TOOWOOMBA

Thursday, 6 June 2019

Japanese Gardens

At Picnic Point, looking over Tabletop Mountain

New bridge

Wednesday morning at Warwick was far more pleasant, weatherwise, than the previous morning at Glen Innes.  The sky was clear, no wind and we didn’t even need our coats to hitch up.  The road to Toowoomba passed through many sunflower paddocks (all dead stalks now) before we arrived at the Big4 Toowoomba Garden City.

Hmmmm, average park with a less than warm welcome – we hadn’t booked!!!  The entrance is off a small street and after turning into the entrance, a sign reads “Do not block roadway, park on street if checking in.)  Himself quite rightly refused to reverse back out on to the street.  Two female individuals eventually acknowledged my presence, I asked for a powered site for three nights and was told that we shouldn’t have parked in the driveway.  Pointed out the sign was not apparent until we had turned in; was told if we had booked we would have been informed (it is possible to book online); no smiles.  When Les came in to the office to see if everything was all right, another staff member abused him soundly for parking in the driveway.  The two office ladies immediately took up the conversation, saying how rude some people are.  I asked if they would prefer we went to another park, in which case they could refund my money.  Suddenly, I have two new friends!  Not a good first impression to a very average park, now owned by Freedom.  Sites are run down, amenities are okay, grounds around caravan area need a good tidy up, security must be a problem because everything is locked, including the dump point according to the rules and regulations.  At least the weather was nice, even if we were shaded by a large pine tree.

After lunch we decided to visit the Visitors’ Centre for some information on places to see and things to do – two very pleasant and helpful ladies helped us – and then we decided after two weeks of freezing weather, perhaps we should purchase a new heater.  Found a lovely one which throws out so much heat (wish we had it before Canberra!) and has a remote control.  Herself has ownership of the remote and can turn the heater on before getting out of bed.  Bliss.

Today we acted like tourists, (it has been eleven years since we visited Toowoomba) and our first stop was at the Japanese Gardens.  These were very tranquil, with numerous red bridges, lots of Japanese maples and other deciduous trees, some camellias still in flower, many magpies and LOTS of domestic ducks.  It was very pleasurable walking around the paths.  Next stop was Picnic Point, with its views over Tabletop Mountain to the bottom of the big hill and the valley beyond.  With a very nice looking restaurant/café on the edge of the lookout, it was time to quality control the Toowoomba version of a Devonshire tea – reports were favourable.

As there are six to eight thousand trucks passing through Toowoomba each day, a toll road is being built around the hill, which should reduce the long crawl into and out of the city, as well as the traffic.  A lookout on the edge of the city gives a good view of a new bridge and roadworks currently under construction.