In our last installation of “oh no, everything’s burning! The apocalypse is upon us!” we covered a myriad of interesting locations to virtually visit while we lock down and practise our social distancing.
Having allocated sufficient time to visit said locations, we now return with part two of our virtual tour of Ipswich, to hopefully encourage some further creativity in how to best occupy yourselves from home. For those of us who aren’t familiar with the previous article see here, for those of us who are…Let’s get clicking!
Mt Blaine
Annnnnd we’re right back at it with one of the region’s highlights. Now not quite as loved as his neighbour in Mt Flinders, Blaine is nevertheless a truly breathtaking location with equal, if not dare I say even better views and scenery.
I would highly, highly endorse adding this one to the list and hope you enjoy this little snippet, courtesy of the trekking team and Google Maps. There’s a lovely half way snapshot of the western climb here, the peak here, and a little bit of the eastern side of the mountain here.
Top of town
Top of town is an eccentric, assortment of hidden alleyways, curious craft shops, bits, bobs and cafes.
Most of us locals just breeze through here on the daily without so much as a second thought, so why not take this opportunity to sus out all the nooks and crannies and see what you can find.
Pan Pacific Peace Gardens
This one’s quite the treat that not too many of us are actually familiar with, so I would definitely encourage a smidge of discovery on Google Maps in preparation for a real life expedition after all of this madness blows over.
It’s an excellent place for a digital picnic during your long overdue intermission from all that Netflix.
Get yourself started right over here.
Brassall Bikeway
Brassall Bikeway is one of those places that you wouldn’t even know is there, well… unless you’d actually been there.
As one of the most extensive bikeways outside of Brisbane you can trust me when I say there’s plenty to see and do. If you really wanted to, you could travel from Ipswich to Yarraman, some 161km via connecting trails.
Check her out on street view, right over here.
88 Limestone St
I think there’s space on this list for my all-time favourite dining combo, which of course also corresponds accurately with Australia’s nutrition guidelines… Beer and ice cream.
You can get exactly that at 88 Limestone St, from The Pumpyard Bar and Brewery and then bring it home with Ungermann Brothers ice creamery. And guess what? They’re both doing deliveries! So pop on an order, find yourself a digital spot on that oh so comfy bar couch and behold, the pub has come to you.
Check out the good stuff right over here.
Kholo Gardens
Mmmhmm, time for a stroll in the park. Possibly the best park you ever did see.
Now I have a trick for this one… take a shoebox, cut a hole in the end, plaster in your phone, tape that baby onto your face and I kid you not… it’s just like the real thing.
Top it off with one of those fancy new swivel fans cranked up to 11 and you’ve got yourself a beautiful spring day by the river. Kholo is stunning and this is no time to shy away from your favourite Ipswich destinations – virtually.
Ipswich Water Tower
Would ya look at that view! Formerly an army lookout during WW2 and for good reason, the water tower is one of the few easily accessible locations from which you can get yourself a complete panoramic view of the South East QLD region.
Stare down Brisbane in one direction and with but a twist of the hips, you’re looking at mountain peaks in NSW. Because we’re in virtual reality land now, with amazing new features like zooming, the view is potentially even better.
Colleges Crossing
I know, we covered this one last time. Well, kind of… Colleges is such a gorgeous location that surely the river systems alone don’t count right? Right. So I’ll proceed.
Start yourself off over in the parklands, head up to the café, swing around to the lookout and finish it off exploring the canoe trails. Then come back in a few months and do it for real.
River Heart Parklands
It is as the name says, a parklands in the heart of the river system. And what a parklands they are!
On this occasion I don’t know if we can fully capture the essence of the location with mere pixels.
So you will no doubt have to return in reality someday soon. I especially enjoy River Heart of an evening, where the city lights bounce and reflect off slow moving waters and a few surprises await in their depths.
That’s all for this episode folks, see ya all back soon for round three.
