Hello lovely,
Last weekend I popped over the Queensland border to join some fellow members of the Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW) for a get together in granite belt country.
The slightly ridiculous thing about this is that the area is closer to me than most of the writers who live in Queensland and yet I’ve barely spent any time there over the years.
Our meeting spot in Stanthorpe was only around a 2hr drive from where I live compared to 2hr 45mins from Brisbane, and then we spent much of the weekend further south, so even closer to my home in NSW.
As I crossed the border I stopped to take a photo that I shared on Instagram, where I talked about how 2020 had made something I used to take for granted feel special. By the time I got home on Sunday, I was wondering how much longer the border would remain open as we waited to see how many new cases of Coronavirus would be reported in Brisbane.
For those of you reading this in the UK, USA and other places straining to cope with huge Covid-19 numbers you may find it a little hard to believe that this week greater Brisbane went into a three day lockdown after recording 10 new cases of coronavirus in a day, and that Western Australia quickly shut its borders to Queensland, throwing a whole lot of Easter plans up in the air.
Other states including Victoria and South Australia have put hard borders around Greater Brisbane, while for now NSW hasn’t shut any borders but has suggested people reconsider their travels if they’re heading north.
As much as ten new cases pales in comparison to the current trend of more than 5,000 a day in the UK and 70,000 a day in the USA, I feel lucky to be living somewhere that has so few cases and is so quick to jump on them when they pop up. And I hope this one is stamped out soon so everyone in Australia can go back to travelling to Queensland anytime they want.
Last weekend I discovered a whole lot of new things just over that border that I’ll be sharing in a blog post, but for now I’ll just let you know a little bit about today’s Travel Dreaming.
The Straw House B&B is literally a house built of straw, and when you stay in the straw bale cottage you can see the straw in the wall through a little window. Apart from being a sweet place to stay, the cottage gets ticks from me for having local Washpool products in the bathroom, T2 teas to sip and games to play.
We had a chance to chat to the owners over an afternoon tea they’d prepared, and I’ve got to tell you I cannot stop thinking about the insanely good banana bread they bake for guests. Just wow.
And then there’s the friendly farm animals, including alpacas, goats, and two gorgeous Highland coos that you can hand feed.
It was a special way to end our granite belt weekend, and I look forward to sharing more about that trip with you guys soon.
But until then I have to go back to dealing with the big break up from Airbnb (oh so much work to do on the blog as that relationship goes kablooey today!)
Until next time, stay safe wherever you are and have a happy Easter.
xA
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