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Toowoomba
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TOOWOOMBA
is a stately but staid university city perched on the edge of a six-hundred-metre escarpment, a promising setting that it can't quite live up to. To be fair, though, Toowoomba's side streets and numerous gardens are pleasant, the stylish houses and blaze of late nineteenth-century sandstone architecture along central Main and Ruthven streets - all recently renovated - a reminder of its former business wealth. There's a September
flower festival
during which the
tourist office
on James Street/Warrego Highway (daily 8.30am-5pm; tel 07/4639 3797) hands out lists of exhibition gardens to visit. At other times the main attraction is the
Cobb and Co. Museum
, near the Botanic Gardens at 27 Lindsay St (daily 10am-4pm; $4.40), recalling days when these intrepid coaches bounced across the Outback delivering mail and passengers between the 1860s and 1924. Amongst the exhibits are coaches (including one emblazoned with a Royal Mail badge), two-wheeled sulkys and a two-tier omnibus from Brisbane, and there's also a working
smithy
out the back. If you've any spare time,
Picnic Point
at the top of Tourist Road 2.5km east of the centre, is a pleasant spot on a warm day, offering a cafe, bar and restaurant as well as picnic space, all with splendid views of the escarpment.
Downtown Toowoomba is a compact area based around
Ruthven Street
and
Margaret Street
; many of the city's shops, restaurants, banks and a post office are within 100m of the intersection of the two streets. The
bus station
is on Neil Street (tel 07/4690 9888 for all companies), which runs parallel to Ruthven; while the
train station
is 500m north on Railway Street.
Accommodation
prospects include the
Jolly Swagman Caravan Park
, 47 Kitchener Rd (tel 07/4632 8735; cabins $50-70), about 1km southeast of the centre;
Range Motel
, on Tourist Road (tel 07/4632 3133; $35-50), near the plateau's edge and with fine views; and the more central
Burke and Wills Hotel
, 554 Ruthven St (tel 07/4632 2433; $70-90).
Moving on
from Toowoomba, the
New England Highway
runs north to Kingaroy, plied by Polleys Coaches, and south to Warwick and Stanthorpe (Greyhound-Pioneer and Crisps). Goondiwindi is three hours southwest with McCafferty's, who also follow the Warrego Highway west across the Central Downs. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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