At the end of January Lyn & Bob joined us on a camping trip to an area known as the Granite Belt. The cool, high country of the granite belt is located on Queensland’s southern border. The area gains its name from the predominantly granite rocks that distinguish it from other areas that make up much of Southeast Queensland. The Granite Belt is known for its spectacular flowers and produces virtually all of Queensland’s $40 million apple crop from one million trees grown by 55 orchardists. There are also more than 50 wineries in the area – we decided to visit some from the ‘Strange Bird’ tour guide. Strange Birds is what they call the many alternative (or emerging) wine varieties. These exciting wines are lesser known and rarer to find in Australia. As a rule, they only call it a Strange Bird if the grapes are grown on the Granite Belt and represent less than 1% of Australia’s vines. They’re small wineries, with boutique-sized production, meaning their wines are rarely found in bottle shops. We enjoyed the tasting sessions!
We based ourselves at a Foxbar Falls Campground – an 80-site campground settled amongst granite landscapes, native Australian bush and a working vegetable farm. The property offers hiking, fishing, photography, swimming, mountain biking, kayaking and birdwatching. The campground is also located within a 20-minute drive of local wineries, breweries, cideries, bakeries, restaurants and other tourist attractions.
One day we spent a leisurely morning at the annual Stanthorpe Show – a real agricultural show for the Stanthorpe and wider Granite Belt community. It brings together over 6000 patrons for a weekend of food, entertainment, competitions and exhibits covering over 40 agricultural and cottage industries in the community.
The Bald Rock National Park is situated northern New South Wales just south of the Queensland border. On the other side of the border national park continues as the Girraween National Park. The park is named after its most prominent feature, Bald Rock, which is a large granite outcrop rising 260 metres above the surrounding landscape and almost 1300 metres above sea level. Measuring about 750 metres long and 500 metres wide this is the largest granite monolith in Australia. Access to the rock is by a sealed road into the park and walking tracks to the summit. Two tracks are marked, a steep one up the exposed face, or an easier gradient through bushland around the back – we opted for the easier track. The Bungoona Walking Track, constructed in 1980, ascends gently along the eastern side of Bald Rock, meandering through forested areas. Along the way, it traverses granite boulder formations, including a moss-covered arch adorned with ferns and orchids. The summit offers panoramic views of the surrounding bushland, but vegetation on top prevents a full 360° view. The views are so expansive, mountains as far north as the Queensland/New South Wales border can be seen.
At the end of February, we decided to check out Bundaberg. We were a bit disappointed with the place – particularly as the Bundaberg Rum brewery was closed at the time!
In April, Roz & Kev, our sailing friends from Darwin were returning from a road trip to Tasmania and, together with Gail & Garry, we all agreed to meet up at the Bunya Mountains (named after the huge pine trees that grow there). Bunya pines are living fossils. They come from a fascinating family of flora which grew across the world in the Jurassic period. Many of its ‘cousins’ are extinct. The trees are big and typically range from 20m to 50m in height. Their leaves have strings of very rigid and sharply pointed leaves. If you come into physical contact with its leaves or branches, you need to wear protective clothes to avoid pain or even cuts. Today they grow in the wild in only a few locations in southeast and north Queensland. But that is nothing compared to this tree’s ability to hit you on the head, possibly with serious consequences! When in season (generally December to March) they can produce dozens of massive cones weighing up to 10 kilograms. These can drop from up to 50m without warning.
We all enjoyed a lovely few days and the hikes through the cool mountains, rainforests and waterfalls. Roz & Kev’s camping setup impressed us – including a small 12v fridge/freezer powered by solar panels. Upon our return home, we promptly went out and bought ourselves the same setup – but then, of course, we also needed a battery… Things were getting a bit out of hand!
Next, we journeyed to Inskip Point, just a couple of hours away up the coast. Gail & Garry wanted to take Keith fishing from the beach… The fishing wasn’t particularly successful, but it did give us a chance to test the new fridge/solar panel and battery, which seemed to work well.
At the end of April, we joined Gail & Garry for a trip to the Nindigully Pub – about 600km southwest of the Sunshine Coast. From the late 1800s the Nindigully Pub was a Cobb and Co coach change-over station. Today, the pub still stands in its original condition and position and is one of Queensland’s oldest continually licensed pubs. There is free live entertainment by country artists every weekend and the food is legendary. The pub is situated on the banks of the Moonie River where you could ‘free camp’. It was a fantastic weekend.
In June, the State borders were open so we decided to drive down to Sydney to visit my sister Carol. We took the coast road, stopping at Ballina the first night and Newcastle the second. Carol & Trevor had moved into a fantastic Aged Care facility, Carrington, near Camden, southwest of Sydney, so we had an opportunity to see some of the facilities from the 2000 Olympic Games on the way there. Carrington is a not for profit, charitable, public benevolent organisation situated approximately 4km southwest of the historic town of Camden. In 1888 William Henry Paling, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, generously donated his 500-acre Grasmere property worth 10,000 pounds to the people of NSW to establish the Carrington Centennial Hospital for Convalescents and Incurables at Camden. When the hospital was opened in August 1890 it was the first public convalescent hospital built in NSW.
Carol & Trevor’s independent living 2-bed, 2-bath apartment was perfect for them – modern and well appointed. The grounds are lovely and we enjoyed strolling them and spending time with Carol & Trevor.
On our return journey we came across ‘The Bra Tree’ – the Bra Tree commemorates all women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are undergoing treatment, are in remission or have passed away.
For our return journey home, we took the inland route and stopped one night at Tamworth. But then we had to make a mad dash back to Queensland to cross the border when a closure was announced due to an outbreak of Covid in Sydney.