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The town of Stanthorpe is in granite and traprock country. It's the only place in Queensland where pipes freeze and it occasionally snows. I've experienced frozen pipes; not yet snow. However, downpours feature – odd, after a period of searing heat.
The drive to town from my daughter's place crosses the border between NSW and Queensland, a daily confusion of time zones. Early in the visit, cows are grazing the side of the road: a lot of them Droughtmasters, with their droopy ears and neck frill. Stanthorpe's in the centre of a growing district: all my family members have picked fruit and harvested vegetables for a living here. After World War 1 the area was used as a soldier settlement: it's disconcerting to come across localities called Passchaendale, Bapaume, Amiens, Pozieres, Messines, Bullecourt, Fleurbaux.
A small piazza honours the history of the district, from tin-mining days to its present of boutique wineries, orchard tours and B&Bs. Sturdy wooden benches, and lanterns harking back to the time of Chinese miners, were constructed by students of Stanthorpe's high schools. Along the path twist the Vine line, a mosaic of ceramic tiles; and the Tin line, a curve of tin, resin, gravel and river pebbles. The public toilets are fronted by a hedge of bee-buzzing white roses.
Walking from the car to the library offers pleasures too: past a waterlily pond; across grass planted with tall trees, bark peeling in subtle pink and blue; through a yellow-painted arch near a bright rose-garden. The library has hospitable corners for i-Padding, and the Art Gallery is small enough for its exhibition to be absorbed by a gallery goer lacking viewing stamina.
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restlessjo said:
Well, it’s 2015 so I can legitimately comment now, I guess π Love the details in those curvy tiles, Meg, and the lolloping bark, of course. Jude beat me to the iPad comment. I’m sure it’ll be in the dictionary any day soon.
Happy and supremely busy 2015! π
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morselsandscraps said:
I wasn’t trying to silence you, just give you a comment-break. Although minus one from 76 isn’t much of a percentage break!
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restlessjo said:
I never was any good at sums π
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Paula said:
I would have guessed this bark photo was yours anywhere π Beautiful photos, Meg. I wish I could have your weather now. We are at -20 Celsius.
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morselsandscraps said:
That’s useful info. I’ll be in Warsaw for six weeks from January 22nd. I need to start thinking about serious cold now. Then the tropics in April and a Warsaw spring in May. Seasons will be complex for me in 2015 — almost a northern hemisphere year.
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Paula said:
The weather might change completely by then. So you are coming to Europe again so soon :O
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morselsandscraps said:
And again in May. The twins are two, and I need to keep in touch. Party still happening next door and I’m awake to a beat I can’t doze to and it’s 2.30 as 2015 launches. Hope the rest of it’s quieter.
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Paula said:
They will soon tire down. Keep thinking happy, quiet thoughts of trees and valleys…
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morselsandscraps said:
Am I the only bark-obsessive you know? The trip back from Queensland was a bark-obsessive’s delight, but we were driving (for fourteen hours) so not many photos, except through the windscreen.
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Paula said:
I know a few π
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pommepal said:
I enjoyed this wander around Stanthorpe with you Meg, it brought back good memories, it was our first memorable stop on our round Aus trip. here is a recent post in retrospect I did about it. http://pommepal.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/weekly-photo-challenge-forward/
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Heyjude said:
You have an eye for the smallest and the most interesting details Meg. Stanthorpe sounds like a charming place with a great deal of history. I wonder about its name? Thorpe comes from the Viking rule in England meaning ‘village’.
And have you invented a new word I wonder? i-padding? I smiled when reading that, picturing you curled up in a corner, i-pad in hand π
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morselsandscraps said:
Stannum was its original name I think. Therefore Tin Village. Mining was its early raison d’Γͺtre. I’m looking forward to a longer stay in June-July, when we animal sit. Thanks for the comment about my eye for detail. Off to reclaim life at Spud today, aft a 14-hour drive yesterday – J. did all the driving and I copped the exhaustion! Celebrate well as 2015 arrives.
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Lucid Gypsy said:
I wasn’t expecting photos as i read Meg, your words had already painted pictures of this town for me. It does look lovely! How many generations of your family are Australian?
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Lucid Gypsy said:
and I love those droopy ear cows!
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morselsandscraps said:
Ancestors came out with the First Fleet in1788 – as convicts, I hasten to say! We had an injection of Germans in the mid 19th century. I haven’t done much exploring of family history, but my aunt was keen, and I gleaned a few tidbits from her.
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