Changed
Changed
A favourite stopover city for many travellers, here are some Singapore sights and delights you don't want to miss.
If you like food, wine, history and heritage trails and national parks, the Southern Downs & Granite Belt should be on your weekend getaway list. Located less than three hours from Brisbane and experiencing all four seasons, the Granite Belt is the perfect country getaway any time of the year. Read on to map out your perfect three day escape.
Day 1
From Brisbane, head west towards Warwick taking a short detour through Ipswich, Queensland’s oldest provincial city. Allow time for a heritage walking tour to see graceful colonial homes, historic churches and sandstone buildings and browse antique shops and craft cottages along the heritage trails in the surrounding area.
Continue on from Ipswich to Aratula, stopping for the best home-made scones fresh from the oven at the roadside café before continuing over the mountain range to Warwick. If you need to stretch your legs, step it out at the lookout at Cunningham's Gap for a short rainforest walk.
Overnight: At Abbey of the Roses (8 Locke Street), originally built in 1891 as a convent and now a heritage-listed guest house.
Day 2
Eat breakfast at Bluebird Kitchen (130 Palmerin Street, Warwick) and take a self-guided walking tour of the town, following the Fitness Walks of Warwick map, available from the local Visitor Information Centre.
Swap walking for wine, driving to Stanthorpe in the heart of the Granite Belt Wine Country, Queensland’s premier wine region. Boasting more than 45 wineries, it's the epicentre of not just Queensland wine, but the State's prime fruit growing country for apples, berries and stone fruit such as peaches, apricots and nectarines.
Visit Sutton’s Juice Factory, Cider and Shed Cafe where David and Roslyn Sutton make juice, cider, brandy and limoncello from the fruit grown on their property at Thulimbah.
Make your tasting progressive stopping in at Summit Estate winery, also at Thulimbah and one of a handful of wineries in the region that have been given a five star rating by wine critics.
Overnight: At Diamondvale Cottages for some traditional country hospitality following an afternoon of wine-tasting.
Day 3
After breakfast, drive to Girraween National Park, about 30 minutes away, to start the day with an energising walk to see dramatic granite boulders amidst the forest. There are 30km of walking trails, ranging from short walks to day-long mountain climbs.
After a couple of hours you’ll likely feel like lunch - a good excuse to head back to Ballandean Estate Wines, where the Puglisi family has been making wines since the 1930s. Their onsite restaurant, the award-winning Barrelroom restaurant, serves a menu of dishes made from local produce sourced within a strict three hour radius of the restaurant.
After lunch allow time for a visit to Golden Grove Estate winery, also at Ballandean.
Overnight: At Diamondvale Cottages
Day 4
Enjoy breakfast at Diamondvale Cottages before plotting a wine trail that includes another five-star winery, Symphony Hill Wines at Ballandean, and get a taste of craft beers at Brass Monkey Brewhouse (south of Stanthorpe at Severnlea).
Allow time for a leisurely drive back to Brisbane via Killarney and the Falls Drive, which as the name suggests promises a string of waterfalls to chase. Its most famous drop is undoubtedly Queen Mary Falls, about 10km from Killarney.
Seeing this waterfall is easy (even on little legs). It’s a 400-metre walk along an easy track to the lookout to view falls’ impressive 40-metre drop over the cliffside.
To return home, take the road to Boonah and Aratula, then the main roads back to Brisbane.
GETTING THERE
PLAN YOUR TRAVEL
CREDITS
Categories