100 things to do in Southern Queensland Country

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to escape the city for the country, we’ve found 100 reasons to pack a bag and discover Southern Queensland Country.

  1. Pick you own applesin Stanthorpe, Queensland’s apple capital. It’s the only place in Queensland with just the right climate to grow them.
  1. Climb prehistoric granites, formed about 250 million years ago and feel miniscule standing beside gigantic granite boulders in Girraween National Park.
  1. If it’s good enough for Halliday it’s good enough for a holiday. LetWine Discovery Tours be your designated driver and discover the Granite Belt Wine Region and discover why Halliday rates our Queensland drops so highly.
  1. Roast a marshmallow in the fireplace of XX B&B in winter – we reckon it’s one of the best fireplaces in the region;
  1. Explore the best seasonal produce that the Granite Belt has to offer at your own pace with the self-drive trail to delight even the most discerning foodie on the Nude Food Trail.
  1. Love a bit of lamb? Try the local Mallow Organic Lamb noted for its tenderness and flavour. Linger longer with a stay at the Mallow Cottage self-contained cottage on the farm.
  1. If you like your produce organic, you’ve come to the right place. The Symara Organic Farmhas a changing selection of vegetables, herbs and fruit worth stocking your trolley with.
  1. Taste the hatted difference at Versaison in Toowoomba, which dishes up modern Australian cuisine, best washed down with organic wine.
  1. Strap a watermelon helmet on your head and go watermelon skiing at the wackyChinchilla Melon Festival, held every two years. Get ready 2015!
  1. Thistlebrook farm (wide variety of high-quality vegetables, fruits and herbs)
  1. Expand your palate beyond Chardonnay and Shiraz, many Granite Belt wineries offer alternative wine varieties, or ‘Strange Birds’ e.g. Viognier, Gewurztraminer and Tempranillo.
  1. Hampton Blue (Blueberries and Raspberries, Jams, Sauces and Vinegar)
  1. Dress up in your country finest for theRoma Races, as ladies and gents from the city rub shoulders with the city kids at Roma’s day of days.
  1. It you like singing and shiraz, put them together and get out to Ballandean Estate’s opera in the outback. What began as a popular past time between two friends and a dream to share it with others has blossomed into one of South East Queensland’s premier cultural events, attracting almost 2000 guests each year
  1. Go nuts and grab a bag of peanuts from the Peanut Van inKingaroy.
  1. Trees wearing jumpers - yep, there’s a festival about it - only in Warwick for the Jumpers and Jazz Festival
  1. Chew with a view at Spring Creek Mountain Cottages. Don’t leave without trying Bev’s Beef and Shiraz Pie which the locals refuse to let her take off the menu
  1. It’s a burger you’ll want to write home about. Order the Road Train Burger from theNindigully Puband take a few friends with you to polish it off.
  1. Set aside 20 minutes to walk down through the tall open forest dominated by towering forest red gums and brush box to subtropical rainforest in the gorge at Queen Mary Falls
  1. Unleash your greek goddess with an olive feast at Bunnyconnellen
  1. Award winning ciders based on traditional English and French cider techniques, fruit liqueurs, brandies and grappa are developed onsite. Suttons Farm (Apple Orchard – Juice, Cider, Syrups)
  1. My vote for best pie in Queensland goes to Vincenzoes at the Big Apple
  1. This is the stuff Willy Wonkers dreams are made of
  1. Pick your own strawberries at
  1. Granite Belt Dairy (Farmhouse Cheese)
  1. Kialla Organic Beef (grassfed beef and lamb)
  1. Kialla Pure Foods (organic cereal grain)
  1. Brush up with heavy machinery at theDalby Pioneer Park Museum, home to Queensland’s largest collection of working tractors and big boys’ toys like an 1800s working thresher, a 1930s model reaper and binder and a pre-war hay baler.
  1. Mt Sterling Olives (Olives)
  1. Carey Bros Meats
  1. Chalala Micro Bakery (Sourdough breads and muesli)
  1. Taste your way through many award-winning jams, coulis, fruit pastes, sauces, relish and pickles, all made on the premises at The Bramble Patch (Jams, Jellies, Savoury Sauces, Chutneys)
  1. Tillari Trotters (Pigs)
  1. Try your hand at something different and roll a pumpkin down Policeman’s Hill.
  1. Visit theJondaryan Woolshedand learn about the region’s rich farming history with a guided tour of the station’s historic buildings, machinery and equipment.
  1. If soaring through the sky is more your thing, then a gliding flight is the perfect opportunity to stretch your wings. TheDarling Downs Soaring Clubin Bowenville, 20 minutes from Dalby, offers Air Experience Flights where you can circle 2000 feet above the Earth with a fully qualified pilot from just $150.
