Country roads can meander from the ordinary to the extraordinary on a leisurely Sunday drive.
Expanses of hay-coloured paddocks, fields of green pastures, crops growing strong in the Queensland sun and the occasional sprawling tree shading a herd of cattle change little as you head up hill and over dale.
But take a breather in a small rural village or larger town hub for a coffee, hearty meal or ‘Cook’s tour’ of facilities and the pleasant surprises soon reveal themselves – as they do in the Somerset Region, little more than an hour southwest of Caloundra.
Familiar rural settings from visits to Somerset Dam, the Esk Races and Kilcoy rest stops over a lifetime couldn’t prepare me for the rich tapestry of characters, historical curiosities, hearty fare and unexpected contemporary art installations encountered in a single day.
LINVILLE HOTEL
34 George Street, Linville (thelinvillehotel.com.au, call 5424 7280)
Thousands pass by the road sign to Linville each year but only the adventurous and those in the know uncover Somerset Region’s best-kept secret for country hospitality.
Linville Hotel, dating back to 1887, lies just 7km and six minutes down the bitumen road from the D’Aguilar Highway at Moore.
But this easy drive won’t prepare you for what lies over the final hill: lines of shiny motorcycles both sides of the road, cars parked in the historic Linville Station Precinct, horses tied up to hitching posts, not to mention caravans and trailers converging on Somerset Regional Council’s free overnight rest area with horse yards.
A section of the popular 161km Brisbane Valley Rail Trail (from Wilkuraka in Ipswich to Yarraman in the South Burnett) for walkers, cyclists and horse riders passes right by the hotel’s front door.
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So, on any given weekend, the main bar and dining areas, airy verandas and grassed lawn are overflowing with good humour and animated conversation as an eclectic mix of visitors join the ‘party’.
Tanya and Evan Grimward and Tracey and Cathal Diver took over the classic old Queenslander-style hotel in April last year and have already made their mark.
Despite no hospitality background, the idea of owning a pub always lingered in the back of their minds.
And for sisters Tanya and Tracey, the option of a publican’s life was only ever going to be at the Linville Hotel.
“Tanya and I are fifth generation on a farm here at Linville,” Tracey said over a quick break in a quiet outdoor nook.
“We have grown up with the town. We never lived here permanently but it was a second home to us. We were up here every second weekend helping grandparents on the farm.
“When we became of drinking age it was like our ‘local’, so we were up here for events and festivals.
“And I suppose over the years, sitting around a campfire and having a few drinks, we always said ‘Imagine if we owned the hotel’.
“Our grandmother worked here as a maid when she was about 18 in the early ’30s/’40s and both our grandparents were living here when they met.
“Then they had the little house next door to the hall. Grandfather ran that as a bit of a barber shop and a library for a few years and our great-grandfather had a butcher shop up on the hill.
“So (Linville is) very sentimental.
“It was a bit of a decision whether it was the heart ruling or the head ruling (to buy the pub).
“Put it this way, we would never have owned any other hotel.”
The four are now entrenched in the community and are not only determined to see the hotel thrive: they want to promote Linville as a town that’s worth a short detour.
The couples are proud that through subtle changes and improvements to date, they have doubled business in less than a year and employed many more local residents as a result: 15 and still counting.
Resplendent in new staff uniforms they bought even before settlement went through, the new owners have been determined to make a good impression.
Tanya said the menu was among the first positive changes – including hard copies and a three-page drinks offering.
“We’ve probably doubled or tripled the items,” she said of the menu that includes a massive works burger-style steak sandwich.
“There was only eight or 10 items on a blackboard when we arrived and no wine menu.”
The eclectic mix of clientele – cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists, day trippers, car club enthusiasts and long-term travellers – also demands a diverse selection.
“We’re a bit of a centrepoint for families and friends meeting up,” Tanya said.
