A Country Escape
Mount Tamborine has a very speical place in my heart and is full of memories growing up with *Victoria and *Cassandra.
Today we visited Canungra, a small picturesque town in the Scenic Rim which is bordered by mountains and have trees scattered all over them like giant brocilli.
The azure sky looks closer to earth and the sun is warmer.
Today was my Mum's birthday and we do a country escape for her birthday almost every year, she grew up in Kin-Kin on a farm in the late 60's and between ages 10-12 moved with her family to the booming town of Brisbane. Time after time, she misses the fresh air of the mountains so we head out Mount Tamborine way.
This year *Victoria, Alan and myself squished into the back of Dad's sleek black ride.
It was a cosy trip there and back!
Once we arrived in Canungra I climbed out of the car, stretched and inhaled the fresh mountain air on a sigh before turning to Alan and said the same thing I always say when we venture here.
"Please, pretty please can we move here?"
"No, I don't want to be a recluse yet." Alan said drily, he's a city boy through and through.
"We could have a hobby farm and buy a peacock." I suggested half-jokingly as my family chuckled before turning their attention to the priority at hand: finding somewhere to eat.
Mum's first choice was Cafe Metz so we moseyed along through a park where children played happily and parents sat watchfully on picnic rugs and benches. Cafe Metz is a homey but spacious little diner with funny posters on the walls, the food tastes great and the service is timely.
I feel I should also add that the garden salad is bellissima, fresh from the farm.
What I love the most about country escapes is good ol' fashioned southern hospitality, the manners as well as the portion-sizes and the blue ribbon quality of the food.
After a happy feed, we walk back through the park and on the other side of the road I see a little piece of heaven of earth. A quaint little cottage converted into a bookstore called Canungra Books & Art.
Out the front it looks like a good witch garden with happy blooms in little pots and a lattice-work table and chairs. There is one section with a charming art gallery with earthenware collectables, new and old pieces of art work and clothing. I spotted a wood-bound book for $35 that I had to firmly tell myself I did not need (and resisted the temptation to buy).
In the book section of the store each section is divided by genre and the aisles are clean and the shop does not carry the musty fragrance that I associate with most second-hand stores. I bought a little piece of my newfound heaven, Black Hills by Nora Roberts and reluctantly left it behind.
I urge book and art-lovers within 45-60 minute drive from Canungra to make the trip, espeically to Canungra Books & Art.
It reminds me fondly of The Book Cafe that used to be at Garden City Shopping Centre in Brisbane, it was a very sad day when I walked in to find they were having a closing down sale!
(Seriously, I loved that place - they set the perfection standard for my chocolate milkshake!)
On the drive back to Brisbane we played a little game where we talked about what would happen if we all moved to somewhere like Canungra...
It started like this:
*Victoria: Look, Sair! There's a childcare centre! Work is around the corner and you could walk to a one-street town!
Me: Oh yeah! And on Friday night I'll walk to the bar for happy hour! Alan can run the bar!
Dad: Nobody needs to guess what channel will be on! Fox 8 with Alan's favourite teams! Melbourne Demons, Melbourne Storm...
Alan: Hehe!
*Victoria: Look! There's a school! *Cassandra could teach there!
Dad: And there's a mechanic across the road! *Harry could work there!
Me: And we could buy a big piece of land and put four houses on it - about twelve feet apart so we're far enough away but within shouting distance...
A little while later...
Alan: There's a winery, maybe they have Moscato, Sarah.
*Victoria: (teasing) Drinking Moscato isn't hard-core enough to be considered as a wine connoisseur!
Me: I have been expanding my horizons a bit! At Melbourne Airport, Wine Selectors had a stand and were handing out samples! The guy was Indian and was super nice! Anyway, I got a little tipsy and drank to his health. And I tried this sauvignon blanc that was tart and fruity...
*Victoria: Sounds like you!
We all cackled at that. Thigh-slapping, eye-watering laughter that lasted well over a minute because we'd stop, try to talk but then burst out laughing again.
Half an hour later, we arrived at Christophers Fine Foods in Daisy Hill, it's a favourite haunt of *Victoria and *Zeus. We order one apple crumble, three black forest cakes and a chocolate pudding, two half strength cappacinos and three hot-chocolates and sit outside to enjoy the cool weather.
The Winter season has brought the coldest winds Brisbane has experienced in years, dawn and dusk are freezing. Today it seems we were given a reprieve, as we sat in the alfresco area of Christophers Fine Foods, an urban/artsy cafe - we happily sipped our hot drinks and unapologetically devoured every crumb of our sweet desserts. Recently I had learnt a little bit of tea-leaf and coffee reading and was trying to decipher the mysteries of the past, present and future hidden in the dregs my hot chocolate had left behind in my mug.
"Uh, you're supposed to drink it." Alan tells me with a grin.
"I'm trying to read it." I told him and *Victoria pushed her mug over to me and asked me to tell her what I could read from hers. I saw the trunk of a healthy-looking tree with one limb away from the others. "I can see a tree..." I began to say and my family and Alan giggled a little so I pointed it out to them. "There is a limb on its own. I think it means you miss *Cassandra." I say and delivered the rest of the reading. After *Victoria's cup I moved onto Mum's, Dad's and Alan's and with a little more confidence, talked about what was in their cups.
I honed a slowly developing party trick and had so much fun!
Now full of good food and drink, Dad drove us all home. It was such a beautiful day but at the same time bitter-sweet too, because one of us live and work in another city a six hour drive away.
All of us are praying for happy news come September, that a limb from our tree is going to come closer to the trunk.
