After morning walks and breakfast, we were on the road to Stanthorpe at 7:45am. Why so early you ask when we only had 60km to travel? We were all packed and ready so we left. We made a tiny detour via Dalveen; where we hadn't been before, nothing to see so we moved right along. That was why we hadn't called in before. We needed to kill a bit of time, so that took about 10 minutes. We didn't stop again until we were in Stanthorpe at the Tourist Info Centre where we took a lovely walk along the Quart Pot Creek, before having a brew overlooking the Creek. It was then time to check into the Top of Town Tourist Park adjacent the Showgrounds. We wanted to stay at the Showgrounds, however, they have a cattle sale this weekend so it is closed to campers.
After checking in, we hopped in the Ford to hit the outlying tourist spots. First stop was at the Suttons Apple Farm where we had the biggest morning tea ever. Jo had been told about the Big Apple Pie at Suttons, so we all ordered coffee and a slice of apple pie - see the picture below for the size. Both Jo and Wendy walked out feeling a tad sick; the boys seemed fine even after finishing the girls pies.
Next stop was Stanthorpe Cheese where we could have paid $3 for a tasting, however we decided to check the fridge and chose what we thought would be good cheeses instead. We were on the Armistice Drive which included places such as Pozieres, Bapaume, and Amiens. There is also a Passchendaele State Forest. As we had ridden through the Western Front on our Zurich to Amsterdam cycle tour, we thought this drive would reflect the same. The only place that had anything resembling a memorial was at Amiens, where there was a rail carriage that had been restored and used as a WW1 information place. It was closed, but we got to look around and take some photos.
Back on the road, we were back at the van park in time for a rest (no lunch required). We then hopped on the bikes and cruised downhill into Stanthorpe to the Art Gallery which has a '150 Years of Stanthorpe's Creativity' display. It had a few good pictures, especially towards the end. We then tried to find the Brass Monkey statue, (due to this place often being the coldest place in Qld) and were directed by Mr Google to a roundabout, that had nothing but a street light in the centre. The search for the iconic, elusive statue will resume tomorrow.
Back home, stretches were undertaken before having pre-dinner drinks under the shelter that has a sink in it, but is not a camp kitchen. We then decided to walk up to the look-out to checkout the sunset. It was a nice lookout, however, the sunset was not all that spectacular.
Back to the vans for dinner and bed.
Our van park at Warwick
Sunrise this morning - it was nice to see the sun
The Big Apple at Thulimbah
The Stanthorpe thermometer at the Tourist Info Centre (a cool 17 deg C)
The Duck Family
Views over the Quart Pot Creek
At Suttons Apple Farm Café
The monster slice of apple pie at Suttons
Stanthorpe Cheese
Bailey bridge
Soldier Settler Family Memorial at Amiens
The mining area at Amiens
Stanthorpe Art Gallery Pics
The weather book, extract from Apr 1872, highest temp = 55 deg C with winds from the East
Suzi with kid
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos
Floresta - Little remains but the History Expressed in the faces of the Amazon
The Farmers Trust - check the intricacy of the painting
The Serpent, Eastern carpet python
A picture of the mural at the post office
Bedrock Elysium
Stone sculptures outside the Art Gallery
This chair was very comfortable
Some more ducks
Backpacker mural at the Post Office
A native visitor to the van park
Sunset pics