“If you did a one-hour-and-15-minute drive circle, we’re pretty well the centre between Toowoomba, Dalby, Kingaroy, the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane and the northern parts of the Gold Coast.
“We have seven rooms (to rent) upstairs and we’ve also put the old publican’s house that was at the back into the accommodation pool.
“The seven rooms consist of four queens and then two triples and a twin. The publican’s house sleeps up to eight.
“People come out and have such a good time, they come back to book or camp across the road in the council free overnight rest area.
“We had a group here yesterday and they had a big 45th birthday. They came out from Brisbane – about 30 of them. They booked the house and all the rooms.”
Tracey said the vision was to maintain the genuine rural pub atmosphere and character, highlight the depth of regional history around its walls and improve the country comforts.
“We’re planning on putting in a brand-new kitchen and upgrading the amenities and getting the history into the pub itself,” Tracey said.
“There was a massive timber industry here and cattle.
“People love the fact they can wander in, grab a drink and walk around and read (history on the walls). It’s not just sitting there and having a meal.
“We’ve started to have a theme for each bedroom upstairs. One’s a railway room and there might be a grazing room.
“Our family has been great at keeping records and old photos, so Mum has been putting stuff together for us and we can start displaying it on all the walls.
“To get a timber hotel is getting a little bit rare these days and to try to preserve that is really important for the region.”
Boosting mid-week trade by encouraging retirement village groups, clubs such as Probus and social golf members, as well as families for day trips and overnight stays is another job to tick off the list.
It all takes time but week by week, the Grimwards and Divers are making inroads.
“So many people say they’ve been on that highway and they’ve looked at that road (to Linville) and gone: ‘I wonder what’s down there?’,” Tracey said.
“And now that the business name is getting out there a little bit more, they go: ‘Finally, we’ve realised what’s down here’.”
THE CONDENSERY – SOMERSET REGIONAL ART GALLERY
29 Factory Road, Toogoolawah (facebook.com/somersetregionalartgallery and thecondensery.com.au/programs, call 5423 1036)
You might be stumped by the gallery name at first, until you realise the building’s humble beginnings.
The history of the site goes back to 1898 when the McConnel and Munro families opened Australia’s first condensed milk factory on the banks of Cressbrook Creek.
A village soon grew up around the factory, housing workers and providing community services, which increased with the arrival of the rail link to Ipswich in 1904.
With the town renamed Toogoolawah, business was gaining momentum and the factory was sold in 1907, becoming the Nestle and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company of Australasia Pty Ltd.
A packing shed was added in 1920 and an engine room in 1927, supplying neighbouring towns with electricity.
But in late 1929, the factory – like many others around the world – became a casualty of the Great Depression.
Condensed milk production ended on November 22, 1929, and while unsweetened milk continued on a small scaler for a time, the factory closed down in 1938.
A bomb shelter was built during World War II, mainly for document storage.
The abandoned factory succumbed to fire on September 15, 1951, with the remaining buildings sold to the local Somerville family for a commercial plumbing business.
In 2013, the Somerset Regional Council bought the site with help from the Commonwealth’s Regional Development Australia funding.
The now architectural wonder opened to the public on December 2, 2015, as The Condensery: a unique multi-million-dollar cultural precinct producing and presenting contemporary visual art.
The more you look, the more you see in this surprise packet of large creative spaces presenting exhibitions, events and performances of living artists and promoting arts education and cultural programs for all ages.
The architects’ brief was to preserve the building’s heritage, leaving the interior of the exposed roofing iron, original beams, stained concrete floors and bomb shelter largely unchanged.
Visitors can take their time walking around, absorbing the thought-provoking peace, while being challenged and having their curiosity piqued by each of the pieces.
Our volunteers on the day, Dawn and Rob, proved to be just as passionate about the history of the building as promoting the artistic endeavours within its walls.
Little wonder The Condensery attracts regular visitors from far and wide as well as Somerset regional residents, other artists and school groups.
