I didn’t know what to expect from our trip out to Goondiwindi & St George, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much cool stuff we found to do in these little towns and by how genuinely nice the locals were. I have nicknamed St George “the accessible outback”, because, at a 6-hour drive from Brisbane, you could make this a long weekend road trip from Brisbane or the Gold Coast if you really wanted to.
We had spent a few nights in Stanthorpe (read about that here) prior to heading out to St George, so we were just under halfway there. We left after breakfast from Stanthorpe, as we had about a 4.5 hour drive ahead of us and we wanted to see a few things along the way.
Here’s what we got up to:
Inglewood
The first town we came to was Inglewood. Part of the reason we decided to head out west was to see the “Goondiwindi Art Trail”, which also includes some art in the towns close by, Inglewood being one of them. There are a couple of murals at the Royal Hotel & The Old Commercial Hotel that we stopped to snap a few pics, before jumping back in the car and continuing on our way.
Yelarbon Silo Art
About 20 minutes down the road from Inglewood and located right on the highway, the Yelarbon Art Silo pops out of nowhere on the horizon. You can’t miss this one, it is seriously huge. There is a viewing area that is well signed that you can pull over into if you want to get out the car to snap a pic.
Lunch in Goondiwindi - OK Milk Bar
It was about lunchtime as we were passing through Goondiwindi, so we popped into the OK Milk Bar to grab some lunch. The milk bar is a 50’s diner, complete with a jukebox, checkered floor and comfy red lounges to chill out on. I had a chicken wrap and Noel had a toasted sandwich and they were both tasty. The serving of chips and gravy they gave us was huge. We made a mental note to come back here, as it looked like they made great milkshakes when we were back in Goondiwindi later in the week.
Check out the OK Milk Bar here: https://ok-milk-bar.business.site/
St George
About 2 hours down the road from Goondiwindi is the town of St George. With a population of less than 2000, it is definitely a small town but still has enough going on to make it an interesting spot to spend a couple of nights.
Balonne River Motor Inn
When we arrived in St George, we went and checked in at our motel for the next couple of days. The Balonne River Motor Inn was well located, clean and the bed was super comfortable (seriously, Noel is still talking about how well he slept here). There were only a few motels to choose from but I feel like we managed to pick the best one.
Check out the Balonne River motor inn here: https://www.balonnerivermotorinn.com.au/
Riversands Winery
We had made good time getting to St George and decided to head to the winery for a cheeky wine tasting and some afternoon tea. Riversands winery is the most western winery in QLD and has some unique challenges in growing their grapes but still manage to make a number of really nice products.
After I was highly entertained by the bus of senior citizens who had had one too many wine tastings, we entered the bar area and were greeted by Estef. Estef told us tastings were free and proceeded to offer a generous taste of all 12 different alcohols they make. Now I know why the grannies were having such a good time!
I really enjoyed the different Moscatos and liqueurs and Noel enjoyed the port because he is turning into an old man. We ended up purchasing 7 bottles of alcohol here, so they must be doing something right. We enjoyed some afternoon tea in their garden cafe and then headed back into town to see what else we could find.
Pro tip: Drive very slowly up/down the driveway here, as down several rows of grapes we spotted lots of wildlife including Kangaroos, Cockatoos and an Emu.
Check out Riversands Winery here: https://www.riversandswines.com/
Balonne Shire Visitor Information Centre
We popped by the visitor centre to see if we had missed anything, and the friendly lady who worked there gave us a map and marked a few things that we might be interested in seeing.
Pro tip: There is a cotton tour that you can sign up for at the visitor centre. It’ll cost you $50 and as it is run by volunteers all the money goes back to the farmers.
The Unique Egg
This attraction certainly was unique. I don’t really know how to explain it. The Unique Egg museum is housed in a dark room located out the back of the local gun shop. The museum is full of hand-carved emu eggs that have had different coloured lights put inside them. The guy who owned the gun shop told us each egg takes the artist between 80-100 hours to carve and that the person who makes them has been doing it for about 50 years.
