As you will have discovered by now we like a good coffee and a new town is always a good excuse to explore. And today, here in Toowoomba, was no different… well that was the plan anyway.

We had a later start today after taking care of a few household chores and were in need of a coffee. We had already discovered a latte in this part of Queensland meant a larger than normal (for us) glass of hot milk and a weak taste of coffee. So we drove into the CBD and made use of Google’s Explore option. What came up trumps, and close, by was a cafe called Two Birds. And what a find that was.

Located on Duggan Street close to the Grand Central Shopping Centre, this lovely little cafe was hosting a seniors lunch at the time of our visit but we easily found a table in adjacent vine covered courtyard. And a quick look at the menu soon diverted us from a coffee. Today homemade mushroom soup was on offer and it was superb. Thick, creamy and with a light lemon taste, it was the best mushroom soup either of us had ever tasted. Adding to that a light, fluffy side of bread. Soup-erb!

The Lamington

While still on the subject of food, Toowoomba holds claim to the invention in 1896 of that Aussie icon – the Lamington. Almost as famous as Vegemite but in this instance far more edible.

To those less familiar, the Lamington is a small rectangular, not square, chocolate and coconut coated sponge cake.

As the story goes, each year Lord and Lady Lamington would relocate to Toowoomba to escape the summer heat. But in this particular year the chef had forgotten to pack the oven Patty Pans and there was no cream in the larder to make Lord Lamington’s favourite cake – the Snowball. So, improvising, he put on his creative hat and came up with a plain sponge cake cut into rectangles, coated with chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. The Lamington’s and their guests were so enthralled with the new treat that their guests named them ‘Lord Lamington’s Cakes’.

And there was born a culinary legend… Well, that at least is one version of events.

Something that led us to explore the CBD today was the laneways street art. Unlike Melbourne’s graffiti art, these are true works of art. One in particular we had wanted to see, and found by accident, was a stunning image of an Aboriginal boy. The level of detail was remarkable. Reflected in the boy’s eyes was the landscape he was viewing. Later on our trip we’re hoping to see some of the incredible silo paintings that are springing up around the country and taking large paintings to a new level.

Another chance find was an elephant painted as if the paint was still wet and dripping down the wall. There are some very talented people around here.

Where’s the coffee?

We never did find a good coffee shop although we were certain there were several around. It was just that a Gelateria shop interrupted our search and so we did the next best thing and chose an Espresso gelato. Delicious!

Land Rover Update

While trying to diagnose the cause of our Discovery 5 overheating its transmission, the recent helpful mechanic, who stopped to assist us, suggested using an infra-red temperature sensor to get a measure of the transmission radiator temperature. And it happened that I knew the electrical store, Jaycar, sold a relatively cheap but adequate device and that was our next destination, the one that revealed the Aboriginal Boy painting on the way. You see, things happen when you least expect them. At $39 the little sensor was just what we needed and will come in handy over the next few days.

A point of a view

Just to the North of the CBD is an impressive hill that tops-out at Picnic Point. Surrounded by well manicured lawns and mature trees, Picnic Point gives an awesome view of the valley stretching out to the East and the distant coast.

We noticed the sound of traffic and looked below to see a very steep and winding hill leading down into the valley. This was the Darren Lockyer Highway and the one we were due to drive on tomorrow. It looked pretty daunting from up here and we felt sure it would be quite unnerving on the road itself.

We may need to wear the brave pants tomorrow as we head for Brisbane and hopefully to some warmer nights.