Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A TRIP
GIRRAWEEN NATIONAL PARK
A short drive east of Ballandean,
Girraween National Park
(
www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/girraween
)
is home to
some astonishing granite boulders, pristine forests and brilliant blooms of springtime wildflowers (Girraween
means 'place of flowers'), all of which make a marvellous setting for a stroll. Wildlife is abundant and there are
17km of trails to take you around and to the top of some of the surreal granite outcrops. Short walks include the
1.6km return walk to the Granite Arch and a 3.6km return scramble up the Pyramid (1080m), while the grand-
daddy of Girraween walks is the 11km return trek to the top of Mt Norman (1267m).
Ballandean and Stanthorpe are a short drive away, but there are a couple of excellent places to stay in the area.
Girraween Environmental Lodge
(
07-4684 5138;
www.girraweenlodge.com.au
; Pyramids Rd, Ballan-
dean; d $280, extra adult/child $60/30) is an ecofriendly bushland retreat set on 160 hectares adjacent to the
national park. Made largely of recycled timber, the ten chic, self-contained timber cabins here sleep up to six
people, are ultracomfy and have wood heaters and private decks with barbecues. There's also an outdoor spa and
plunge pool. There's no restaurant at the lodge but you can buy a range of gourmet frozen meals, barbecue packs
and breakfast baskets.
Wisteria Cottage
( 07-4684 5121;
www.wisteriacottage.com.au
;
2117 Pyramids Rd, Wyberba; d incl
breakfast from $190) has three simple, tasteful and private timber cottages (one two-bedroom, two one-bedroom)
in a large paddock with grazing cattle. The cabins have wide verandahs and cosy wood fires, and sleep up to six
people. Breakfast comes in a big hamper, or there's the Heavenly Chocolate (
Click here
) shop on site.
There are also two good drive-in
camping grounds
( 13 74 68;
http://parks.nprsr.qld.gov.au/permits
; per
person/family $5.60/22.40) in the park -
Castle Rock
and
Bald Rock Creek
- which teem with wildlife and
have drinking water, barbecues and hot showers. Book online or via phone before you arrive.
The
visitor centre
at the end of Pyramids Rd has information on the park and walking tracks (opening hours
hours vary, but map brochures should be available even if there's no one present). Although winter nights here
can be cold, it's hot work scaling the boulders, so take plenty of water.
To reach the park, head 8km south of Ballandean, turn left on Pyramids Rd, and continue another 7km to the
park entrance.
Information
Most of the Granite Belt wineries are located south of Stanthorpe around Ballandean. Pick
up the
Granite Belt Wine Country
booklet from the
Stanthorpe Visitor Information Centre
(
07-4681 2057, 1800 762 665;
www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au
;
28 Leslie Pde, Stanthorpe; 9am-5pm)
. For
alternative wine-tasting, grab the
Strange Bird Wine Trail
map listing the 20 or so winer-
ies growing unusual varieties (Tempranillo, Sylvaner, Viognier, Gewürztraminer, Malbec
etc).
Getting There & Around
thorpe. There are buses to Warwick ($16, 45 minutes), Toowoomba ($44, 2½ hours), Bris-
