First wedding anniversary – part III
Day three of the motorbiking part of the trip see us depart from Stanthorpe for Brisbane where we swap bike for car and continue north to Montville.
There is young life in the fields and some pretty contented looking milk makers/steak sources. There are splashes of white in the trees – corellas or cockatoos I don’t know but it is lovely to see them around. Later we are delighted with black cockatoos – truly special.
To add to the colours are the splashes of bougainvillea plants in vibrant purple and oleander in softer colours. There is also the soft pink, at a distance, of another weed – Mother of Millions. The colours of the country are really something else.
Coming up through Warwick we top in at Belle Vue Café where one of the team was interested in the roads we had been travelling. She gave us some tips for future riding – much appreciated. Back on the bike heading for home, we observe the Sunflower Route – there are millions of sunflowers flowering at the moment and their bright faces in the fields have spawned a whole other industry. There is also the Fruit Run around Stanthorpe – love the idea of the Tourist Routes, if someone can let me know where I can find a listing of the Tourist Drives in Queensland (and elsewhere) that would be really appreciated. I digress….
The morning starts very pleasantly however, being nearly summer, it becomes hot riding quickly. We transit home for about half an hour, unpacking the bike and parking her up, moving things from this bag to that and transiting to our comfortable air conditioned motor car for the trip north. Transit takes us half an hour including refreshing shower.
Comfortably settled in for travel via 4 wheels, we head out through Samford Valley (just divine) and up into another part of the Great Dividing Range – the views are something else and I marvel, as usual, at the forces of nature which occurred to give us these amazing mountains and valleys and everything in between. It is apparent that there has been little rain as most dams have green algae like growth encroaching. Lunch is at Pit Stop Café on the Mt Mee road – the views cannot be faulted.
We were not consciously looking for a different road on this part of the trip, however, we found one – Bald Knob Road and it is one for the keen rider. As a passenger you can marvel at the Glasshouse Mountains as you climb through the range and there are glimpses of the heat haze shrouded growths bursting from the land around them. We travel part of Tourist Route 23.
By bike we travel 231km. By car we travel about 146km to our destination – Spicers Clovelly Estate. We had planned this indulgence for our first wedding anniversary and belated honeymoon and having gone a little beyond what was agreed, there is absolutely no disappointment. The service is fantastic, the welcome and wishes were beautiful and the room….
We are blessed as we explore the estate then head out for dinner to Montville, randomly picking a location for dinner – Wild Rocket at Misty Micro Brewery. The food is simply divine – the matched flavours for the catch of the day special worked so well. Compliments to the chef.
The evening chorus of frogs and forest life as we return to our abode is something truly special. It is the sound of life saying goodnight to the world in perfect harmony.
Being the party animals that we are, and being a little over-exerted from not doing much at all, we are tucked up by about 8.00pm tonight, having enjoyed the congratulatory sparkling wine that greeted us and having had a swim in the tub. Not long after, before getting through the first page of a story on my kindle, I am seriously studying the backs of my eyelids, comfortably ensconced in a rather comfortable bed, with wonderfully large cuddly pillows on the eve of our first wedding anniversary. Neither of us last much beyond 8.30pm.
This is what living is about – the experience
