Toowoomba (including Drayton and Highfields)
Gracious and historic city to the west of Brisbane.
There can surely be no city in Australia more dramatically located than Toowoomba. If you enter it from the south or west you get the impression that it is a rather large and pleasant city on some rather gently undulating country. If you enter it from the east it is clear that the city dangles on the edge of a plateau some 600-800 m above sea level. The Warrego Highway from Brisbane rises steeply up the escarpment and the city spreads from the edge of the escarpment to the west and south.
The poet Bruce Dawe lived in Toowoomba for most of the 1970s and immortalised this dramatic location in his excellent poem 'Provincial City'. His observations of the town included:
'Climbing the range
your ears pop like champagne...'
You can smell the peace up here.
The proportion, the narrowness...'
'It moves, but oh so slowly
you would have to sleep years,
waking suddenly once in a decade
to surprise it in the act of change.'
Located 128 km from Brisbane via the Warrego Highway, Toowoomba has an annual rainfall of 950 mm, its population is close to 85 000 (making it the largest inland town in Queensland and one of the largest in Australia) and it is anticipated that the population will exceed 100 000 by the year 2000. Over the years it has been known variously as the 'Regional Capital of the Darling Downs' (an accurate description) and 'The Garden City' (a fair description given the number of parks and public gardens and the proliferation of tree-lined streets). It celebrates this last description by holding the Carnival of Flowers every September.
Tourist Information
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