After paying our $5 to enter we had a look around and they were interesting to see. Some were really well made and others a bit more questionable. The lady who worked at the gun shop walked right up to me and lifted up my sleeve and started touching my tattoos without asking (or saying anything), so that was really weird. I think someone needs to remind her it’s 2021 and teach her about consent.
There were a small number of eggs available for sale, but they were $550 each so we passed on picking up a souvenir here. It was an interesting way to spend 10 minutes, but you could easily skip this if you’re short on time and not miss much.
Check out the Unique Egg FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/The-Unique-Egg-271296973060886/
Asian Pearl Chinese Restaurant
We decided we were a bit over pub food and decided to get Chinese for dinner for a bit of a change. This was a huge mistake as this was the most disgusting Chinese food I have ever had and the service was pretty shocking also. Don’t eat here, go to the pub and get a schnitty or pizza instead. If you do eat here, don’t get the Fried Rice or Sweet & Sour pork. I had indigestion for hours after eating it.
Day 2
Breakfast @ Delicate Gourmet Foods
There were only a couple of options in town for breakfast and I think we picked the best one. We both enjoyed our bacon and egg muffins and Noel said the coffee was great. I also had a really nice freshly squeezed juice here and the cakes in the cabinet looked delicious, although we didn’t try them. The service was friendly and quick and the prices were good.
Check out Delicate here: https://www.facebook.com/DeliCate-Gourmet-Foods-220912944616079/
Walk along the river
It was a really nice day and there is a path that runs alongside the river for a couple of kilometres, so we decided to go and check it out. The walk was nice and we saw some very cute doggos. The flood marker was really interesting to see, this town definitely experiences the extremities of the Australian weather spectrum, sometimes experiencing floods and droughts in the same year.
Thallon Silo Mural
Thallon is about an hour down the road from St George and is another of the small towns that have art installations that form part of the Goondiwindi Art Trail. The silo is really bright and impressive looking and definitely worth the drive to see.
Pro tip: Don’t follow the signage to the viewing area, instead turn right before the sign and pull into the dirt car park right out the front of the silos for a better view/spot to take photos from. It’s probably private property, but no one seemed to mind that we were there.
William the Wombat
Just a couple of minutes away from the silos is the centre of town. Thallon is a tiny place, so it is pretty hard to miss the park next to the primary school that is home to William the Wombat. We popped in to snap a quick pic and cross another “Big Thing” off our list.
Lunch @ Nindigully Hotel
The Nindigully Hotel is Queensland's oldest pub and located on the banks of the Moonie River smack bang in the middle of nowhere. Well not really nowhere, it’s about 30 minutes South of St George and 20 minutes north of Thallon just off the Carnarvon Highway in the tiny “town” of Nindigully, which has a population of 9.
The Nindigully pub is famous for its 5.5kg Roadtrain burger that easily feeds four hungry adults. The Big Boomerangs are also here, a leftover prop from the 1999 film “Paperback Hero” that was filmed on site starring Hugh Jackman and Claudia Karvan.
There are a few different seating options including a dining room, the verandah and a big outdoor area. It was a really nice day so we chose to sit in the outdoor area. The food was tasty and came out quickly. It also has a couple of basic rooms that you can rent for the night if you are planning on having a big one and offers free camping out the front.
We went for a quick walk down along the river before heading back to St George.
Check out the Nindigully pub here: https://nindigullypub.com/
Sandytown River Cruises
Each night for the past 10 years local boat owner Brett has been taking visitors for a 2 hour sunset cruise along the Balonne River. The cruise is a great way to learn about the area and spot some wildlife. We also got a great view of the sunset. The cruise is only $35 per person and you can bring along your own snacks and drinkies. Make sure you book ahead as this is a really popular activity.
Check out Sandytown River Cruises here: http://www.stgeorgerivercruises.com/S_R_C/Welcome.html
Dinner @ The Australian Hotel
It seemed like everyone from the boat was headed to the Australian Pub for dinner, so we decided to go there too. Wednesday night was schnitty night and a few of the locals had told us that it was the place to be.
Noel ordered a Schnitty and I ordered a pizza and they were both absolutely huge! We easily could have shared either meal and been satisfied. Both meals were super delicious.
Pro tip: The local footy team hits the pub after training on Wednesday night and it gets packed at 7.30pm, so make sure you’ve ordered before they all arrive.
