Brass Monkey Country

We headed south from Warwick and as the granite outcrops started to appear, somebody said 'wine' so naturally we had to find some.  Rather than a a winery, we settled on Vincenzo's at Thulimbah because there we could stock up on edible goodies, eat lunch, taste wine, and escape the rapidly dropping temperatures.  It was also at Vincenzo's that we discovered our theme for the trip: things on sticks.  Last year, the theme was hi-viz clothing. We managed a selfie with a large apple on a stick before we scuttled into the warmth within. 

We tasted various whites, had a generous lunch and bought lots of yummies (that's my collection in the photo) before heading for Stanthorpe.
Buying clothes on this trip was more of a challenge than last year because of the temperature range we would encounter, from 35 degrees at Warwick to a predicted 7 at Glen Innes. We figured Stanthorpe would be the solution.  We started at the Sallies in the main street, where we asked the staff how to find more op shops.  They sent us to two more. Lifeline was next, but we would never have found Vinnies by ourselves: it was hidden in Stanthorpe suburbia.  I had no luck finding either a jacket or even a cardigan so would just have to settle for jeans with a long sleeved black top covered by a sort of open-weave poncho, that I had found in Warwick, come the cold night in Glen Innes. Stanthorpe was giving us a good preview, as the cold wind whistled through its streets.

I had one stroke of luck at Vinnies. I am constructing a costume for the 4WD club Christmas Party: fancy dress theme 'Australiana'. In Stanthorpe, I found a significant part of my costume, but there will be more of that in another blog.

We were about to cross the border and lose an hour to daylight saving, so knew we would be too late for the op shops of Tenterfield. We therefore declared our shopping over for the day, and headed onwards just as tourists. This is the car in Stanthore at the end of day two.  The Esky obviously came with us from Brisbane, because we needed to keep our wine cold!  Milk too.
 
On through Wallangarra till the willow trees welcomed us to Tenterfield. We had a quick drive along the beautiful avenue on the Bruxner Highway, a photo stop at the cork tree, the Saddler (right next to closed Vinnies) and Stannum House, and headed for Glen Innes. 

Our destination there was the Grand Central Hotel, our cheapest accommodation night, and another Street View find.  The stairs here were closer, internal, and neither as high nor scary. Our host was welcoming, and within half an hour, we were settled in our rooms, and ordering dinner in front of a log fire, surrounded by all thing Scottish.

Although we weren't self-contained this time, the Ladies' facilities were directly opposite our family room(s) and there was a spacious communal lounge/kitchen just down the hall.  We put all our coldies in the fridge, popped the cooler bricks in the freezer and settled down in front of the telly. I tried to light a fire with one log and a box-full of paper, but didn't quite succeed.


The big bed (Jo's turn) had side tables, but there were none in the two-bed room so I had to adapt.

We pulled out all our clothes purchases and modelled our outfits for each other's approval and then all had a good night's sleep.  In the morning we had another self-catered breakfast of cereal, tea/coffee, then headed outside...

and toast.