  1. TheDarling Downs Zooat Pilton, located about 1.5 hours from Dalby, is home to Queensland’s only white lions, three very cute, but not so cuddly lion cubs and a tigress named Shamarna.
  1. Step back in time at The Woolshed, the oldest and most original in Australia with 150 years of history bursting at the seams. Built in 1859, when it was the largest woolshed in the world
  1. Darling Downs Zoo - The Darling Downs Zoo is home to the only pride of African Lions in south-east Queensland and the only white lions living permanently in Queensland
  1. GreenAg Turkeys
  1. Apthorpe Farm (Avocados , Rhubarb & other fruits & vegetables)
  1. Bannock Brae Meats
  1. See stars at South Burnett Maidenwell Astronomical Observatory
  2. Discover the history and significance of the Bunya Mountains for indigenous people with a guided tour with the Bunya Mountains Murri Rangers.
  3. Cowboy Up Trail Riding is run by husband and wife team, Peter and Gillian Gould with over 30 years’ experience in the horse industry, including Peter’s time working with horses on several films overseas and domestically, such as BazLuhrman’s “Australia.” Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and David Wenham are just some of the stars that have ridden the horses at Cowboy Up Trail Riding
  4. Highfields Pioneer Village -Run by a volunteer committee aiming to preserve historical artefacts and ways of life and pass down traditional skills, Highfields Pioneer Village is home to large collections of 40,000 shells, antique radios and the vintage machinery, alongside the Blacksmith Shop and Boot Repair Shop
  5. One of Australia’s largest Lavender Farms, The Pottique Lavender Farm produces beautifully aromatic dried lavender, oil, soap and their famous lavender liqueur
  6. Toowoomba Antquies Centre - Browse through 18th and 19th century furniture, sterling silver, ceramics, glass, jewellery and antique maps for a special souvenir. The gallery is also a Bjorn Wiinblad specialist.
  7. Visit the Terraweena goat stud farm - Goat is the most eaten red meat in the world and just outside the charming town of Toowoomba you’ll find the Terraweena Goat Stud Farm. Meet goat expert Geof Burnett-Smith, who breeds Boer goats for their size and quality of the meet.
  8. Go back to Gatsby era at The Empire Theare, a heritage listed art-deco perfoming arts complex.
  1. Every thought of how a nut is named after a place – Bauple have us the Buaple nut, Brazil gave us the BrazilDiscover one of our most famous nuts, the Bunya nut a the Bunya Mountains
  1. You’ll be the thorn amongst the Roses in the Newtown Park State Rose Garden in Toowoomba with some 1500 roses planted.
  1. Pick up a handmade treasure like one of a kind jewelry, millinery, clothing, leatherwork, furniture and gifts.
  2. Calling all keen anglers – Southern Queensland Country has a reputation for the bst inland fishing with 15 dams and seven river systems. Come home with bags of Murray Cod, Australian Bass, Sleepy Cod, Sooty Grunter, Yellowbelly, Silver Perch, Saratoga, Barcoo Grunter, Jewfish and River Blackfish.
  3. Head to Toowoomba for Easterfest
  4. Carnival of Flowers in September
  5. Bag a bargain antique shopping at Crows Nest
  6. Discover the oasis in the outback at Carnavorn Gorge, a gorge carved by the ever-flowing Carnavorn Creek.
  1. It’s not all bushbashing in the country, lay in the lap of luxury at Spicers Peak Lodge
  1. Take a guided bush tour with Russel at Best Brook Lodge – he’s a local bushie that know a thing or two about living off the land;
  1. Tee off at one of the many champtionship golf courses in Southern Queensland Country.
  1. Have a meal at a true-blue country pub
  1. Enjoy the view from Picnic Point Lookout
  1. Swim, sail or waterski at Storm King Dam
  1. If bucking bulls get your motor running, check out the Warwick Rodeo
  1. Camp in comfort at Spicers Canopy, the glamping Spicers property offering in XX.
  1. They build them bigger, better and tougher in the west and where else can you flex your country muscle than the Hell of the West Triathlon which sees guys and girls XXX
  1. Sample some of the local fare at the annual Gourmet in Gundy.
  1. Take a self guided walk of the Dalby Heritage Trail to see historical buildings, churches and memorials.
  1. Give Gunsynd a pat in Goondiwindi this statue commemorates the local legend “Goondiwindi Grey: who was bought for a measly $1200 by a group of punters and when onto win 29 races including the Cox Plate.
  1. Stand in awe of the Abbey of the Roses, a castle-like sandstone country manor that looks like it’s been lifted directly from the UK and placed down in Toowoomba.