Before this trip, Northern NSW was a bit of a mystery to me – despite its proximity to Brisbane, I had no idea what lay across the border except for Byron Bay and Sydney and some nice beaches.

I really knew nothing about Tenterfield; where Australia’s federation movement was born, Armidale; Australia’s highest city or most shockingly, Waterfall Way; the most beautiful drive in New South Wales and the third-most beautiful drive in Australia.

Now, I don’t live under a rock. This route is truly an unsung hero of Australian tourism. I’m a fairly avid reader of travel news and tips, yet I’d never heard of Waterfall Way – had you?

If you have 4 days spare from Brisbane or the Southern Queensland Country & Northern New South Wales region make a stunning road trip full of jaw-dropping scenery and gorgeous little country towns – not to mention a lot of good food, wine & spirits.

We took the country route from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour on the way down and drove along the coast from Coffs Harbour to Brisbane on our way home.

Non-stop, driving from Brisbane to Tenterfield would take around 4 hours, but if you did that you’d miss all the great stops along the way! This region of Queensland is Southern Queensland Country, known for wineries, cider, country towns and for being one of the few places in Queensland you can see the golden leaves of Autumn – I never see a real Autumn in Brisbane.

Our first stop was new to me, but is a tradition for the boys in our family. Every time they go camping in Gordon Country, they stop at the particularly unremarkable Aratula petrol station for hot chips. Eating al fresco at a picnic table in the middle of a petrol station carpark was a first.

The first notable stop of the trip was at Cunningham’s Gap. It’s about an hour and 20 from Brisbane and easy to access from the highway – the small carpark is just on the side of the road. The 1 km (0.6 miles) walk is easy for all levels of fitness, but it is a little uphill and a little slippery, so wear better walking shoes than I did – I was unaware of this stop, and had dressed for wineries, not muddy trails. Fortunately, my lovely loafers from Paris escaped the walk unscathed.

The end of the trail has a beautiful view and surprisingly, the air is that gorgeous, pristine mountain air the whole way up despite it’s location next to a busy highway.

Warwick

The prize for most memorable first impression goes to the country town of Warwick, SQC’s regional hub.

As we pulled up, we saw a man walk up to a rubbish bin, pull out a can of coke and sip from the straw still sitting in it. I’m not sure whether he was testing whether it was indeed coke or whether he thought “Wait a minute – using someone else’s straw is bloody unhygienic!” because he then tossed the straw over his shoulder and proceeded to slurp down the rest of the warm coke – or whatever it was.

Fortunately, this first encounter was immediately followed up by a friendly local asking if we needed a hand and promptly offering us directions to the best bakery in town.

Warwick is the city of roses and rodeos, however we were out of season for the roses and the rodeos. If you visit during the Jumpers & Jazz in July festival you’ll witness every street lining the main promenade, Palmerin St, decked out in lovingly hand-knitted jumpers made by locals. One a day trip to the region in July, I spotted a tree just outside the small town of Killarney kitted out in a similar fashion.

What do people in Warwick do? I’m not entirely sure. People slowly ambled down the wide streets, occasionally stopping for a chat.  Palmerin Street is dotted with a few grand sandstone buildings, but there’s not a lot in-between.

It’s probably because I saw no roses, rodeos or jumper-ed trees, but I felt Warwick was missing some of the dusty romance that city dwellers like to imagine country towns still possess.

We were meant to walk the self-guided Heritage Trail, but by the time we’d found the Visitor Information Centre, everyone was more interested in eating. We took the recommendation of the friendly local and ate at the bakery on the main street and weren’t disappointed. I love visiting bakeries in any town I visit and was happy to find that there were lots of menu items I don’t regularly see in Brisbane, such as the cream cone which I chose.

Our visit to Warwick also ended with an oddity. As we left town we passed a particularly vague highway sign pointing to both Stanthorpe and Sydney. Stanthorpe is 45 minutes down the road, and Sydney is nearly 10 hours away.

The Granite Belt

Castle Glen Liqueurs

You’ve got to give it to them, they’ve got guts. Castle Glen Liqueurs is housed in a giant “castle” (it’s Australia – not a real castle, sorry) surrounded by a vineyard.

Stepping inside the cavernous gallery just outside of Thulimbah, near Stanthorpe, you feel a bit like a kid in a candy shop. A candy shop that will get you very drunk.

I’d already visited their store in Montville, but this one is the original and about four times the size. I’ve never seen so much alcohol in one place, let alone this much liqueur. In Montville I bought mango cider and musk liqueur but I couldn’t resist taking some more Castle Glen home with me. I settled on a six pack of 50mL bottles – for $20, it’s very reasonable. They have an online store, so I figured I could repurchase larger bottles of the liqueurs I loved most, later on.

The pack I chose had Jellybean, Splice, Ginger & Rum, Blackcurrant, Mango and Rum & Ginger.

Part of their charm is their gorgeous bottles. My musk liqueur looks like it’s in a potion bottle, which I’ll keep well after the last drops of liqueur has been enjoyed.