Today we visited Canungra, a small picturesque town in the Scenic Rim which is bordered by mountains and have trees scattered all over them like giant brocilli.
The azure sky looks closer to earth and the sun is warmer.
Today was my Mum's birthday and we do a country escape for her birthday almost every year, she grew up in Kin-Kin on a farm in the late 60's and between ages 10-12 moved with her family to the booming town of Brisbane. Time after time, she misses the fresh air of the mountains so we head out Mount Tamborine way.
This year *Victoria, Alan and myself squished into the back of Dad's sleek black ride.
It was a cosy trip there and back!
Once we arrived in Canungra I climbed out of the car, stretched and inhaled the fresh mountain air on a sigh before turning to Alan and said the same thing I always say when we venture here.
"Please, pretty please can we move here?"
"No, I don't want to be a recluse yet." Alan said drily, he's a city boy through and through.
"We could have a hobby farm and buy a peacock." I suggested half-jokingly as my family chuckled before turning their attention to the priority at hand: finding somewhere to eat.
Mum's first choice was Cafe Metz so we moseyed along through a park where children played happily and parents sat watchfully on picnic rugs and benches. Cafe Metz is a homey but spacious little diner with funny posters on the walls, the food tastes great and the service is timely.
I feel I should also add that the garden salad is bellissima, fresh from the farm.
What I love the most about country escapes is good ol' fashioned southern hospitality, the manners as well as the portion-sizes and the blue ribbon quality of the food.
After a happy feed, we walk back through the park and on the other side of the road I see a little piece of heaven of earth. A quaint little cottage converted into a bookstore called Canungra Books & Art.
Out the front it looks like a good witch garden with happy blooms in little pots and a lattice-work table and chairs. There is one section with a charming art gallery with earthenware collectables, new and old pieces of art work and clothing. I spotted a wood-bound book for $35 that I had to firmly tell myself I did not need (and resisted the temptation to buy).
In the book section of the store each section is divided by genre and the aisles are clean and the shop does not carry the musty fragrance that I associate with most second-hand stores. I bought a little piece of my newfound heaven, Black Hills by Nora Roberts and reluctantly left it behind.
I urge book and art-lovers within 45-60 minute drive from Canungra to make the trip, espeically to Canungra Books & Art.
It reminds me fondly of The Book Cafe that used to be at Garden City Shopping Centre in Brisbane, it was a very sad day when I walked in to find they were having a closing down sale!
(Seriously, I loved that place - they set the perfection standard for my chocolate milkshake!)
On the drive back to Brisbane we played a little game where we talked about what would happen if we all moved to somewhere like Canungra...
It started like this:
*Victoria: Look, Sair! There's a childcare centre! Work is around the corner and you could walk to a one-street town!
Me: Oh yeah! And on Friday night I'll walk to the bar for happy hour! Alan can run the bar!
Dad: Nobody needs to guess what channel will be on! Fox 8 with Alan's favourite teams! Melbourne Demons, Melbourne Storm...
Alan: Hehe!
*Victoria: Look! There's a school! *Cassandra could teach there!
Dad: And there's a mechanic across the road! *Harry could work there!
Me: And we could buy a big piece of land and put four houses on it - about twelve feet apart so we're far enough away but within shouting distance...
A little while later...
Alan: There's a winery, maybe they have Moscato, Sarah.
*Victoria: (teasing) Drinking Moscato isn't hard-core enough to be considered as a wine connoisseur!
Me: I have been expanding my horizons a bit! At Melbourne Airport, Wine Selectors had a stand and were handing out samples! The guy was Indian and was super nice! Anyway, I got a little tipsy and drank to his health. And I tried this sauvignon blanc that was tart and fruity...
*Victoria: Sounds like you!
We all cackled at that. Thigh-slapping, eye-watering laughter that lasted well over a minute because we'd stop, try to talk but then burst out laughing again.
Half an hour later, we arrived at Christophers Fine Foods in Daisy Hill, it's a favourite haunt of *Victoria and *Zeus. We order one apple crumble, three black forest cakes and a chocolate pudding, two half strength cappacinos and three hot-chocolates and sit outside to enjoy the cool weather.
The Winter season has brought the coldest winds Brisbane has experienced in years, dawn and dusk are freezing. Today it seems we were given a reprieve, as we sat in the alfresco area of Christophers Fine Foods, an urban/artsy cafe - we happily sipped our hot drinks and unapologetically devoured every crumb of our sweet desserts. Recently I had learnt a little bit of tea-leaf and coffee reading and was trying to decipher the mysteries of the past, present and future hidden in the dregs my hot chocolate had left behind in my mug.
"Uh, you're supposed to drink it." Alan tells me with a grin.
"I'm trying to read it." I told him and *Victoria pushed her mug over to me and asked me to tell her what I could read from hers. I saw the trunk of a healthy-looking tree with one limb away from the others. "I can see a tree..." I began to say and my family and Alan giggled a little so I pointed it out to them. "There is a limb on its own. I think it means you miss *Cassandra." I say and delivered the rest of the reading. After *Victoria's cup I moved onto Mum's, Dad's and Alan's and with a little more confidence, talked about what was in their cups.
I honed a slowly developing party trick and had so much fun!
Now full of good food and drink, Dad drove us all home. It was such a beautiful day but at the same time bitter-sweet too, because one of us live and work in another city a six hour drive away.
All of us are praying for happy news come September, that a limb from our tree is going to come closer to the trunk.
A picture taken at Canungra Books & Art Shop
Kidston Street, Canungra
Queensland, Australia
Facebook: canungrabooksandart
Comments
Post a Comment