The hamlet of Dalveen is 10-25 minutes north of Stanthorpe on the New England Highway, or via the ‘Fruit Run’ Granite Tourist Drive. This is an area with lots of orchards, fruit stalls and wineries, and small villages located in the Granit belt which is part of the The Great Dividing Range.
At Jim Mitchell Park, which is just off the highway, there’s a picnic area which offers free facilities and parking for a few motorhomes and caravans which is the reason we stopped here for the night.
Dalveen is one of those interesting little places that most just wiz past. We Walked to the Dalveen Post Office and browsed around the village craft shop and Trish pick up a bargain shirt for Steven from one of the 3 workers at the clothing factory right next door.
The ‘Summit’ near here is also famous as one of the coldest places in Queensland and home to the highest railway station in Australia.
The railway line was right behind where we parked and chatting to a local on our evening walk we were told about a tunnel a couple of kilometers down the track. So the next morning we set off through the countryside walking on the railway track.
This railway is still in use as the recently deceased kangaroo who failed to escape the train in the tunnel will attest.
This area is part of the Granite Belt Wine country. Several multi-award winning wineries are located here including Heritage Wines where we called in to admire the famous dining table and sample the wines before traveling on to Tentafield just across the border in NSW.
