Friday, October 11, 2013

Toowoomba in Bloom

I mentioned over on my personal blog, that last weekend I attended the wedding of a long-time friend in Toowoomba. Instead of a simple quick trip up for just the wedding, my parents and I decided to make the trip a little bit more. We travelled up on Friday afternoon after I got off work (The main reason being that I need to be at the bride’s house at 9am to do the makeup) and checked into our hotel: The Comfort Inn on Margaret Street. We found it listed on What If, the discount accommodation booking website, and chose it mainly because of its proximity to both the wedding and the reception venue, as well as the cost. We booked a room that gave us all a lot of space – a room for my parents and a separate one for me to hide in away from the snoring. It was rather nice and perfectly clean. I was happy that it came with free wifi in the room allowing me to keep up with my online presence over the weekend. And, they offer in-room service for breakfast, which we took up on Sunday morning before we headed back to Brissie.

Friday night, we decided to try the restaurant that is attached to the apartments. I was very impressed. Not only do you not have to worry about drinking and driving home after your meal, the food was fantastic. I would recommend just going there regardless of staying at the hotel. I dined on a very delicious grilled salmon with hollandaise and vegetables and topped it off with chocolate mousse for dessert. I felt like rolling back to the hotel room, I was so full.

Saturday, the day of the wedding, we were up and ready to go quite early. But first things first, breakfast. We stopped in at The Parkhouse CafĂ© on Margaret Street. The place was quite busy with a large crowd of cyclists (which generally denotes a good breakie spot), but we found a table to sit down at and put in our order. Before we knew it, our drinks had arrived and shortly after the food turned up. I have to give this place an A+ for efficiency. The wait staff certainly didn’t make you wait for your food. I chose a breakfast of Eggs Benedict with Salmon and a Gingerbread Hot Chocolate to go with. The eggs benedict was lovely, but they could certainly do with some sharper cutlery – mine didn’t want to go through the toast. The Hot Chocolate on the other hand was divine. As a non-coffee drink, I am a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to Hot Chocolates, my coffee shop beverage of choice. This one was not too sweet, nor too rich and had a lovely gingery sweetness through it.

We then tripped out to the house where the bridal party were preparing for the day at Glenvale. It’s not much of a drive, but if you are prone to travel sickness like me, make sure you sit in the front seat, or even better don’t be a passenger. The makeup went off without a hitch, as did the wedding and reception later in the day. I was very happy to be able to share Jessica’s special day. Being the party animal that I am *snorfle*, I was back at the hotel and in bed before midnight. I think the most pathetic part is that a group of us “young ones” left long before the older family members. I swear, I am a nanna at heart.
Sunday morning, we were up an about early, packing up what’s left of our belongings for checking out. We dined on breakfast in our room, which proved quite delicious, before heading out on our touristy morning in Toowoomba. If you have not heard it before, each year, Toowoomba hosts a carnival of flowers in September. However, for the first week in October, a good number of the flowers are still out in full bloom. Others unfortunately have been fried by the heat and sun that we have had in Queensland of late. At any rate, we decided to do a bit of a tour around a couple of gardens.

The first, Queen’s Botanic Gardens. We took the main entrance off Campbell Street into the gardens and were treated to a colourful display of nature. I have always adored snap dragon flowers, so was delirious to see so many in flower just begging to be snapped by my fingers. While my Dad enjoyed the Pansies and my Mum oohed over the Roses. It was also lovely to see such a large display of sweet peas – a flower that I used to get given every year for my Birthday. Now, they are much harder to come by. I will let the flowers speak for themselves though.
It’s a lovely display, and I can only imagine how colourful and busy it would be during the opening of the festival.
The next garden on our list was to see the Japanese Gardens at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba Campus. They have a great reputation for being one of the best in Australia, so we thought we would have a look-see. It’s a lovely garden to see, and quite a good representation of Japanese Gardens. I haven’t really seen many in Australia, but Toowoomba at least gets cold enough for the Sakura blossoms to flower. The lagoon area surrounds island mounds connected by Japanese style bridges. The area is scattered with lanterns a great selection of traditional plants. It would be wonderful to see Koi swimming in the lagoon, but they are considered a noxious fish in Queensland and there a quite high fines for having them.
Overall though, I got some lovely shots of the gardens, and enjoyed the opportunity to play with my camera and take some different photos of the Sakura than the ones I took in Japan.
That concluded our trip to Toowoomba, and we made the drive back home. All in all, if you get to see the Carnival of flowers, I think it’s wonderful. There are so many more gardens open for viewing in Toowoomba, but we were limited by time. And of course, it is the perfect backdrop for a wedding.