Travel bloggers

Radio star Ian ‘Skippy’ Skippen hits the road on Australia’s Country Way

Mar 16, 2018

When it comes to the vital ingredients for a successful road trip, this camp-oven damper specialist believes in generous lashings of food, faces, places and experiences. Then it’s all down to what you do with those ingredients. Australia’s Country Way, an inland route that in Queensland stretches from Warwick to Rockhampton, provided plenty of quality ingredients on our most recent road trip, and the result was an appetising masterpiece.

Starting with actual recipes in the Granite Belt area: the fresh scones at Warwick’s Gardens Galore and the pasta dish, tiger-prawn salad, cheesecake and parfait at Hidden Creek Winery. Let’s loosen the belt here. The amazing dinner featuring Wagyu rump, pan-fried barra and dessert at McGregor Terrace Food Project – a must-do in Stanthorpe. Mr ‘Must Try Everything’ here had to have a crack at the famous espresso ice cream served on a cacao dirt. I am salivating just thinking about it.

The homemade bread served with breakfast at 31 The Rocks, also in Stanthorpe. Gillian at Cowboy Up’s delicious post-trail-ride brownies. The Guinness pie and chicken-and-bunya-nut salad at The Bunyas, Bunya Mountains Coffee Shop and Tavern. Pass me a serviette, please. Dinner at Deshons Retreat in Kingaroy with an amazing BBQ tray featuring Kingaroy Butchery’s fillet mignon – and then their sausages and smoked bacon in the breakfast BBQ the following day. Hearty stuff for a drive to Biloela.

Steve at Lake Callide Retreats’ freshly caught and lovingly prepared redclaw crayfish in garlic, followed by a Tyrannosaurus rex-sized rib on the bone. Odd Spot Traders in Bilo for a house-made granola and a berry smoothie for breakfast, with a share-plate in the microbrewery at Hendricks Lane in Rockhampton for lunch.

How’s that for a gallop through gastronomy?

Gallop – or at least canter – we did at Cowboy Up in Lilyvale on the Darling Downs. We met gentle horses, Missy and Sugar, and passionate horse-lovers, Gillian and Peter Gould. A trail ride took us to a fairy tree to ring the bell, and Pete talked to us about teaching Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman how to ride for the movie Australia.

It’s a small world, as we found out when we caught up with El and Wayne I had actually met and interviewed Wayne when he was the Mayor of South Burnett, but had no idea that he was now running Australia’s highest whisky bar, Shackleton’s, named after the intrepid Antarctic explorer. The connection to whisky? A crate of Mackinlay’s scotch whisky that was keeping Shackleton and his crew company in 1907, and was found buried in the Antarctic in more recent times.

Wayne got wind of the story when he discovered a new vintage crafted from the original recipe, and so named his bar in the Bunya Mountains. Not long after opening he was telling this story to a guest. The bloke stopped Wayne, telling him that he was a carpenter in the group that stumbled on to the Shackleton stash in the Antarctic. Pay Wayne a visit and see if you can stop him from telling the tale. Better still, sit around the fire and tell a few tales of your own.

I love passionate people and Frank Smallwood from Banana Shire, further north in the Capricorn region of Queensland, has passion in buckets. He knew we were on a tight schedule but regaled us with the beauty of the area, famous for its sandstone wonders, Isla Gorge, Kroombit Tops National Park, Lake Victoria… so much to see on a return trip. Oh, and here’s one for your next trivia night: Banana Shire isn’t famous for bananas. Banana was a bullock, circa 1860, named for his colouring.

I was a little tacker and Mount Morgan Mine, about 40 kilometres from Rockhampton, was in full swing when I last visited. As Molly would say, “Do yourself a favour” and jump on the TMC Tours bus with John Steinberger to see the mine. John is a character with a capital “C”. He’s forgotten more about the mighty Mount Morgan than most could ever know. The gold mine was state-of-the-art during its, ahem, golden period. It had its own power station and tram line, while at one time the company town of Mount Morgan boasted 27 pubs. You can have a drink at just a couple now. John’s excited about the pending reopening of the dinosaur footprints cave on the mountain site.

For more things prehistoric we headed to Koorana Crocodile Farm, outside of Rockhampton. Here, John Lever watches over Alfie, Rocky and many other crocs, and will talk to you about the breeding programme and the harvesting of croc eggs. He took us on a stroll through the breeding area. I didn’t even see the mother croc move towards the fence and leap up to let us know her nest was close by. Remind me to wear my brown corduroys next time, John. Crocs have brains the size of a pea, so they don’t reason very well… but they do have amazing recall. So, heed the warning if you’re in croc country and don’t establish a routine around their habitat – they’re watching and working it out. I asked John about the old saying and song, “Never Smile at a Crocodile”. He says he does when she’s laid a few dozen eggs. There’s a livelihood in this style of farming and that’s not a crock.

We had an amazing few days on the road. Food, faces and places aplenty, and myriad reasons to do an encore. Pack up, hitch up or just get up and go. Australia’s Country Way has something for everyone’s taste and budget. Anytime is a good time, but do it soon before the southern hordes migrate north for the Queensland winter. There are some things in life that we just have to share. This recipe for good times on Australia’s Country Way is times is one of them. We’re ready for the next course.