[an error occurred while processing this directive] Climate
Toowoomba has a temperate climate and therefore is less humid than on the coast, with frosts in winter and rare light snowfalls on the highest points of 'the Range'. Average temperatures: January max 27C (81F) - min 17C (63F); July max 16C (61F) - min 4C (39F).

Characteristics
A garden city which was first settled in 1849. Originally the area was thought to be too swampy for a town, and the first settlement in the area was at Drayton, now a suburb of Toowoomba. But water was scarce at Drayton, and the town of Toowoomba was born. Many German immigrants settled around the town in the 1860s, successfully farming the fertile land. The soil on the Darling Downs is rich, deep and black. It is extremely fertile, but a quagmire after heavy rain, and forms deep cracks in dry weather. Toowoomba is often called 'The Garden City'.

How to Get There
By Bus
McCaffertys have a Brisbane/Sydney service via Toowoomba, and also a Brisbane/Roma service which stops at Toowoomba. Skenners stop at Toowoomba on their Brisbane/Charleville service, and also on their Brisbane/Longreach Service.

By Rail
There is a daily service from Brisbane. Quite a few people get off the train at Helidon and take the McCaffertys bus to Toowoomba because it is faster than travelling the whole way by rail. A combined rail/bus ticket is available.
The Westlander stops at Too-woomba on its twice weekly run to Roma and Charleville.

By Road
From Brisbane, travel through Ipswich on the Warrego Highway, 130km (81 miles).
From Sydney, travel on the New England Highway, through Warwick.

Tourist Information
There are two Toowoomba Visitor Information Centres. One is in 86 James Street, (07) 4639 3797, the other is in 476 Ruthven Street, (07) 4638 7555. They share the email address infocentre@ toowoomba.qld.gov.au and have a website at www.toowoomba. qld.gov.au

There is also the Toowoomba & Golden West Regional Tourist Association, located at 4 Little Street, (07) 4632 1988 or email tgwrta@iqnetlink.com.au.  Or you can contact the Too-woomba Local Tourist Association, on (07) 4635 4056.

Accommodation
Toowoomba has its fair share of motels, hotels and caravan parks. Here is a selection, with prices for a double room per night, which should be used as a guide only. The telephone area code is 07.

Blue Violet Motor Inn, Cnr 31 Margaret Street & McKenzie Sts, 4638 1488. 13 units, swimming pool - $70.
Glenfield Motor Lodge, 876 Ruthven Streets, 4635 4466. 30 units, licensed restaurant, swimming pool, bbq - $100-125.
Park Motor Inn, 88 Margaret Street, 4632 1011. 47 units, licensed restaurant (closed Sunday), swimming pool - $95-110.
A Tudor Lodge Motel, cnr Scott & Cohoe Streets, 4638 1822. 21 units, unlicensed restaurant (closed Sat & Sun), swimming pool, bbq - $75-85.
Federal Hotel Motel, Cnr James & Geddes St, 4632 8686. 20 units, licensed restuarant, bbq - $75-90.
Murcure Hotel Burke & Wills Toowoomba, 554 Ruthven, 4632 2433. 93 rooms, licensed restaurant - $132.
Garden City Motor Inn, 718 Ruthven Street, 4635 5377. 15 units, swimming pool - $69-75.
James Street Motor Inn, cnr James & Kitchener Streets, 4639 0200. 40 units, licensed restaurants, swimming pool, bbq - $75.
Leichhardt Motor Inn, 682 Ruthven St, 4638 4644. 24 units, swimming pool, bbq - $72-86.
Applegum Inn, 41 Margaret St, 4632 2088. 25 units, licensed restaurant (closed Sunday), bbq, swimming pool - $79-100.

Caravan Parks
Toowoomba Motor Village Caravan Park, 821 Ruthven Street, 4635 8186. (No pets) - powered sites $18 for two, on-site vans $29 for two, park cabin section $42-55, cabin section $40.
Garden City Caravan Park, 34 Eiser Street, 4635 1747. (No pets) - powered sites $19 for two, on-site vans $31 for two.
Glenfield Motor Lodge Caravan Park, cnr Ruthven & Stenner Streets, 4635 4466. (No pets) - powered sites $18 for two.

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Eating Out
Toowoomba has a good selection of restaurants, bistros, coffee shops and takeaway outlets. It even has four McDonald's - one at 277 Margaret Street, another at 827 Ruthven Street, a third on the corner of Bridge & McGregor Streets, and the fourth in the Grand Central Shopping Centre on Dent Street. Following is a selection of eateries you might like to investigate.