A: ‘The Castle’ 3184 Amiens Road, The Summit
P: (07) 4683 2363

Granite Belt Dairy & Jersey Girls Cafe

Granite Belt Dairy & Jersey Girls Cafe is a must-do in the Granite Belt!  We started with a delicious cheese tasting, of which my favourite was their tasty“Thulimbah” farmhouse cheese which is unique to their dairy. It’s super creamy, but firm enough that you can eat it with a toothpick. In short, you should order some ASAP. During the tasting, we paired our cheese with their many condiments and sauces made on-site, available for purchase too. The wine jam tastes just as good with cheese as it does with a cheeky piece of toast.

We ate lunch in their cafe, which has a cute set up of wooden country-style dining suites which look like they’ve been plucked out of local living rooms. When you’re eating at a dairy, you really can’t skip a malted milkshake or the three cheese pizza. Heaven.

A: 4 Duncan Ln, Thulimbah
P: (07) 4685 2277

Sutton’s Juice Factory Cidery & Distillery

You can pick apples at the orchard here, but we visited Sutton’s Farm for their apple juice, cider and apple pie.

Their Pink Lady Apple Juice is seriously the most amazing apple juice I have ever tasted. I normally steer clear of fruit juices, since they’re not all that good for you but I could make an exception for this sweet nectar of the Gods. They ship Australia-wide, so I’ll definitely repurchase some as a summer treat.

Depending on the time of year, they make apple juice based on other varietals such as Granny Smith, Royal Gala, Summer Delicious and more.

I desperately wanted to take home the legendary 22-apple Apple Pie, but it was eat in only. I’m not sure if its because you can charge more per slice than you can for a whole pie, but it’s a shame. We’d just eaten lunch at Jersey Girls Café, so we weren’t going to eat the pie then and there. The shed which the cafe is in, was also pretty full so we wouldn’t have been able to get a table for all nine of us.

Donnelly’s Castle

This was definitely a dark horse – I didn’t expect it be so cool! The Granite Belt is a region of Southern Queensland Country dotted in granite boulders, courtesy of a volcano which spewed rock across the countryside millions of years ago.

Donnelly’s Castle is where bushranger Thunderbolt used to hide out. You can explore the caves, created by piles of enormous boulders or you can take the short walk up to the lookout, on top of another giant boulder. The views are great, but the stairs are steep, so hold onto the railings!

A: Amiens Road, Stanthorpe

Boireann Wines

Stanthorpe is known for the Strange Bird Alternative Wine Trail, so called because the region has the climate and the passion for growing alternative wine varieties not commonly found outside of their original terriors – such as tempranillo, nebbiolo, gewurtztraminer, barbera, etc.

We didn’t have time for the whole trail, so on the recommendation of the Jersey Girls Cafe Owner, we stopped at Boireann Wines which specialises in dry reds. I’ll be honest – I’m more of a fruity white kinda gal, but I was almost won over at Boirean! We tasted around 6 or 7 wines for free and went home with two bottles of Sangiovese, one Nebbiolo and one Cabernet Sauvignon. Even if you’re not a big red wine drinker, I recommend giving Boireann a go.

A: 26 Donnellys Castle Rd, Thulimbah QLD 4376
P: (07) 4683 2194

Our final foodie destination was meant to be the Bramble Patch, but unfortunately we arrived at 4:30pm to find that it had shut at 4pm.

Tenterfield

Our first night was spent in the gorgeous country town of Tenterfield, where Sir Henry Parkes gave his rousing speech that kickstarted the movement towards Australia’s federation in 1901.

Despite its proximity to the Queensland border, it’s immediately recognisable as a New South Wales country town. The streets are narrower and the buildings are smaller, but more beautifully preserved.

We were only there for the night and our B &B owner told us we’d need a month to see everything in Tenterfield, but I was happy just walking the main street the next day with my camera in one hand and a coffee from the Courtyard Cafe in another.

Our dinner options were limited, so we decided to check out the RSL. We’d been inside for approximately four minutes when I invented my RSL Rule: Never eat at one.

RSL Clubs in Australia have cheap drinks, but mediocre food at ridiculous prices. They’re built all over Australia by the government for returned servicemen, and part of the perk is that there is less tax on alcohol inside these clubs than elsewhere, hence the cheap drinks. This is a lovely idea. However, the average meal price (for a pretty average tasting meal too) is a whopping $25. That’s before drinks, entrees or desserts. If I pay $25+ for a meal, it’s because it’s going to be great…which is never the case at RSLs.

Oh, you’ll also be sitting in a relatively old dining hall with hideous carpet a la the casino, the average diner is 65, there are pokies in the corner and there will always be a horse race on the telly. To finish it off, they’ll pump out the worst 1950s music they can find.

I suggest, if you have full use of your hearing and tastebuds and don’t enjoy throwing away money, that you eat at any other local business in town, wherever you are.

We opted instead for Tenterfield Gourmet Pizza, which was delivered to our accommodation and was absolutely delicious. My aunt’s gluten free pizza was very innovative – it was made on a sweet potato base and deserves to be a popular dish in its own right, outside of its gluten-free status. Delish.

We stayed at Tenterfield Golfer’s Inn, which was a short drive from the main part of town but had great rooms and huge, modern bathrooms (never take these for granted). If you’re going to Tenterfield, I highly recommend it.

Overall, this day’s drive made for a long but interesting day, with lots of delicious stops along the way. I’m really glad I visited Tenterfield, because it is such a beautiful country town. We didn’t see any waterfalls, as Waterfall Way starts at Armidale, which we visited on Day 2.

Have you driven Waterfall Way or visited these towns?

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