I had attempted to view the night sky before retiring to my dreams and was thwarted by clouds blown across a dark sky. Morning came quietly with a cold breeze and more clouds. Even so I was keen to get out and start our break by finding the track into Stanthorpe so camera in hand and dressed for a chilly morning I left our cottage and surprised a mob of wallabies contentedly grazing on the lawns around the cottages. The female was carrying a joey who wisely remained tucked up in the pouch.
Beyond the mob was the original house and a grand old house it is. There were 4 other cottages, but no one was moving about save the wallabies and the wood ducks. Even the Tawny Frogmouth remained tucked up in bed. After moving around the house joey decided to check out the visitors and popped his head out and looked around. I found the track to the bridge and along the way I meet the chooks who thought I was coming with their morning feed. Stanthorpe is famous for its granite outcrops. Even though the temperature was in single digits, the freshness of the morning and softness of the sun playing on the bush and rocks, was a fabulous vista to start the day.
I followed the track to the bridge and crossed over. Last night our neighbour had told us that it was a wet ride across the creek and now I could see the reason why. Recent rain had filled ponds along the bank and the track to Stanthorpe was impassable. The neighbours house “the Lodge” was high up on the bank above me but the crossing was wet and muddy. So, I turned around and returned to the cottage. This is what I saw walking there and back.
After breakfast we started our exploration. I wanted to visit the “soldier settlements” granted to WW1 soldiers to start again after the horror of the battlefields of France. Many of the villages were named after those battlefields. The programme continued for WW2 veterans, but mostly they were not successful farmers and not much remains of these settlements. On the way we passed Castle Glen cellar door. Built to appear to be a castle it is tired and tacky and we did not stay long.
Besides we were close to Stanthorpe Cheese. A repurposed shed the cheese factory makes a range of soft and hard cheeses and has tasting room. In addition, they have a range of country product from chutneys to jams. The tasting ranged over 8 different cheeses accompanied by pastes and chutneys. We came away with a bag full for the cold nights with a glass of wine. Five stars of taste.
We had read about Donnelly’s Castle as being a must do. It is off the beaten track but certainly lived up to the reports. it’s not actually a ‘castle’. This quiet spot is a wonderland of giant granite boulders and walking amongst the boulders you can explore into cave-like entrances and narrow crevices.
Donnelly’s Castle is famously the site used by bushranger ‘Captain Thunderbolt’ as his hideout. Thunderbolt was the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history and it’s no surprise he managed to elude authorities here, because as you wander over, under and through the network of boulders, you feel you’re hidden away from the world! There’s also an exciting lookout sited on the top of one of the granite outcrops. Be careful returning down that boulder as the potential to slip and fall is very real.
From Donnelly’s castle you drive across Amiens Rd to Pozieres – the name of the town in the midst of an infamous battle of WW1. The only thing to tell you this was once a village is the telephone box outside the closed post office and the cold stores. From there we followed Amiens Rd pass Messines into Amiens where we found the Amiens Legacy Centre and township maps. This fabulous memorial tells the story of soldier settlements and the villages, the visit by the Prince of Wales in 1922 and the restored carriage now converted to the museum. It is humbling to see the conditions for returned service men and their families to start a new life. There is also the story of the tin miners who established Stanthorpe. Returning towards Stanthorpe we came to the remnants of Amiens and the memorial to the servicemen from the area who served and did not return plus the story of the soldier settlements.
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We then returned to Bapaume but we could not find any evidence of the village. We then went on to Robert Channon Wines cellar door. Robert is famous as the man with the name which Moet & Chandon thought a threat and demanded he stop using his name. The nearly 20 acres of vineyards at Robert Channon Wines produce approximately 50 to 60 tonnes of grapes each year. The relatively small size of the vineyard and tonnage is typical of the boutique size of the dozens of wineries across Granite Belt Wine Country. The grapes they grow are Verdelho, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay and red varieties are: Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. We left the vineyard weighed down with more wine.
Photos
It’s been a long day so we head home stopping off at Mt Marlay for an all over view of the town. Then we arrive at the cottage, start the fire, get out the nibbles cards and wine. The wind has risen and the temperature drops but not to worry we are warm and cosy in side the cottage.
glendon1954 