s Tropical North and finds the locals celebrating

They were dancing in the rain at Innisfail. Good for them. Members of a local rock ’n’ roll group weren’t going to let a bit of rain stop a celebratory dance in the streets at the Feast of the Senses Market Day Extravaganza.

“If it didn’t rain, nothing would grow and we wouldn’t have all this beautiful produce,” one intrepid stall holder laughed as she sold tomatoes and watched the dancers in the middle of Edith Street twirling and bopping against a background of art-deco architecture.

Innisfail, in Tropical North Queensland, is home to some of the best art-deco architecture in Australia, thanks — if you could put it that way — to a devastating cyclone which practically razed the town in 1918. At the time of reconstruction in the 1920s and 30s, the art-deco movement was at its zenith and many of the town’s buildings were built in this fascinating style.

The Feast of the Senses Festival, held in March each year, is an opportunity to experience Queensland’s exotic fruits and delicacies as well as to learn about the growing process, and to generally get out and make merry.

You probably didn’t know that the region is home to Australia’s only pepper farm, and that some of the world’s most sought-after vanilla is grown at Broken Nose Vanilla Farm in nearby Babinda.

Cyclone Yasi had done her dirty work just before the festival, stripping the trees on the Great Dividing Range, savaging the sugar cane and destroying the banana plants. But within weeks the vegetation fought back, treetops were green again and banana plants looked hale and hearty once more. By late March the entire region looked lush and promising.

Foodie Peter Russell Clarke was in town for the festival, ignoring the rain and sharing his culinary quirks with visitors and stallholders at more than 80 stalls displaying local plants, wines, herbs and spices.

As well as dancing in the street, the locals were competing lustily in the dragonfruit-stacking competition, vying to guess the weight of a huge bunch of bananas, and lining up at food stalls for everything from noodles to gourmet duck dishes.

We stayed the weekend at Castaways Resort at Mission Beach, right on the beach and unaffected by Yasi.

Castaways’ long pool parallels the beach and an open bar/dining area spills out to on an expanse of green lawn leading down to the sand. The property, which looks out to Dunk Island, has spacious two-level apartments with kitchenettes. Ocean views over the swaying palms make Castaways an excellent option for anyone looking for a winter escape, including those who find a even a mild South-East Queensland winter too cold for their liking.

A must-visit — the RACQ told us so in its list of 150 best things to do in Australia — is Paronella Park at nearby Mena Creek.

This moss-covered castle relic on five hectares of luxuriant grounds, evokes a sense of a grand past. It was created by a Spaniard, Jose Paronella, who arrived in Queensland in 1913 to cut cane and set about building a citadel for his sweetheart, Margarita. Nothing was too grand for his Margarita: tennis courts, quaint bridges, spurting fountains, tranquil ponds, stone stairways, elaborate gardens, a picnic area overlooking Mena Creek Falls ... even a tunnel of love.

Paronella Park, which has not only survived cyclones but floods and fire as well, is now more romantic than ever. Couples make their wedding vows in sylvan glades within the park, then walk through the tunnel of love and go hand-in-hand along the spectacular Kauri Tree Path. Visitors flock, locals hold special celebrations in the park, everyone picnics in front of the falls.

The owners, Mark and Judy Evans, are committed to keeping Jose Paronella’s dream alive, and their passion is evident on the tours they take every day around this Spanish castle entangled in the rainforest.

That same passion is apparent everywhere in the region from cyclone savvy locals determined never to let Mother Nature get them down no matter when or how she strikes.

A highlight of my visit to Tropical North Queensland for the Feast of the Senses festival was meeting Nancy Hegarty, of the Rainspa Day Spa Retreat. Nancy is ardent about natural healing and has created a private rainforest sanctuary to pamper locals and visitors with a menu of treatments including body wraps, scrubs and exfoliations, rainwater Vichy showers.

Nancy specialises in kinesiology, muscle testing, strengthening and balancing meridians with acupressure and deep tissue massage to restore bodily functions.

Nancy takes her work very seriously and has formulated her own organic skincare products designed to assist with natural healing.

Just visiting her spa, with its misty mountain views, pure air and lush surroundings, induces tranquility.

After a back-and-neck massage in the calming treatment room, with Nancy’s firm fingers easing aches, loosening tight muscles, I slept the deepest sleep I’d experienced in months.

IF YOU GO

Innisfail is 90 minutes south of Cairns. The best way to get there is to fly to Cairns and hire a car.

Castaways Resort and Spa: www.castaways.com.au

Rainspa Day Spa: www.rainspa.com.au

Feast of the Senses: www.feastofthesenses.com.au

Foodie Peter Russell Clarke ... sharing his culinary quirks with visitors and stallholders.

Paronella Park ... now more romantic than ever.