Day 233
Friday
18 August 2017
Stanthorpe – Warwick – Boonah – Ipswich
After a restless night I surprised myself when I finally
woke at 7.40am. Paul was already awake and reading and I followed suit until he
got out at 8am for a shower. I set about getting myself up and organised, as we
readied ourselves for the onward journey.
At 9am we were all packed and on the road making our way to
Warwick, 45min down the New England Highway. The wind was quite severe this
morning and was throwing the van about a fair bit. It took a lot of active
driving on Paul’s behalf to keep us on the road.
We made our way through the centre of Warwick just before
10am and then it was on to Boonah just over an hour further on. The roads on
this stretch were quite lumpy and bumpy and were in desperate need of an
overhaul. They added to the challenges the wind was throwing up.
The landscape was very rugged. The Great Dividing Range
stretched out around us I could see we would eventually have to make our way
through it to make our destination. There were plenty of national parks
offering great walking opportunities and there were also wonderful views to be
had, but I saw no lookouts to take advantage of.
We eventually descended the range on a steep and windy road,
entering the flatter valley. From here it was only 30min on to Boonah. We
stopped briefly for fuel and at 11.15am we were parked at the Boonah
Showgrounds. We booked in for two nights as $25 a night and then drove the van
to a suitable spot to set up camp.
I unpacked a show bag of goodies, information about the area
and made some decisions about how we would spend the next day and half. We then
packed up our lunch and drove to Ipswich, 45km north. Along the way I spied a
large aircraft, bomber like, doing very slow and low donuts of the suburbs. We
eventually passed a sign indicating a RAAF airbase, so guess they were doing
some sort of manoeuvre.
We stopped at a park in Ipswich, setting up our lunch things
and eating. The wind was still whipping through forcing a hair sandwich on me.
Once we finished our lunch, we drove on to the centre of town, found our
destination on Limestone Street and proceeded to the Four Hearts Brewery.
Paul ordered the tasting panel and set about tasting and
reviewing while I took in the surrounds of the bar and the brewery tanks.
Unfortunately there were no free beers at this one.
When he had completed the 9 beer challenge, we made our way
onto the streets of Ipswich. We did a wander of a few of the blocks trying to
find the main streets of town. We did eventually locate them. The main mall was
dead due to ongoing demolition and revitalisation. There really wasn’t a lot to
see.
We returned to the car and then made our way back to Boonah
by 330pm. After unpacking and enjoying a drink, we walked into the town site of
Boonah and did a walk of the main street before following a path that bordered the
large sports ground. We stopped to take a photo of the wire Clydesdale sculpture
depicting the horse’s importance to the building of the country in this area
and then continued to walk the perimeter.
We eventually made it back to the showgrounds, completed a
lap of the complex and then back to the van. Paul was straight into preparing
dinner while I went through the photos.
We ate early and then proceeded to enjoy the peace and quiet
of the evening.
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