We had picked Stanthorpe as our Christmas destination due to the fact we had been there before a few years ago and knew there were some lovely restaurants and vineyards in the area. Last time we were here the town were unfortunately going through a horrific drought where they were going to run out of town water and would have to truck it in. The farmers had pretty much all shut up shop and the wine makers had put their vines in dormancy and were trucking in water to keep them alive. This time around we drove into a beautiful green town with the creek that winds through the centre of town nearly full to bursting. Mother Nature is a powerful thing.
Our campsite was on a 40 acre farm only 5kms from town. The owner came and met us out the front to show us around and we drove through lush green fields and dams before settling on a spot. We picked one that was the driest, especially considering more rain was forecast and set up camp. We were smart this time around and set up our side walls of our annex to ensure we stayed dry from the start!
Christmas Eve was supposed to involve a leisurely drive to pick up some last minute food supplies from local producers but ended up being a rush around due to long queues at the medical centre where we got our COVID booster. Followed by the fact that the power went out in town for several hours so nobody could take payment from cards and of course we didn’t have cash. When the power did finally come back on we were walking out to the car from the supermarket to witness our car being hit by someone! Needless to say by the time we got back home we were ready for a beer!
Christmas Day and Boxing Day were every low key events for us which consisted mostly of calling family, long dog walks and generally not doing much. It’s nice to have a Christmas like that once in a while but it definitely didn’t feel like Christmas without the craziness of family gatherings. The farm backed onto public walking/biking tracks so we had kms of beautiful bush land to explore. Griff absolutely loved it as he was off lead 100% of the time.
With Stanthorpe being one of the highest points in Queensland, sitting at around 900 metres above sea level, the weather can be a little unpredictable. The first few days we had heat and rain and some tremendous thunder storms which would whip through with the rumbling of the thunder lasting long after the lightening had hit. We then had temperatures drop to low teens during the day and night. It was a first putting on a jumper and beanie in December in Queensland. But it did mean the days were lovely for walking and the fire was not just ornamental but needed for heat. It even occasionally snows here in winter! The cooler climate means amazing apples and stone fruit and the local farms have stores on the side of the road which we frequented often!
We have a pretty packed calendar around this time with Christmas being followed by Tim’s birthday. We managed a lovely walk, followed by a trip to get the “worlds best” apple pie, which was nice but maybe the title was self given 😂😂. In the afternoon we even went for a mountain bike ride which was Tim’s first since getting sick so I think that for him was the best birthday present he could have asked for. The ride itself was a single track over rocky terrain with some challenging little parts that kept us on our toes. It was just awesome being back on the bikes! We finished off the ride with a beer on the way home at the Granite Belt Brewery which was conveniently located just down the road from our campsite.
Matt and Kris our friends from the Sunshine Coast also came out for a visit and a camp for a few days over New Years. The weather was supposed to be a little rainy and windy but every night we managed a fire and also cooked some awesome meals over it as well! We are very lucky as Matt is an amazing chef so he spoilt us with his skills. I threw the yabbie pot into the dam and managed over a few days about 20 which we cooked up in a parcel over the fire and they were so delicious!
We also went for a few little trips with the most memorable being a lunch followed by wine tasting a Bellandean vineyards. We sat in the dinning area surrounded by beautiful old barrels which we later found out were filled with muscat and ate some beautifully prepared meals. Matt and I the non-drivers then managed a little sneaky wine tasting as well. Another trip we went on was out to the truffle farm. Slightly anticlimactic as I thought we were going to be shown how the dog scents the truffles underground etc but was instead just given a tasting of some truffle infused oils and butter etc. Still it was nice to go for a drive out in the beautiful countryside and we managed a sneaky beer at the brewery on the way home. It was so much fun having others around camping with us.
After Matt and Kris left we decided to stay for a few more days as Tim was a little tired after some pretty full and long days. We have loved our time in Stanthorpe. We came for a few days and managed to stay over two weeks! It’s not very big but it sure packs a punch. Especially around the quality of food you can get. Nearly every day we would frequent the bakery here for either beautiful ciabatta or croissants or pies. We had lovely Japanese and also some great Korean. For a country town with less than 10,000 people it had an impressive array of cuisine. It’s hard to describe the town other than saying it has a great atmosphere to it. A lot of country towns feel as if they are slowly decreasing in size and life but Stanthorpe feels the opposite. We will definitely be back! S