The Conservatory Restaurant, Mercure Hotel Burke & Wills, 554 Ruthven Street, (07) 4632 2433 - licensed, a la carte.
Carousel, 88 Margaret Street, (07) 4638 4727 - licensed, a la carte.
Gaby's Restaurant, 210 Herries Street, (07) 4632 7382 - licensed, International.ÊÊÊÊ 
Da Vinci's, 22 Hill Street, 4638 4606 - licensed & BYO, Italian.
Mexican Cantina Grill, 164 Margaret Street, 4638 1888 - BYO, Mexican.
Banjo's Steakhouse, cnr Ruthven & Hanna Street, 4636 1033 - licensed, steak/seafood.
Westlake, 127 Anzac Avenue, 4634 7188 - licensed, Chinese/seafood.
Crown Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, 200 Ruthven Street, (07) 4637 6861.
Dee's Vintage Thai Restaurant, 515 Ruthven Street, (07) 4632 5125.
Railway's Heritage Restaurant, Station Street, (07) 4631 3223.

Points of Interest
Toowoomba has beautiful tree-lined streets with many parks and beautiful private gardens. The city has an active cultural and artistic life. It looks its best in September for the Carnival of Flowers. People come from all over the State to look at the gardens entered in the competitions. There are several categories, eg new private garden, good neighbours, factory garden, etc. The whole of the town seems to take pride in their gardens. Toowoomba's chosen the violet as its floral emblem as this small, fragrant flower flourishes here.

The view from Picnic Point Lookout is panoramic. On one side you have the city, and on the other side, the Lockyer Valley with Table Top and Sugar Loaf Mountains in the foreground. The range stretches off into the distance to the south. West of the city is the distinctive Gowrie Mountain and the Kings-thorpe Hills.

The scenic Prince Henry Drive starts and finishes at the eastern end of Bridge Street and follows the cliff top around a small spur of the Great Dividing Range. It is a one-way traffic thoroughfare from which there are breathtaking views. It goes through the suburb of Prince Henry Heights, and past Redwood Park Fauna Sanctuary.

For a view of the city lights at night, drive along Ruthven Street which becomes Crows Nest Road, to the top of Mount Kynoch, the site of the city reservoir. There is a 360 degree view of the town and the districts of Crows Nest, Ra-vensbourne, Lockyer and Gowrie Mountain.

Queen's Park and the Botanic Gardens cover more than 28ha (70 acres), and provide an attractive display all year round. Laurel Bank Park has a scented garden for blind visitors.

Toowoomba has some fine old buildings including the post office, court house, the White Horse Hotel, and Gabbinar and Clifford House, both built in the 1860s, as well as the more humble Tawa, a home built soon after allotments were first handed out in 1849.

The old centre of Drayton, now a suburb of Toowoomba, has not been completely lost to development. The Royal Bull's Head Inn, the earliest hotel on the Downs, has been restored by the National Trust. The 1850s building incorporates part of the original hostelry. St Matthew's Church was built in 1887, and contains records dating back to 1850 from an earlier building. It has a splendid hammer beam roof, and the knocker on the vestry door originally graced the Bull's Head where the settlement's first services were held. Smithfield, a stately homestead built at the end of the last century, is now a restaurant. There is also a memorial to author Arthur Hoey Davis (Steele Rudd) who made Dad and Dave famous. Davis was raised at Emu Creek, 20km (12 miles) from Drayton, where he was born in 1868.

The Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, adjacent to the City Hall, 4688 6652, has an interesting collection of paintings and antiques - open 11am-3pm Mon, Wed & Fri.

The Lionel Lindsay Art Gallery, 27-37 Jellicoe Street, 4688 6693, has a collection of works by great Australian artists, authors and poets. It is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 11am-3pm and Sundays 1pm-4pm.

The Cobb & Co Museum, 27 Lindsay Street, 4639 1971, has a unique display of horse-drawn vehicles, and is open Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat-Sun 1-4pm. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children under 14.

Blue Arrow Drive is a 48km (30 miles) scenic drive that is well worth following - maps are available at the Tourist Information Office.

Festivals
The Carnival of Flowers is held each year in September, and the Garden Fest in April.

Facilities
Toowoomba has all the facilities you would expect of a town with such a large population - golf, tennis, squash, horse racing, lawn bowls, ten-pin bowling, croquet, swimming pools, cinemas, theatres, and so on.

Outlying Attractions
The Darling Downs is Queensland's main wheat growing area. Neat homesteads speckle the land, and a pattern of fields stretches over the horizon. There are not only wheat fields, but other grains are grown, as well as sunflowers, other oil seeds, and cotton. Dairy and beef cattle graze on the hills, and sheep further west. No visit to Too-woomba would be complete without a drive through the surrounding countryside.

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Cooby Creek Dam
The source of Toowoomba's water supply is also a popular picnic spot. Travel along the Crows Nest Road, turn left 17km (11 miles) from the post office, and the dam is a further 17km (11 miles).

Oakey
Half an hour's drive north-west of Toowoomba, on the Warrego Highway. The Museum of Australian Army Flying, 4691 7666, has one of the best displays of aviation memorabilia in the world. In several hangars and an outdoors area are the aircraft, which range from a fully restored replica Box Kite, and the first aeroplane in service, as well as Bristols, Cessnas, Bells, Austers and more. Admission is $5 adult, $2 child, $12 family.

Jondaryan Woolshed Museum, on the Warrego Highway just past Oakey, is the oldest and largest continuously used shearing shed in Queensland. The woolshed is hopen daily 8.30am-5pm, and guided tours are available. There are lots of working displays and machinery, and colonial style lunches with damper and billy tea are available. For more information phone 4692 2229.

