Granite Belt Gets Blue

Looking for something cruisey to do this New Year's day?

Slope into the popular Lucas Estate Granite Belt Blues. Three bands will provide all day entertainment including local duo Bevi Aqua, plus rocky Brisbane talent Slidewinder and a new third band, Stolen Mojo. 11am to 5pm Lucas Estate promise to entertain revellers with a broad range of material spanning from early (pre-war) blues through Chicago Blues to modern electric boogie.
For $25 you get all day music and a commemorative wine glass filled with wine. There's great food and wine to choose from for the first 300 tickets holders. Tickets on sale now 07 4683 6365 or email wine@lucasestate.com.au.

Agapanthus Galore on the Range

Picture yourself on top of the Great Dividing Range – you are looking east over a five acre garden featuring an acre of agapanthus, a large waterfall and pond. Sound great? You can share the view with John and Michelle Burton who will open their Liston garden for charity on Saturday 2nd January 2010.

The garden was initially established in 1983, then extended in 1998 and 2002. Just to prove gardening doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag, the new sections were established using 99% of plants from cuttings, division and plants received from friends’ gardens.

The gardens will be open from 9am to dusk at 103 Red Ridge Lane, Liston and you’ll know you are there when you approach the 150 metre driveway which is lined with hydrangeas!

A cake stall, morning and afternoon tea and BBQ lunch will be provided by Bella Rosa’s Tea Rooms. Entry is $5/ adult (children free) with profits set to boost the fundraising efforts of Apple & Grape Harvest Festival Young Ambassador Jessica Williams. Jessica is sponsored by the Burton owned and operated Bella Rosa’s Tea Rooms.
Phone for directions 07 4686 1249.

A super apple a day keeps the predators away

Queensland scientists based on the Granite Belt have unveiled what they believed to be the 'world's best apple', resistant to disease and able to maintain crispy fresh for months.

Most significantly, the RS103-130 apple was created by careful cross-pollination instead of nasty genetic engineering or chemicals. This is great news for both consumers and farmers alike as the super apple is firm, crispy, sweet and boasts a number of attributes including disease resistant properties, hence requiring few if no fungicides at all.

While the apple will not be commercially available for another 5 years it has already attracted international interest and will certainly have a national application as well - bringing fruition (pun intended) to creator Simon Middleton's passion for apples.

If you don't want to wait 5 years, visit Sutton's Apple Cidery during apple season (end of January to end of July) and pick your own - a sure way to guarantee freshness!

A taste of Sri Lanka on the Granite Belt

The Granite Belt is renowned for its multiculturalism and now we can add Sri Lanka to our list of ethnic delicasies.

This week Vivienne Abeywardena releases Mixing Cultures, a cook book featuring recipes based on authentic Sri Lankan cooking that makes the most of local fresh produce. The book contains a wide variety of recipes ranging from curries to breads, accompaniments to desserts and even includes a section on high tea.

With Mixing Cultures, Vivienne hopes to encourage people to try something different without making it too difficult, making the tastes and flavours of Sri Lankan cooking easily accessible to anyone - but saving the more elaborate and adventurous recipes for her next book!

Vivienne’s recipes have already been trialled to appreciative audiences at cooking demonstrations, which she runs out of her almost newest venture – Vivienne’s Cottage in Stanthorpe.

Mixing Cultures will be available for sale through the Brisbane ABC bookstore.

Heaven is a place in Shanghai

Stanthorpe's very own Pure Heaven has launched its first international concept store in the heart of Shanghai's upmarket Minhang District.

The launch, held at the end of last month, was well received with customers delighted with the organic and bio-dynamic body care range.

Reflecting the roots of Justin and Maria Heaven's blossoming business, the store features a 30kg "Bountiful Harvest Rock Soap", moulded from a replica of granite rock from the Heaven's Stanthorpe garden.

Luckily, visitors to Stanthorpe can enjoy the real thing - minus an expensive airfare! December is perfect for a stress-relieving pre-Christmas Stanthorpe escape. With the original Pure Heaven store, lavender in abundance and the national parks flowing with fresh mountain water, make your visit a Nature & Health getaway (with a little bit of Qld wine)

Granite Belt wins top tourism award

Friday the 13th may be unlucky for some, but Azjure Studio Retreat owners Cathryn Leigh and Ross Bloore would argue otherwise.

Azjure, located just 15 minutes south of Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt, has won the Deluxe Accommodation category at the prestigious and highly competitive 2009 Queensland Tourism Awards, announced on November 13.

Outshining the competition - which included Peppers Palm Bay (Whitsundays), The Point Brisbane, Watermark Hotel and Spa Gold Coast and the Radisson Resort Gold Coast - the award highlights the growing prestige of Granite Belt & Stanthorpe accommodation.

Now is the time to beat the heat and elevate your short break experience with a weekend of luxury on the Granite Belt.

Cellar Door Pass Launches in Queensland

Queensland's Granite Belt smartens up its tourist offering from this week's Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show. Wine lovers can now use a smart card to visit the state's premier wine region and purchase some of the Granite Belt's top drops.

The Cellar Door Pass Granite Belt package is the first of its kind for Queensland. Six participating wineries based around Stanthorpe join more than 100 wineries in Australia's leading wine regions in accepting the card. Having sold 10,000 annually, card provider Smartvisit Solutions says for wine consumers across the country, the package uncorks VIP treatment to them when they visit participating cellar doors.

Pictured here representatives from Heritage Estate, Ballandean Estate, Granite Ridge (front row) and rear Symphony Hill plus support from Smartvisit Solutions. Also participating are Golden Grove Estate and Summit Estate. On the day the system was installed in the region, four cards were sold in the first hour at Granite Ridge Wines.

Learn more at the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show November 6-8 (Stand A6) or visit Cellar Door Pass Granite Belt online now.