Price
$4535 per person
Duration
9 Days
Destination
Queensland

Springtime Spectacular To the Carnival of Flowers and Beyond

• BRISBANE • WARWICK • TOOWOOMBA • DALBY • GYMPIE • MARYBOROUGH •
The first railway between Sydney and Brisbane via the scenic New England route has been closed for decades. However, part of this iconic line, in Queensland, is still maintained and occasionally a very special rail tour brings it to life.
  • Information
  • Itinerary
  • Gallery
  • Tour Map
  • Reviews
This adventure centres on a spring-time excursion along this historic and dramatic railway. It takes you across Southern Queensland’s Granite Belt from Brisbane to Warwick and then to Toowoomba by special steam train for the stunning Carnival of Flowers festival. The journey incorporates tours in cities and towns along the way including Dalby, Maryborough, and Gympie, as well as explorations of exquisite national parks and mountains. Visit award-winning museums, grand old country homesteads, and, of course, some of Australia’s most spectacular parks and gardens in the flush of spring. Delicious meals, comfortable accommodation, a cast of interesting characters and plenty of intriguing stories complete this compact adventure along the route of an icon of Australia’s rail history.

Some Details

Departure Location
Brisbane, Queensland
Return Location
Brisbane, Queensland
Tour Leader(s)
Stephen Matchett
Extras
Price: $4565 Single Supplement: $865
Price includes
  • 8 nights in comfortable, centrally located accommodation
  • All excursions and entrance fees to attractions, as listed in the itinerary
  • Breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 7 dinners
  • Chartered coach, with luggage transport throughout the tour
  • Comprehensive sightseeing with expert local guides and your experienced and knowledgeable host
  • Drinks included with welcome and farewell dinners
Price does not include
  • All other personal expenses such as drinks, phone calls, laundry services, camera fees where applicable
  • Excursions/entrances listed as optional in the itinerary
  • Meals and services not mentioned in itinerary
  • Tour Plan
Tour Plan

Day 1 • Thursday

ARRIVE BRISBANE

On arrival in Brisbane, you will have the option to join a guided walking tour of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in the afternoon, accompanied by your tour leader. In the evening, gather for a welcome dinner with your tour leader and fellow travellers at the historic Transcontinental Hotel.

Overnight: Mercure King George Square, Brisbane (or similar) (D)

Day 2 • Friday:

BRISBANE – MOUNT BARNEY – WARWICK

Depart Brisbane by coach this morning and travel to the town of Rathdowney, where we’ll have some time for morning tea and a wander around. Continue on for a scenic drive through the heritage-listed Mount Barney National park, an impressive mountainous park characterised by valleys, caves, cascades, pools, and rare fauna.

After some time to look around, we board our coach once again and continue the journey to Glengallan Homestead. Restored from ruin in 2001, this iconic house emerges from the ruins of the 1867 sandstone mansion as a unique heritage experience. Relive the Glengallan story from squattocracy to farmer settlement through an innovative interpretation that allows the place to tell its own story. We’ll also have time to enjoy lunch at the café. Continue to Warwick later in the afternoon and check in to our hotel. Dinner this evening will be hosted at the hotel’s restaurant.

Overnight: The Coachman’s Inn, Warwick (or similar) (B, L, D)

Day 3 • Saturday:

WARWICK – TOOWOOMBA

Travel on Southern Downs Steam Railway’s steam-hauled train from Warwick to Toowoomba today. After breakfast and a free morning, we’ll board our coach for the short transfer to the departure point of our train. Departing just before midday, it traverses the open plains of the Darling Downs, with the great dividing ranges to our east and the rich agricultural country to the west. The train rises toward Toowoomba, passing quaint towns and villages like Nobby and Clifton, where we pause for a short break before our arrival.

In Toowoomba, we’ll check in to our hotel and have some downtime before a late afternoon excursion to smell the roses at the beautifully laid-out Japanese Gardens. Just a short drive down the road is the wonderful railway collection at Downs Steam where dinner is laid on in style in the dining car.

Overnight: Country Gardens Motor Inn (or similar) (B, D)

Day 4 • Sunday:

TOOWOOMBA

This morning you’ll have the option to either join Southern Downs Steam Railway on another steam-hauled journey from Toowoomba to Wyreema, returning later in the afternoon or stay in town and explore the many beautiful gardens and attractions of the Carnival of Flowers festival. You’ll also have the option of taking a guided town tour, including a visit to the extensive Cobb+Co Museum with its excellent collection and stories, and Picnic Point, where the large park is ablaze with colour.

Enjoy a free afternoon and evening following your optional activities today. The Carnival of Flowers will have a number of features on show for you to explore later in the evening.

Overnight: Country Gardens Motor Inn (or similar) (B)

Day 5 • Monday:

TOOWOOMBA – DALBY

This morning we’ll travel north by coach to Dalby and take some time along the way to visit the interesting Australian Army Flying Museum in Oakey. Continuing to Dalby, we’ll enjoy a delicious lunch at a local cafe before heading to the sprawling estate of Jimbour. This grand homestead was built by the Bell family in the mid-1870s and is one of the most opulent rural homesteads in the English style in Queensland. We’ll enjoy a guided tour of the house and grounds which feature an extensive stand of Bunya Pines, as well as an afternoon high tea and drinks.

We’ll return to Dalby in the late afternoon and enjoy dinner together later on.