Dalby
Known as the Hub of the Downs, Dalby is 83km (52 miles) from Toowoomba, on the Warrego Highway, and is home to one of Queensland's principle agricultural colleges. An oasis in the middle of town is the Thomas Jack Memorial Park, facing the Warrego Highway. The park consists of more than 3ha (7 acres) of lawns, gardens and shrubberies, with a children's playground, shelters, barbecue facilities, a lily pond and a large area suitable for social cricket. The tourist information centre is located in the north-eastern corner of the park.

In Black Street is the Pioneer Park Museum, 4662 4760, which is open seven days a week for visitors to catch a glimpse of the rural past, Mon-Fri 10am-3pm, Sat-Sun 10am-4pm. There is a small admission charge, and craft items are for sale.

The Dalby Tourist Information Centre can be contacted on (07) 4662 1066 and are located in Thomas Jack Park, on the corner of Drayton & Condamine Streets. You can email them at dalbychamber @dalby.qld.gov.au or visit www. dalbytown.com.au on the web.

Bunya Mountains
National Park
The Park is 60km (37 miles) north-east of Dalby and covers 11,700ha (28,900 acres). The Bunya Mountains form an isolated section of the Great Dividing Range, rising abruptly from the surrounding countryside to an average elevation of 975m (3199 ft) reaching 1100m (3609 ft) at Mount Mowbullan and Kiangarow.

The district has considerable historic significance. Once, Aborigines visited the mountains regularly for six-week tribal ceremonies of hunting, feasting, mock fighting and corroborees. These visits coincided with heavy croppings of Bunya Pine cones, usually every three years. The vegetation of the park comprises 13 types, but can be broadly grouped into rainforest, eucalypt forest and grasslands. More than 200 plant species have been identified. The Bunya Pine, with its characteristic dome-shaped top, rises in stately elegance above the other vegetation. It is unique in its abundance in the area.

The graded walking track system throughout the park provides the bushwalker with an opportunity to discover all types and varieties of vegetation for themselves. They will also come across water falls, and plenty of animal life, including the Bunya Mountains ringtail possum, found only on the mountain.

There are two camping areas - Burton's Well and Dandanbah. Burton's Well provides toilets, water and picnic facilities. Dandanbah has camping and unit facilities as well as a kiosk and restaurant. For more information contact Rosella's Restaurant in the park, 4668 3131.

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Miles
Continuing along the Warrego Highway from Dalby to Roma, brings you to Chinchilla and further on, Miles.
Miles is well known for the Miles Historical Village & Museum in Murilla Street, 4627 1492. The village is open daily 8am-5pm. Another touch of history in the town is Possum Park, 4627 1651, where ammunition bunkers were built underground during World War II. Now the bunkers are used as visitor accommodation.

At Chinchilla, the Chinchilla Historical Museum, 4662 7014, has a vast collection of steam-powered traction engines. Chinchilla is one of the largest petrified wood areas of the world. The wood is from the Jurassic Age, about 140-180 million years ago. Fossicking can be done on the Hurse family's property, Eddington Stud, at a small cost per bucket. Locals Fred and Merle Newman, who live at 95 Boyd Street, Chinchilla, have a collection of rocks and petrified wood, and a large workroom where the cutting and polishing are done.

The Chinchilla Tourist Information Centre is in Chinchilla Street, (07) 4668 9564.

At Boongara, 8km east of Chinchilla, the Cactoblastis Hall is a memorial to a small insect imported from South America in the 1920s to eat out a plant that had become the curse of the west, the prickly pear.

Roma
Gas was discovered in Roma, over 400km (248 miles) north-west of Toowoomba, at the beginning of the century during a water-drilling procedure on Hospital Hill. Eight years later, Roma suffered the first petro-liferous gas well fire, which took more than a month to extinguish.

The maiden oil well in Roma was discovered in 1927 but soon dried out, though more oil was discovered. Roma is also the biggest and best inland store cattle market, and has had the biggest sale yarding in Australia. It is a flourishing town of 8000 people. Crops in the district include wheat, sorghum, oats and sunflowers, and a number of fruit crops are also produced, from stone-fruit to citrus. Festival time in Roma is Easter, with street parades, goat races, more traditional horse races, dancing, open-air concerts and rodeos.

One person who spent a lot of time in Roma, mostly in the courthouse, was Henry Readford, who was the initiator of Australia's most famous cattle theft. Along with a handful of others, he stole several hundred cattle from Bowen Downs in central Queensland and drove them on a mammoth trek to Blanchewater in northern South Australia. This man's real life story is almost as amazing as the that of the book loosely based on it - Robbery Under Arms. Readford, or Captain Starlight, appeared in Roma Court on at least four occasions and was let off each time. When he was tried in Toowoomba, the result was different and he was sentenced to eight months in prison with hard labour.
The Roma & District Tourist Information Centre is at 71 Arthur Street, (07) 4622 1416.