CARNIVAL of FLOWERS in TOOWOOMBA

- 5 days - 17th September 2010 - $899.00 per person

Here's a lovely tour we've put together for our club members taking in the beautiful Carnival of Flowers - remember when they didn't have drought up there - it's much better, "watering-wise" than it has been for a few years now, and now in its sixty-first year, the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is Australia's longest running floral event of its kind in Australia as the premier celebration of flowers, food, wine, culture, entertainment and all things spring!

This tour will pick you up at Roma Street in Brisbane at 10.00 am, nice and leisurely, and easy to get to for so many of our club members, and take you to Toowoomba where you'll stay for five days, starting on Friday 17th September, including a visit to the famous Queens Park and the Ergon Energy Flower, Food and Wine Festival, then after lunch (own expense), you'll be taken to Picnic Point and then a guided tour of the wonderfully colourful and spectacular city of Toowoomba.

Saturday you'll be off to visit the Overall Grand Champion Garden for 2010, then the State Rose Garden in Newtown Park, with over 1500 roses planted, followed by Laurel Bank Park, with its fragrant blooms and magnificent floral display gardens. As well as containing an outstanding collection of exotic trees, including English and Spanish oaks, Ginkos and Japanese maples, the park is home to the tranquil Scented Gardens. Then it's off to our specially reserved covered seating for the Grand Parade, then after your included lunch, you'll be viewing more of the beautiful prize gardens.

On Sunday you'll visit the beautiful University of Southern Queensland Japanese Gardens, Australia's largest and most traditionally designed Japanese stroll garden, with mountain stream and waterfall, dry garden, central lake, Azalea Hill and 230 species of Japanese and Australian native trees and museum plants. Then it's off to the Cobb & Co Museum, then more flowers at the Clivia Show plus the Australian Native Plant Show, then some free time (including lunch, at own expense) in the centre of town.

On Monday, we're off on a Spring Bluff Railway Excursion, with its magnificent gardens during spring and summer and stem train rides a feature during Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers - I'm not sure if a steam train ride is included or not, but the itinerary promises that this morning will be one of the highlights of this tour. Then it's off to Cabarlah and Highfields, with a visit to the Cabarlah Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks (my wife JOAN bought us a cuckoo clock when we were in the Black Forest in Germany in December last year - lovely to listen to and to watch). You'll have some free time to wander in Highfields, to enjoy the many craft and gift shops, quilts, beads, fabrics, chocolates and much more, and time for lunch (at own expense). The tour organiser recommends that men in the group should enjoy a coffee and maybe a good book, as they could be quite a while! Then back in Toowoomba it's a visit and guided tour at the Toowoomba Empire Theatre, majestic "old girl" that she is.

Tuesday is the final day of this wonderful little tour, but the holiday isn't over yet, we're off to the Downs Steam Railway Museum, where you'll step back in time as you take a tour of this magnificent complex, including Locomotive 106, the last steam locomotive to be built in the Toowoomba Foundry - none of your imported stuff here! Subject to time, you'll squeeze in a visit to another Carnival feature, the "Teapot Extravaganza", with teapots of all shapes, colours and sizes, then it's lunch (included today) at one of Toowoomba's lovely venues before it's time to head home to Brisbane.

This package includes 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners and 3 morning teas, and is priced at just $899, with a single supplement of $220.

Contact OLIVIA.