Our accommodation in Stanthorpe that Saturday night was in the Top of the Town Tourist Park. The usual accommodation is a number of motels in the town centre and another motel the High St Motor Inn which is across the road from the Tourist Park. Unfortunately late last year a storm blew the roof off most of the latter motel, with only the restaurant remaining intact. The winds had been so strong that part of the motel's roof was found in the golf course a fair distance away. So even though we stayed elsewhere, we were served breakfast at the High Street Motor Inn; and a fine breakfast it was too!
After breakfast we met an old family friend who had returned to live in Stanthorpe after she retired. Dorothy's parents and my dad were old friends and also partners in the farm at Ballandean. Her parents were my godparents and my parents were her godparents! We were able to spend some time catching up on news etc before our train left.
Here is an older photo of Dorothy and I with her mother and one of her sisters; the photo was taken in 1966 at the farm...she is still taller than me as you can see...
The locomotive has changed 'ends' since the night before, ready for the return trip to Brisbane.
I took a few photos of the town from the station...
The white building at the right of the photo below was the Co-op store where the townspeople would buy all their farm supplies etc...now just a derelict building...
We have left Stanthorpe behind in the next photo and the countryside is quite lush...
During the journey on Saturday I had noted the reaction of the livestock in paddocks near the railway line. They were so unused to trains, especially west of Toowoomba, and the thundering diesel loco obviously frightened them somewhat and they would turn and run away from this 'monster'. There are lots of beef cattle between Stanthorpe and Warwick and I tried to get a photo of them running away but missed every opportunity to get such a photo. .
I took a few photos of the town called Clifton...
Later on the journey we passed some silos...
On Saturday I had noticed all these beehives between the road and the railway line...
Sheep grazing ...
After the train passed through Toowoomba, I kept my camera ready for when we reached Grantham. In the 2011 floods, the town of Grantham was devastated, the township suffering not only loss of buildings but also lives were lost. New homes have been built on higher ground and in the next photo you can see these homes on the ridge in the distance...you would never think that there had been such devastation...
Eventually we passed through Ipswich and then on to Roma St in Brisbane where DsD3 was waiting for us...it had been a wonderful weekend away.
After breakfast we met an old family friend who had returned to live in Stanthorpe after she retired. Dorothy's parents and my dad were old friends and also partners in the farm at Ballandean. Her parents were my godparents and my parents were her godparents! We were able to spend some time catching up on news etc before our train left.
Here is an older photo of Dorothy and I with her mother and one of her sisters; the photo was taken in 1966 at the farm...she is still taller than me as you can see...
The locomotive has changed 'ends' since the night before, ready for the return trip to Brisbane.
I took a few photos of the town from the station...
The white building at the right of the photo below was the Co-op store where the townspeople would buy all their farm supplies etc...now just a derelict building...
We have left Stanthorpe behind in the next photo and the countryside is quite lush...
During the journey on Saturday I had noted the reaction of the livestock in paddocks near the railway line. They were so unused to trains, especially west of Toowoomba, and the thundering diesel loco obviously frightened them somewhat and they would turn and run away from this 'monster'. There are lots of beef cattle between Stanthorpe and Warwick and I tried to get a photo of them running away but missed every opportunity to get such a photo. .
I took a few photos of the town called Clifton...
Later on the journey we passed some silos...
On Saturday I had noticed all these beehives between the road and the railway line...
Sheep grazing ...
After the train passed through Toowoomba, I kept my camera ready for when we reached Grantham. In the 2011 floods, the town of Grantham was devastated, the township suffering not only loss of buildings but also lives were lost. New homes have been built on higher ground and in the next photo you can see these homes on the ridge in the distance...you would never think that there had been such devastation...
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| Grantham |
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| Grantham |
What a lovely trip - thank you for sharing. xx
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this final post in your trip too Maria. It was so interesting to see all those beehives :D Beautiful scenery from your train window - those skies and the pasture, so pretty. It was real nice to see a bit of Grantham too getting back to normal - they had such a horrible time of it didn't they.
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