Always love a long weekend and an excuse to get out of town, pack a small bag, jump in the car and take off for a nice drive. This long weekend was no exception.
Stanthorpe is located a leisurely 2 and a half hour drive South West of Brisbane and approximately a 3 hour drive from the Gold Coast. We stopped for coffee and breakfast at Bean To in Beaudesert, friendly service and lovely coffee.
Located in the heart of the Granite Belt, this area of Queensland offers spectacular country scenery, stars fill the nightsky, cosy fires, fruit and olive groves aplenty, cheese and fudge factories, vineyards and microbreweries are now also popping up and of course the lure of witnessing firsthand the balancing prehistoric granite boulders in Girraween National Park ensure there is something for everyone to see, do and enjoy.
Before checking in to our accommodation, we had time to drive around Stanthorpe to gather our supplies. Stanthorpe Cheese tasting room offers a huge selection of cheeses, produced on site and made from traditional recipes. The staff are very knowledgeable and will guide you through a tasting experience.
From here we drove to Mt Stirling Olives & Fudge Shop, simply divine! Again free tastings for everyone. I really loved that their store stocks all kinds of olive products from skincare to cookbooks, cold pressed olive oil but also kitchen and house hold giftware, so my idea of heaven. Their Chilli Infused Olive Oil was incredible!
Arrived Ridgemill Estate just in time for the last wine tasting of the day before the cool Autumn air came through so we quickly started the log fire and settled in for an evening of local cheese, fruit, olive platters, wine and home made pizza. You can choose to stay in one of the 8 self contained cabins or book the Winery Escape House, which we did and found this very comfortable and welcoming. The house is three bedrooms, two bathrooms, inviting fire place, we loved it!
The next day we set off for a leisurely walk around a section of the Girraween National Park. Packing a picnic lunch we decided to take the 5.2 km walk to The Junction, an area where two creeks unite. Walking down the banks of Bald Rock Creek, whilst not much water it was such an enjoyable time outdoors. Taking the track back we enjoyed seeing the different plants, flowers and even a Kangaroo before heading up to the famous Granit Arch and back to the car park. The Granit Arch track is an easy 1.6 km walk. Both tracks though are uneven, I personally thought not pram or wheelchair accessible but please drop into the amazing Visitor Centre on site and chat with the friendly National Parks and Wildlife Staff & Volunteers. Toilets, BBQ facilities and car parking can be found easily.
Heading back to the vineyard we enjoyed the afternoon walking amongst the vines and taking photo’s, feeding the goats yes Ridge Mill Estate has the cutest goats ever and you can feed them. The next day after check out and driving back to the Gold Coast we took a different route home via Daggs Fall, a plunge waterfall and then Queen Mary Falls where from the lookout watched Spring Creek plunge 40 metres over the falls to the valley floor. Queen Mary Falls forms part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area’s.
What a great region to visit.
We choose to stay at Ridge Mill Estate https://ridgemillestate.com/
We visited the following local products;
https://www.stanthorpecheese.com.au/#/
https://www.mtstirlingolives.com/
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/girraween/
Awesome coffee and morning or afternoon teas can be found at Jamworks
https://www.jamworks.com.au/
Daggs Falls & Queen Mary Falls
https://southerndownsandgranitebelt.com.au/plan-your-trip/tourist-drives/the-falls-drive/
Bean To Beaudesert
https://www.facebook.com/Bean-to-471040266310563/
For great local tourism information
https://www.southernqueenslandcountry.com.au/
