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We'd like you to get acquainted with The Inland - but how? This area of Australia is far too big for
anyone to take in at one bite. So we'll begin with our own backyard, Queensland's Toowoomba economic region.
It has a great wealth of resources, is home to 330,000-plus people and stretches well over 1,000 km west to east and
400 km north to south.
Start in the Lochyer valley only 100 or so kilometres from sub-tropical Brisbane, capital of our sunny state. The town of Gatton marks an eastern boundary of the Inland. Travelling west, you soon climb the wooded escarpment of the Great Dividing Range which sweeps like a mighty backbone, north to south, across eastern Australia.
Take the route south. You pass through Clifton's rich farmlands and granaries and find
Warwick. A little further is the granite belt, with its cooler climate just right for vineyards and juicy stonefruit. Keep
going and you cross the border into New South Wales. Fanning out around Toowoomba are a number of Darling Downs shires and townships with a mix of rural, commercial and industrial activities. Roll your tongue around names like Pittsworth, Millmerran, Oakey, Jondaryan, Cambooya and Crows Nest. Soil and climate combine to make an ideal environment for raising cattle, pigs and racehorses; as well as cotton, sunflowers and grain crops. And we shouldn't forget the koalas and kangaroos. Head north and you eventually reach Kingaroy, peanut country, while the route west takes
you deeper into the Inland. Drive down the Warrego highway and you come to Dalby, then Chinchilla, Miles, Roma and Mitchell. There is still plenty of Inland ahead - thousands of square kilometres. Drier and more rugged than in the east, this is the outback, the heartland. A country that teaches people to be tough, patient, resourceful and downright creative. The essence of The Inland is difficult to describe, but easy to experience. Come on in. |
Top
of the range road is Toowoomba, regional capital. The hilltop air is usually dryer here than Brisbane's and in winter,
definitely more bracing. City aspirations, country connections, dozens of parks. Leafy Toowoomba is home to
many private schools as well as the University of Southern Queensland.
"Distance" starts to lose its hard edge of meaning as the
country stretches seemingly endless to the sunset.
| © The Inland 1999 108 Bridge Street, Toowoomba Q 4350 Australia email us tel. +61 7 46321153 |