Scenic Rim Wine Country

On an early Saturday morning in September, eleven city girls from Brisbane jumped on a minibus (with cardboard coffee cups in our hands) and travelled to the country.

Many years ago, you would have found us cooped up together in the same office in Brisbane's CBD.  We always talked about doing a girls' trip out of town, and today we had the perfect excuse to finally do it.

You see, we were visiting the Scenic Rim Wine Country for a hen's party.

The hen being my beautiful friend Michelle.

She's the tall one in white lace, not the short-legged brown one ;)

There are a handful of wineries with cellar doors in the Scenic Rim area and the first that we visited was Bunjurgen Estate.  Here, we were warmly greeted by the owner David and his fluffy friend Big Dog.

We chatted away over wine and cheese and made ourselves feel right at home.  David was the most generous host we could have asked for and let us taste his range of shiraz, rose, chambourcin and port wines.

Other than the constant buzzing of us girls chattering away that morning, the estate is wonderfully tranquil and shows a real glimpse of Australian country life.

Afterwards, we drove further along the wine trail to Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm.

The cellar door is modern and elegant, with a bar and restaurant inside.  We only stayed for wine tasting  - which was pleasant but very formal and brief.  (Quite different from the warmhearted welcome that we received at Bunjurgen!)

After our small sips of Kooroomba wine, we meandered outside to admire the lavender fields.

It's not quite the same as lavender season in Provence - our Queensland climate is much hotter and drier.  There is a different kind of beauty that you appreciate out here.

Like these beauties ... :p

We then got back on the dusty road and drove past green and gold fields.  There were plenty of cattle and also mobs of kangaroos that hopped past us (sorry, the roos jump away too quickly for a photo!).  Our final stop was Spicers Peak Lodge for the afternoon - but more on that in the next post!