I wanted to share with you one of my favorite rides, or drives, depending on your mood. This ride is filled with history and beautiful scenery as it takes you up through the hills, giving you the illusion that you’re miles from anywhere. With plenty of places to stop on the way, if you’re so inclined, and with things to see and do, you will pass through, or at least get close to, a nice collection of country towns, all of which I have stopped at many times. Today however, the end goal for my ride was the tiny town of Mulgowie - population 175 people. What had piqued my interest was a rumour about the Mulgowie Yowie – need I say more.
My advice for a round trip would be to head out of Ipswich towards Walloon (the quickest way to hit that country drive feel). The history, whether you choose to stop and explore or just enjoy the ride, will be evident almost immediately with the old Walloon Saloon first up on your way out of town. The course is set and you’ll find the grass is longer and the trees more abundant as you head towards Rosewood, another tiny town steeped in history.
Maintain your heading on towards Grandchester where you will find lots of railway history and the very interesting Bigges Camp. As you continue to weave your way through the hills, it won’t be long before you hit South Laidley and the amazing Pioneer Village Museum - Now that’s a place you should plan a visit to stop and have a look around.
This trip, we rode on by and took Old Mulgowie Road towards our ultimate destination. At Mulgowie you will find The Mulga – the 132 year old Mulgowie Pub.
You might also, if you’re lucky, get to meet the lovely Sarah who is the Manager of the pub. She was more than happy to have a chin wag about what was going on out in her neck of the woods and kept us supplied with food and drink whilst she was at it.
So, did I find what I was looking for? Well, there were pictures on the wall of the pub, but you may have to go and have a look for yourselves.
I did encounter another monster at the pub, aptly named the “Mulgowie Monster” burger. If you want a man sized meal to keep you going for your return ride, wrap your laughing gear around one of those things – what a beauty.
After whiling away an hour or so at the pub we continued on.
Heading from Mulgowie, we decided to go home by a different route. We initially headed back towards Laidley (a place we keep meaning to come back to and check out more of the town’s history), but detoured to Forest Hill, a great place to stop in for a coffee or an ice-cream at one of the quirky cafes.
Perhaps you could even find out a little more about the unsolved mystery involving the two local pubs – the reward still stands you know!
Since we had another engagement for the evening we decided to head back on the Warrego Highway, so set our sights on Plainland next rather than taking the back roads to home.
But, here’s a little tip, if you’re really looking to enjoy a little more ride or drive time, you should take the Minden turn-off and head back through Tallegalla to Rosewood. The view is fantastic.
Well, don’t just sit there – get going and follow the map. Let us know what you see and do, share some of your photos and, if you come across anything in the area that you’d like to share, let us know about that too. We love to hear about anything that can be found out in what we like to call 2 Hour Circle.
Bye for now!
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