Overnight: Drovers Motor Inn, Dalby (or similar) (B, L, D)

Day 6 • Tuesday:

DALBY – BUNYA MOUNTAINS – GYMPIE

After breakfast in the hotel, we’ll head out past the villages of Kaimkillenbun and Mowbullan into the tree-clad escarpment of the Bunya Mountains National Park. The Bunya Pine, Araucaria Bidwilli, is the largest of the ancient native pine family and was a culturally significant tree for the local Aboriginal tribes. The park rises more than 1,100m above sea level and offers sweeping views of the surrounding area. We’ll have a chance to find out more about the unique botany and heritage at the information centre before we take a gentle drive through this impressive forest and down the ranges to Kingaroy. Enjoy some free time for lunch in town in the shadow of the gigantic peanut silos.

Continuing toward our destination of Gympie affords the chance to settle back on the coach and enjoy the ever-changing scenery and small stops we’ll make along the way. Pause at Wondai for a wander and visit the information centre and timber museum. On arrival in Gympie, we’ll settle into our accommodation and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Shady Rest Motel, Gympie (or similar) (B, D)

Day 7 • Wednesday:

GYMPIE

This morning we’ll gather for an iconic heritage rail experience on the Mary Valley Rattler. This restored branch line railway will take you back to a time when rail travel was replacing horses as a means of transport and it became a valuable link to service the growing need for goods in the goldfields around Gympie. The journey starts at the historic Gympie Station, still the largest timber railway building in Queensland, before taking you through the upper reaches of the Mary River Valley. On our return, we’ll enjoy lunch at the station’s cafe.

Later on, we’ll explore the town of Gympie. Made famous in 1867 when James Nash discovered 72 ounces of gold in just six days, Gympie became known as “the town that saved Queensland from bankruptcy.” Explore the town with a visit to the Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum with its vast collection of artefacts and photographs, and the Woodworks Museum where we’ll take a tour of the workshop and mills. This evening we’ll enjoy a dinner at the exquisite Kingston House Impressions restaurant nearby.

Overnight: Shady Rest Motel, Gympie (or similar) (B, L, D)

Day 8 • Thursday:

GYMPIE – MARYBOROUGH

After breakfast, we’ll head to Maryborough for our first stop, the Maryborough City Whistle Stop. Here, an amazing group of volunteers maintains and operate, amongst other railway memorabilia, the Mary Ann replica steam locomotive, a full-size replica of Queensland’s first locomotive of 1873. We even get to ride on a special run of this historic relic for a short distance down the track.

After some free time for lunch, we’ll head to meet Peter and Robert Olds who run a most illuminating engineering enterprise that, amongst other things, has constructed wheels for the Queen’s royal coach.  We’ll enjoy a farewell dinner at our hotel’s restaurant this evening.

Overnight: Blue Shades Motel, Maryborough (or similar) (B, D)

Day 9 • Friday:

MARYBOROUGH – BRISBANE

This morning after breakfast, enjoy some free time to further explore Maryborough. Look over the military museum and excellent heritage precinct including the statue to Mary Poppins and the adjacent museum dedicated to its creator PL Travers. After lunch, meet at the hotel before we board our coach for the journey to Brisbane, where our tour comes to an end. (B)

This adventure centres on a spring-time excursion along this historic and dramatic railway. It takes you across Southern Queensland’s Granite Belt from Brisbane to Warwick and then to Toowoomba by special steam train for the stunning Carnival of Flowers festival. The journey incorporates tours in cities and towns along the way including Dalby, Maryborough, and Gympie, as well as explorations of exquisite national parks and mountains. Visit award-winning museums, grand old country homesteads, and, of course, some of Australia’s most spectacular parks and gardens in the flush of spring. Delicious meals, comfortable accommodation, a cast of interesting characters and plenty of intriguing stories complete this compact adventure along the route of an icon of Australia’s rail history.

There are no comments yet.

Write your Review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share on social networks
Accreditations: A14416
Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter and get exlusive first minute offers straight into your inbox.

    Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Keep an eye on your inbox for news and tour launches. In the meantime please visit our Tours page.
    © Copyright 2021 - coded with love by Coco & Jay

    Visit us on Social Networks

    Visit us on Social Networks

    Close

    Springtime Spectacular to the Carnival of Flowers and Beyond

    Price
    $4535 per person
    Duration
    9 Days
    Destination
    Queensland

      You will be able to add an extra person at the last step of this form.

      You are now filling the form for your Travel Companion.

      Fill out the form to book the Tour. Required fields are marked *.

      Date of birth*

      / /

      A few extra details

      About your Booking

      Room Type:

      Please note that this is not a booking form for your travel companion. Anyone else travelling with you also needs to complete the full form.

      Safety First!

      Your Health is important to us

      Please mark respond YES or NO to every question below and provide details where necessary:

      As many of Railway Adventures’ international sites do not provide access to wheelchairs or similar mobility aids, we regret that Railway Adventures tours are not suitable for people who require the use of a walking frame, wheeled walker, wheelchair or motorised scooter.

      Can you walk and stand for at least 1-2 hours without assistance?

      Can you climb stairs and/or walk up and down slopes without assistance?

      Can you organise, manage and carry your own luggage?

      Can you follow and remember tour instructions and meet punctually at designated times and places?

      Are you able to step into a bath with shower without assistance?

      Do you have impaired vision or hearing which may impact your capacity to participate on this tour?

      If you are not able to meet the above requirements, please contact our office on 1300 877 900 or on [email protected].

      Some Extra info about you

      Are you booking this through a travel agent?

       

      Your Passport Details

      Please provide a copy of your passport.

       

      How did you hear about this tour?