Stanthorpe

Last month we attended my good Friend Liz's wedding. As it was in Stanthorpe(about a 3 hour drive away) we decided to make a holiday of it and stay for 3 nights in the region, we do love the area.

Day 1:Spent travelling to Stanthorpe, only stopping once at Aratula for a toilet stop and lunch and to switch drivers. Liz's wedding was beautiful and it was such an honour to share in her beautiful day with her and her gorgeous children. It was FREEZING and wet but such an atmosphere of love and friendship helped keep everyone warm.

We stayed at a beautiful 3 bedroom cottage named Grice Lane Cottage. Upon arrival it doesn't look like much but when you open the front door you can tell every detail has been thought of to make your stay a pleasant one. The well stocked pantry and fridge and the complimentary bottle of a local wine, the linen and the decor definitely all help make this place a home away from home.
Other useful family friendly features are the toys, DVD's, games, books and magazines, high chair, porta cot and even bikes in the shed!

We had the most comfy night sleeps in the most comfortable beds! The rooms were so warm, modern yet cosy and everything is clean and fairly new.

Okay enough about the house....but it is definitely brag worthy! oh and I forgot to mention that the rates are also very family friendly especially mid week and off season.
My tip when booking holiday accommodation:(I have done a lot of this!)Make sure when you contact them you are very polite and ask what is their "best rate" for a family? Then negotiate a little if you are game. During quiet times you usually have more bargaining power and if you are loyal to the one place or a couple of your favourites you will find they look after you.

Day 2:We visited several wineries(Kominos, Ridgemill, Lucas), the dairy shop to try some cheese and walked away with 3 local cheeses, quince jelly-also local by Jam works and they yummy apple juice from Suttons(it is divine). We also visited the lavendar farm as my Mum loves Lavendar and it had a small petting Zoo which was an added bonus for the kids. After out r BIG day out we made the most of the fading sun and had a bike ride around the property and then chilled out by the fire enjoying some of our local produce and a glass or two of a local drop.

Day 3:We decided to start our day a bit earlier this day. We went to Giraween National Park and did a bush walk. We stopped in at Ridgemill Estate winery for a tasting and stopping at the chocolate shop to pick up some goodies. We had to get some Rocky Road because theirs is the BEST and I loke a good rocky road.  Lunch was at one of our favourite spots Fellsburg winery, which is located at the top of a hill and has breathtaking views and the cellar door and restaurant take full advantage of this.
We ordered a couple of pizza's which they make all fresh on premises including the dough(in a thermomix I may add!!!) and after tasting the wines we let mum choose her favourite a Merlot to go with our lunch. We nearly polished that one off between us!!
We had to leave room for dessert as up the road was our favourite place(oops I said that Fellsburg was) The Bramble Patch, OMG they make the most amazing berry desserts. During season you can actually pick the berries. We shared a couple of ice burgerers and a berry sundae accompanied with a cappuccino. YUMMO!
Actually my mouth is watering as I write this and I would love to eat one right now.

Hubby is telling me now that I need to add that on our way home we had a storm and it started sleeting, our windscreen was covered in ice! ?Crazy Stanthorpe weather, reminds us a bit of Tassie. I am not a "hows the weather" sort of person however I am definitely married to one!! HE loves talking about and is intrigued by changes in the weather.
Upon arriving at our cottage the thunder and lightening had intensified so much so that as Rob was unpacking the car he nearly dropped to the ground as a bolt of lightening and very loud crack of thunder hit the power line that provided our property with power.
Happy that we could start a fire and enjoy the peace and quiet for a little while, my mum was quietly trying to work out how she would cook her famous lamb casserole(which may I add is so yummy) with no power. She was thinking the outside BBQ by torch and candle light. I wasn't sure of this and as I was now very much looking forward to my mums lamb I called the power company to ensure power would be restored. Thankfully I did because they weren't even aware of the situation so within 2 hours we had the workers out restoring power and yes mum could cook the lamb. We didn't eat till after 8pm but hey we are on holidays it doesn't really matter! Mums Lamb tasted very nice accompanied by a local cabernet franc(Something a bit different but nice)

Happy that we had a late checkout(definitely another plus) we had a lovely morning. Going for another ride around the property, playing games, relaxing with a cup of tea and slowly packing our things. We had an early lunch(leftover lamb) and headed on our way home.

What a perfect way to spend 3 days and I'm sure when hubby or Mum read this they will say I left bits out but seriously there where so many highlights I'm bound to forget a few.

We loved Grice Lane so much we have decided to go back and take my sister and brother in law at the end of the year. Very much looking forward to this!