A day in Stanthorpe

Thurs 9 July… After staying awake half the night listening to the test match on line and taking a little extra vino we lay abed this morning, not in a hurry to do anything. We move on tomorrow. This is a great camp, the amenities are brand new and spotless, we have broadband and from our window we can see a bird feeding station that attracts galahs, beautiful rainbow lorikeets, bronze wings and the gurgling Australian magpies. There are of course, no cats. There is an area set aside as a bush camp for the roughie toughie campers. We can’t understand why the camp is so good, Stanthorpe town doesn’t seem to have a lot going for it, it’s just an ordinary sort of a place. We did go for a drive round this afternoon and as it’s the granite belt, it’s true to say there’s a lot of it about. It is also a very good fruit growing area, as have the last few places we have stayed, but it all looks a bit dreary now the crops have been harvested. The weather isn’t helping either and they don’t mention that in the tourist brochures. It’s very cold and Peter has given in and put long trousers on and he also bought a fleece today! Navigator seems to have grown into Michelin man with all the extra layers. In the café where we had a coffee this morning there was a lovely big wood burner, which helped to thaw us out! We are now cooking indoors on gas and looking forward to such things as spag bol, curries, and hearty warming stews. Roll on summer!