Check out the Australian hotel here: https://www.aushotel.com.au/
Day 3
St George Bakery / Old School car ride
Before we left St George, we popped into the bakery to grab some breakfast. There was lots to choose from and the food was pretty good. The bakery owners have a 1917 Model T Ford that was on display out the front and it had a sign on the window that said for a $5 donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service you could go for a lap around town.
I went back into the bakery to ask about going for a ride in the car and owner Trent came out a couple of minutes later to take me for a spin. The lap around town is around 15 minutes (the car doesn’t go very fast) and Trent has many stories to tell along the way. It is well worth popping in and going for a ride while you are in town.
Check out the bakery’s FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/bakeronthebalonne/
Border Motel
When we arrived in Goondiwindi we headed straight for the motel we were staying in that night, even though it wasn’t quite check in time yet. The lady who was in charge was super nice and let us check in a bit early. The hotel was clean and comfortable, as well as being well located.
Check out Border Motel here: https://www.bordermotel.com.au/
Goondiwindi Regional Visitor Information Centre
After a bit of a chill in the motel, we decided to head out and explore the art trail. We popped by the visitor centre to make sure we weren’t missing anything. The lady that worked here was not helpful at all and provided confusing directions that didn’t make sense and got us a bit lost for 15 minutes or so. We would have been better off to work off the map I had already found online.
However, the info centre is located inside the town civic centre and there is a cool little gallery inside with all of the art on display available for purchase. That part of it is definitely worth a look.
Check it out here: https://www.grc.qld.gov.au/visitors
Goondiwindi Art Trail
The Goondiwindi Art trail is really cool and there is quite a bit to see! There are organised tours available for the art trail, however they weren’t running on the day/time we were in town so we decided to DIY based on the map I have linked below.
Our favourite was just outside town at the front of a farm. The farmer makes huge sculptures out of metal and there is some really impressive looking stuff here. However, the whole trail is worth seeing and it is a great way to see Goondiwindi, as it will take you all over town.
It took us about 2 hours to make our way around to all the stops. The only thing we couldn’t see were the stained glass windows in the church, as it wasn’t open when we stopped by.
Check out the art trail here: https://www.grc.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/1608/goondiwindi-region-art-trail
New Dynasty Chinese Restaurant
TripAdvisor told me that the top rated restaurant in Goondiwindi was the New Dynasty Chinese Restaurant, which happened to be just across the road from where we were staying. I was hoping to redeem the experience with chinese food I had a few nights earlier, but I will admit that I was dubious!
The food here was absolutely delicious, the portions were very generous and it was so cheap! We had a three course meal for under $50 total! The staff were friendly and everything came out fast and was very fresh. It was a Thursday night when we were in town and this place was very busy, so I would recommend booking in advance to make sure you don’t miss out.
Check out New Dynasty Chinese Restaurant here: http://new-dynasty.edan.io/
Day 4
Breakfast at Gather 4390
This cafe was located out the front of our motel and seemed like a logical place to grab some breakfast before heading off on our farm tour. It was nice enough but I am sure there are nicer spots in town if you are willing to put a bit more effort into finding them than we did.
Goondiwindi Cotton & Town Tour
Cotton is a massive industry in this part of the world and we had signed up for a 3 hour farm and town tour with Goondiwindi Cotton. We were taken out to the farm and shown how everything works with picking and processing the cotton, which is done locally before it's shipped off to China for the rest of the process to occur. Our tour guide was literally on her first day on the job, so the tour was a bit disjointed and random but still informative and entertaining.
After we finished up at the farm we were taken back into town for morning tea and then for a visit to the Customs House museum. Like all good tours, it ended back at the Goondiwindi Cotton showroom and we were offered a small discount on their products. There wasn’t any pressure to buy anything, which was good as I picked up a top I liked thinking it would be $50ish and it was $200!!
Check out Goondiwindi Cotton and the tours available here: https://goondiwindicotton.com.au/pages/farm-tours
After the tour finished, we hit the road as we were heading onto the last part of our trip in Ravensbourne, which is just north of Toowoomba. I haven’t published that blog yet, but will link it here when I do.
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