SOUTH BURNETT
BUNYA MOUNTAINS, KINGAROY & SURROUNDS You’ll find all the ingredients for a great country holiday in the South Burnett. A good mix of places to stay and a warm welcome from the locals is just the start.
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here’s an exciting wine trail to explore, red soil paddocks yielding fine local produce, easy access to the wildlife, waterfalls and walking trails of the Bunya Mountains, and night skies twinkling with stars. Escaping here means good family times, getting back to nature, fresh air and freedom.
HIT THE WINE TRAIL From here you can explore one of Australia’s most exciting boutique wine regions. With a low-humidity climate similar to the acclaimed Hunter Valley, the South Burnett is ideally suited for grape cultivation. The first vines were planted in 1995 and now you can visit and taste wine at a number of cellar doors nearby. You can taste and learn about a variety of wines direct from the winemakers at wineries ranging from some of the State’s largest to small boutique vineyards. Verdelho is the region’s signature varietal, along with all the usual favourites, and exciting alternative varieties, such as sangiovese and viognier.
TRY OUR LOCAL FOOD Renowned for peanuts (you can’t miss the towering silos in the town centre), the region’s rich soils and lush pastures also yield produce ranging
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from dragon fruit, ginger, stone fruit and avocados to tasty capers, pumpkins, beef and Barkers Creek Pork. Whether you love them chocolatecoated, boiled, roasted or flavoured – try the local peanuts at the iconic Peanut Van. Kingaroy’s rich soils also produce many other crops. You’ll find a variety of cafés and good pub food in town. Try U Café & Grill or a hearty counter meal at the Commercial Hotel or the Carrollee Hotel. Sample homestyle meals, local jams, chutneys, honey and buttery pumpkin scones at Whipbird Café, set in an old church at Coolabunia, just 10 minutes from Kingaroy. Head to Pottique Lavender Farm for Devonshire tea featuring lavender-flavoured tea and scones. Star gazers, set your sights on the Kingaroy Astronomical Observatory at Kingaroy Airport. Tours are available daily. If cycling is your passion, explore the 89km South Burnett Rail Trail through farmlands and bush from Kingaroy north to Kilkivan – visit or overnight in Wondai, Murgon or Goomeri along the route.
KINGAROY Surrounded by picturesque farmlands and low rolling hills, Kingaroy is the largest town in this diverse and beautiful region. Well
SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND COUNTRY
serviced by numerous large retail chains, and many services that you would expect to find in larger towns, Kingaroy offers a variety of accommodation from modern motels, cabins and caravan parks to cosy B&Bs, self-contained retreats, vineyard cottages and farm stays.
BOOIE RANGE What a view! On the northern outskirts of Kingaroy, the Booie Range is fast gaining a reputation as a tourist must-do thanks to wineries, cellar doors, dining and boutique accommodation. The Range offers majestic panoramic views spanning hundreds of kilometres – north-east beyond Bjelke-Petersen Dam toward Gympie; overlooking east toward Amamoor, Kandanga and Coolum; and north toward Kenilworth. At some 600 metres above sea level, it’s a prime vantage point to appreciate the vastness and beauty of the area.
THE BUNYA MOUNTAINS Kingaroy offers easy access to the majestic Bunya Mountains, which, at an elevation of over 1,100 metres above sea level, are the region’s high point. Less than an hour from either Maidenwell or Kingaroy, via Kumbia, this natural wonderland is an offshoot