Where on earth is Dirranabandi?!

When I met my husband, we were both living in Brisbane surrounded by thousands of people on a daily basis. I never walked out of the house without seeing someone, there was never silence, or pitch-black surroundings for as far as the eye could see. That was normal for me and I must say I never thought much of it, that is until the first time I went west to visit his family at Dirranbandi.

Like most other people from the city or coastal towns, I had absolutely NO IDEA where on earth Dirranbandi was. I had never heard of it and most of all I did not know what to expect.

So, on my first trip out to the bush I was not prepared, we took my little Toyota Corolla for the trip as it was the only vehicle we had with enough seats for our friends to fit. Off we went, with a super early start for what I didn't realise would be the longest day of my life in a car (prior to this trip I thought the 3 hour trip from Brisbane to Yamba was tough going!).

For those of you wondering in what direction we were heading out of Brisbane - we were on our way west, a long way west!

Dirranbandi is a 600km drive from Brisbane, situated on the QLD/NSW border. You will go through several towns on your way and can take a few different routes - whether you take the Moonie/St George track or decide to go in the direction of Goondiwindi, Nindigully and Thallon, you won't be disappointed. If you do take that second route, keep some time up your sleeve to have a beer at the famous Nindigully country pub and take in the spectacular silo art at Thallon. 

So of course, we took the country pub route, stopped in at The Gully and then made our merry way onto the final destination. Nearing Dirranbandi we turned off in the direction of the property, met by a white rock, pothole filled road. We lost a hubcap only 10 minutes in, had numerous wildlife sharing the road with us and dust blowing everywhere. 

After an eventful trip full of pascal clinkers and many laughs, we finally arrived to the property to find the most immaculate garden surrounding a homestead, such a stark contrast, a lawn as smooth as bowling greens to scruffy buffel grass in the surrounding scrub.

I could go on but I won't, I will just leave you with these picturesque experiences that you will encounter whilst visiting the surrounding district of Dirranbandi..

Paddocks that run for miles with not a single house structure in sight.

Sunsets that are so much more spectacular than you had even seen before coming down over a vast open landscape.

The clean crisp air of the night meets the dark sky; no surrounding lights to take away from those sparkling stars. You will feel as though the stars shine much brighter in the country.

Animals, both young and old, woolly, furry or covered in feathers sprawled out across the landscape, at home in their bush surroundings.

Dams bigger than most small town swimming pools, filled with stock taking a drink and ducks floating about.

And depending on the time of your visit, you may find paddocks lined with rows of the whitest cotton you ever did see, wheat coming to head, barley, chickpea and oats too!

All of mother natures finest creations right at our backdoor here in Dirranbandi.