MELBOURNE TO TOOWOOMBA

Welcome to our holiday to the fantastic Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers. With chauffeured pickup from home, we travel to Melbourne Airport. Here we’ll be greeted by an O’Shannessy’s Quality Tours representative who will assist us with check in and see us onto the plane for our direct flight to Brisbane. Arriving at Brisbane Airport, we will be welcomed by our coach crew who will assist us with our luggage, before we board the coach for the drive to Toowoomba. We’ll be staying here for the next six nights, so there’s only need to unpack once!

Lunch at own expense and arrangement / Refreshments on flight

OVERNIGHT:  Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

EXPLORING TOOWOOMBA PARKS

This morning we get into the spirit of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers with a visit to   the Botanic Gardens in Queens Park where we can explore the beautiful displays. From here we make our way to the Toowoomba Visitor Information Centre, a beautiful "Queenslander" building based on a late 1800s style Toowoomba house. It features stained-glass motifs of the "Toowoomba" violet; which you can best enjoy by going inside. Next, we head to the spectacular Laurel Bank Park which provides a majestic oasis with manicured gardens, topiary and many other points of interest. Early afternoon, we take in one of the most beautiful and peaceful parks in Toowoomba, the University of Southern Queensland’s Japanese Garden, Ju Raku En. Roughly translated, means ‘to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place’. Embarking on a self-guided tour we can take a look at the many species of Japanese and Australian native trees and plants combined in a seamless and restful harmony. Our final visit for the day is the Toowoomba Empire Theatre. The theatre is a magnificent building that has been carefully restored to its 1933 origin. We enjoy a historical tour of the Theatre including some amusing and interesting stories of the early years. After a full and interesting day, we return to our hotel to freshen up for dinner.

OVERNIGHT:  Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

MORE OF TOOWOOMBA

This morning we visit the Downs Steam Heritage Rail for a tour of the facility including a look at the spectacular Dreamtime Journey coach, representing the traverse of a day, painted by an indigenous inmate of the Westbrook Correctional Centre as part of his prison rehabilitation program. We now make our way to Toowoomba's most notable tourist attraction, the Cobb & Co Museum, which is part of the Queensland Museum. It is more comprehensive than its name suggests and traces the history of horse drawn transportation in Australia from old timber wagons, spring wagons and bullock drays through to the Cobb & Co coaches and a landau used by the Duke of Edinburgh when he visited the colony in 1876. We have plenty of time to explore the displays while we are here as well as our light lunch. This afternoon we explore some of Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers local gardens that are open during the festival. We’ll be accompanied by a local expert who will give us an insider’s rundown of these spectacular garden displays!

OVERNIGHT:  Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

GLENGALLAN AND WARWICK

Heading out from Toowoomba and towards Warwick we make a stop at Glengallan Homestead. Uninhabited for more than half its lifetime, it remains frozen in time, and is one of the few remaining examples of a substantial 19th century country house in Queensland. Glengallan Homestead today is a tribute not only to its visionary builder and to 19th Century craftsmen but also to the 21st Century team who brought it back to life through this delicately balanced restoration. It enables the visitor to experience the best and the worst of its times. After our tour we enjoy morning tea here. Then in Warwick we visit the Warwick Historical Society Museum which houses a collection of buildings, which features furniture and household items representing more than 130 years of family life in the region. Travelling further afield now, we visit a most interesting place – Summer Land Camel Farm. First enjoying lunch, we then learn about the history of camels in Australia and the powerful immune proteins that are contained in camel milk. Our tour takes us into the interesting farming operations and we get to meet the camels!  Afterwards we then make our way back to Toowoomba and our motel for dinner.

OVERNIGHT:  Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

THE GRAND CENTRAL FLORAL PARADE

Today is Grand Parade Day! We’ll arrive early and make our way to our seats for Australia’s most unique Street Parade - the Grand Central Floral Parade. Spectacular floats decorated with live flowers, fitting the chosen theme for the year, plus Bands, Marching Groups and Carnival Characters. The Parade winds through the city and we’ll enjoy it from a prime viewing location on reserved tiered seating. We then make our way to the famous Picnic Point Lookout. Perched on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, it provides an amazing view of the Lockyer Valley and Tabletop Mountain. Later this afternoon, we head back to our motel to relax before an early dinner. This evening, we take a Twilight Tour of Laurel Bank Park.

OVERNIGHT:  Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

SPRINGTIME IN TOOWOOMBA

This morning we take a diesel-hauled train ride out to Spring Bluff Railway Station and have some time to look through the magnificent gardens of poppies, ranunculus, stock, snapdragons, petunias and many other annuals bursting into colour under the warm sunshine. Next, Peacehaven Botanic Park, set in the leafy suburb of Highfields and home to more than 400 different species of native plants and scores of birds and wildlife. We now head back into town where we can have some free time to wander and purchase lunch. Later this afternoon before returning to our hotel, we visit the Clivia Show and Australian Native Plant Show. Here the Toowoomba Clivia Society holds an annual Clivia Show which displays the myriad of colours and species which confirm Toowoomba as the Clivia capital of Australia.

OVERNIGHT: Potters Toowoomba Hotel, TOOWOOMBA

TOOWOOMBA TO MELBOURNE

Sadly, our holiday is coming to an end. After breakfast we make our way back to Brisbane Airport for our flight to Melbourne. Upon arrival, our chauffeurs will be waiting to transport us home with many interesting stories to tell of our Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers adventure.

Lunch at own expense and arrangement / Refreshments on flight