Is it Autumn yet ?

There are some towns with reputations or attractions that just need to be visited. Stanthorpe is one of them.

It is in the Granite Belt, a little further inland and south from Allora where we went once before to see the sunflowers. The region is known for its microclimate and winemaking, but there are also microbreweries and an abundance of fruit and vegetables.

It also gets quite cold there in winter. Well cold for Queensland anyway. It seems to share the competition for the title of coldest town with nearby Applethorpe where for many years 100% of the apples in Queensland have been grown.

We went to see if autumn might be hiding there – if it gets frosty and sometimes even snow, you would think there might be some colour in the foliage.

We found some, but not as much as we had wished for. So renown for the chilly winter temperatures is the town, there is a giant thermometer in the park.

Then it was time for the drive home and to continue the packing and organising for our upcoming move. Only weekends and evenings available for those tasks since we were both working. 

#52Ancestors, Week 30, Colourful

Fire engine red, flaming red, red, ginger, orange, auburn, chestnut, strawberry-blond, pink

Shades of this hair colour run through my family, linked to the recessive gene MC1R. It is mostly in my maternal family.

Two of my cousins have it, my brother, my mother, her sister and both their maternal aunts and their mother too.

Going back further it seems to have been in my maternal great grandmother’s family, even in black and white photos you sense some of those cousins and siblings shared the gene.

I have a feeling that I have heard that my other maternal great grandmother also possessed these gloriously coloured locks.

I love it, I wish I had it. I hoped (long ago) when I was pregnant that if I had a girl – she would have it. But no. We do both have some “warmth” in our natural hair colour, so maybe it is still lurking their in our DNA.

Of course, with it, come freckles, fair skin, generalisations about temperament and flippant insinuations that “it’s because you’re a redhead”.

Maybe I will get it one day – out of a bottle. I can always go back to the dark side if it truly isn’t me.

Being a tourist in my own country

So, I know I declared to many that this summer would not be filled with road-trips in stationary traffic and that I would be island hopping instead. Ooops.

There has been one trip to the best Berry Farm in the land, and we are still eating the last of their strawberries and blueberries. It must be almost time to go again.

On New Year's Day I DID catch a ferry. Across the harbour and then walked to the tennis centre to be part of the charity match for Kaikoura. A doubles match between Venus & Serena Williams and Julian and Ardie Savea. Plus a few others who stepped up for the fun.

Yesterday, we decided to get up early and beat the traffic and head to Rotorua to visit a geothermal attraction. It wasn't supposed to be a hot day, so perfect for a road-trip.

We went to Wai-o-tapu which is south of Rotorua on SH5, on the way to Taupo. There are plenty of attractions to choose from around Rotorua if you want to see geothermal phenomena occurring naturally. We chose this one because we had heard about the amazing colours at the Champagne Pool. We had seen pictures, but how accurate where they ? (Everyone uses filters these days, don't they ?)

I'll tell you what - you don't need a filter at all. The colour is just brilliant all by itself.

The sulphur smell though could do with a filter. Jokes, it wasn't so bad until the wind wafted hot steam from the surface of the lake all over you. It permeates your skin though and we could smell it all the way home.

We even found some proper mud pools which we could see without paying an entrance fee, before we started on our journey home.

Where to next ?