Natural State exhibition featuring international and nationally known artist Caitlin Franzmann took over The Condensary during our visit, with Jason Murphy and Gabe Parker’s Perceptions in the Bomb Shelter Exhibition space.
The survey exhibition Thinking Business, by Australian art collective Barbara Cleveland, has now opened, exploring forms of female friendship, collaboration and artistic labour.
And don’t miss the story of the hand-sculpted bronze red deer named Norman in the grounds by Somerset artist, the late Bodo Muche, and its connection to Queen Victoria.
BLACK RACK KILCOY
49 Mary Street, Kilcoy (facebook.com/blackrackkilcoy, call 0409 542 205)
The mini cheesecakes at Black Rack Kilcoy look so good, owners Dan and Rory might just be able to convince you to indulge for reasons other than a devilish snack or decadent dessert.
My girlfriends and I ‘discovered’ Black Rack Kilcoy last winter as we passed through Kilcoy on a trip to the Bunya Mountains.
The great coffee, funky outdoor area and intimate chill-out spaces demanded an early coffee on our road trip to Linville.
It took just one look at what Rory called a “happy accident of creation” in the counter display window for my husband to be sold on the idea of choc mint cheesecake for breakfast.
After sneaking a bite, I now know why: oh-so-smooth and light mousse consistency contained in a cupcake shape, with more than a dollop of whipped cream to the side. Divine!
Rory makes all the cheesecakes, including customer favourites: lime and coconut, classic passionfruit, raspberry and white chocolate, and the Ferrero Rocher Raffaello white chocolate.
As well as about 10 core cheesecake varieties that rotate on the café menu, Rory enjoys dabbling in new flavour combos.
They have proven so popular that a bride even requested a cheesecake tower for her wedding cake.
THE COACH HOUSE CAFE AT SKYDIVE RAMBLERS, TOOGOOLAWAH
7353 Brisbane Valley Highway, Toogoolawah (facebook.com/CoachHouseCafeToogoolawah, call 5423 1300)
When an early morning start demanded a long breakfast stop in Toogoolawah, Google directed us to the quirkiest café experience ever.
‘Coach House Cafe’: with a name like that, we were expecting something akin to high tea on the veranda of a grand old Queenslander like Esk’s Nash Gallery and Café.
But after the well-established Coach House Cafe in town found a new home at Skydive Ramblers Toogoolawah in 2018, it has never looked back, embraced by the skydiving fraternity.
We didn’t know that as we turned off the highway, intrigued by the dozens of parked cars, and ventured up the long gravel driveway, past kangaroos enjoying a lazy Sunday morning.
Our initial trepidation – that we must have made a wrong turn – was unfounded and we were soon vicarious participants in the skydiving adventures unfolding before us.
At Queensland’s first established skydiving centre, guests can tandem skydive, take skydiving lessons and push the limits of their courage as they jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
Conversation comes easy with the enthusiastic jumpers waiting for their group call-up.
After receiving our order for a bacon and egg burger, egg and avocado muffin, and two DiBella flat white coffees on almond milk, we spent the next hour gazing skywards with camera and iPhones at the ready to capture all the action.
And you can’t beat the front-row seats to the entertainment – from the skydivers’ kit-out and instruction to boarding the plane and their final graceful zigzagging descent to Earth under a kaleidoscope of parachute canopies.
WOONGOOROO ESTATE WINERY
35 Doyles Road, Mt Archer, Kilcoy (woongoorooestate.com, call 5496 3529)
Hosts Philip and Gail Close welcome group bookings for lunch and wine tastings at the on-site café and cellar door.
A former principal, Philip is an enthusiastic wine connoisseur who can share his extensive knowledge all day about nuances of various grapes, tasting notes and the subtleties of particular drops, as well as food pairing.
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OTHER HELPFUL WEBSITES
Experience Somerset | Adventure Awaits
Brisbane Valley Rail Trail:
