It was apple picking season in Stanthorpe and the girls were keen to see real apple trees and pick some apples themselves. I rang Nicoletti Orchards and they were more than happy to book us on a private apple picking experience. Stanthorpe is around 2 hours and 45 mins away from Brisbane. If you have young kids, I recommend booking for an overnight stay, that is, if you do not want to rush during the entire trip and get cranky at the end of the day because of too much exhaustion. It was a spur of the moment roadtrip so I hurriedly booked the most reasonably priced room I could find.
We spent 2 days in Stanthorpe, and here’s a timeline of how we spent approximately 36 hours in such a lovely little town:
Come Wednesday and everyone woke up VERY early. We left Brisbane at 4:30AM, and it was the best decision we’ve made. Early bird catches the worm, they say. The roads were not too busy, we were driving thru a foggy, cold morning with great views of the mountains, not to mention a hot cup of coffee while enjoying the scenery. It was indeed a very nice and relaxing drive.
The Christmas Farm was the first on the list as it opens the earliest, which is 9 AM. As we drove thru the entrance, we can already see hundreds of christmas trees lined up. Two things about this place that made it very memorable: farm animals feeding and Belgian hot chocolate. They are soooooo worth it.
Next stop is the Juice Factory. This place can never be missed as it is right across the big apple. By 10AM we were devouring on their yummo apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
We made it just in time for our apple picking tour at 11AM. We met Toni who introduced us to 3 varieties of apples (Fuji, Envy and Pink Lady) and got the chance to taste each one of them. The most awaited part of the tour was the apple picking, which was so easy and fun to do especially for the kids. We ended up bringing home 5 kilograms of both Envy and Fuji apples at the end of the tour.
At around 12:30 PM we then decided to stop by Stanthorpe cheese as it was just 8 minutes away from Nicoletti Orchards. We had free cheese tasting which we highly recommend for anyone planning to visit. If I’m not mistaken it was a variety of 6 types of cheese, plus chutneys and relishes. Hubby and I enjoyed this part of the trip as we so love cheese with wine. The girls took part in the cheese tasting too, which they seemed to enjoy.
We checked in at Boulevard Motel at around 1:30 PM. It is a place I would highly recommend for just a short overnight stay. Definitely five stars for location, cleanliness, value for money and very friendly and accommodating staff. We stayed in the family room with a bonus breathtaking view. It is located right next to Lions Park and Quart Pot Creek and right in the middle of the town centre. We were so exhausted by this time so lunch and wine o’clock followed.
At 4:00 PM a stroll along the town centre seemed like a good idea. The park right next to where we stayed had beautiful maple trees with autumn leaves which looked so pretty. The girls had a fun time throwing leaves around.
There was no place else to see by 6PM in a small town like Stanthorpe, so we decided to buy takeaway Chinese food which was just a walking distance from the motel. Wine and cheese night then again. We finally decided to call it a night by 10PM. Nobody dared to set the alarm for the following morning. Lol.
The following day, by 8AM we were strolling along quart pot creek and taking God knows how many photos. We stopped at the big thermoneter (given Stanthorpe is the coldest part of Queensland) which showed it was 14 degrees Celcius. Not bad at the time. I must say if only we had more time in our hands, we would have loved to sit by the creek and enjoy a picnic.
We checked out at 9:30AM and drove towards Walanggara Railway Cafe, a 30-minute drive south of Stanthorpe and is where you can find the border between NSW and QLD. Of course we never missed the chance to be in two places at once!
By 10AM we were enjoying a quiet brunch at Walanggara Railway Cafe. This used to be a railway station, now turned museum and cafe.
Next stop was Giraween National Park. We arrived here at around 10:30AM. The twins had so much fun collecting sticks and hiking along one of the the walking trails- surely we picked the shortest and easiest one. Lol. This place features amazing granite landscapes and giant boulders. It was a nice hike with the sun out and the autumn breeze keeping us cool. It was also a great learning opportunity for the girls to explore nature, feel the cold running water, climb on rocks, skip and jump over small rock pools and cross a small bridge.
The Granite Belt has 50 wineries, and we never wanted to miss out on visiting one. At 12:30PM we went to The Balancing Heart Vineyard. It was such a lovely place with a very relaxing and laid back atmosphere. It was that tranquilizing that we ended up staying there the entire afternoon, sipping on a variety of wine for our wine tasting which we paired with pizza and a cheese platter. We finally decided to head back home at around 4:30PM, right before dusk. What a lovely way to end our Stanthorpe escapade.
