Metro Hotel Ipswich International Christmas Social Party Postcard

Metro Hotel Ipswich International Christmas Social Party Postcard

Enjoy a Stopover in Ipswich – Queensland’s Best Kept Secret - Metro Hotels

With summer just months away, thousands of NSW residents are planning to enjoy a truly Australian summer holiday on the iconic beaches of the Queensland coast.

Yet when planning their trip, only a few regular travellers along this route are likely to know to stop off in what is Queensland’s best kept secret – the provincial city of Ipswich.

Located just 30 minutes from Brisbane, Ipswich is Queensland’s oldest provincial city and the perfect place to break your journey.

This wonderfully historic city offers visitors plenty to see and do, be it exploring some of the country’s finest examples of domestic architecture with houses dating back to the 1800s, wandering through the award-winning Workshops Rail Museum (the birthplace of Queensland Rail), visiting the Ipswich Art Gallery, and visiting more than 500 parks, wineries, cafes and restaurants.

Ipswich is also known for its local art and craft cottage industries, with art galleries, markets and craft and antique stores centrally located as well as being scattered in the many beautiful townships that dot the surrounding countryside.

And when in Ipswich, Metro Hotel Ipswich International is the perfect place to stay. Rated four and half stars, the Metro Hotel Ipswich International is boutique in size but equipped with all the facilities of a much larger hotel.

This seven-storey hotel is overlooks pristine parklands, offering 97 rooms including nine one-bedroom Serviced Apartments, two Executive Spa Suites and 68 Superior Rooms and 16 Deluxe Rooms.

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Day Tripping in Ipswich (What to do in Ipswich, QLD)

Queensland's oldest provincial city was once known for its mines, gracious ornate Queenslanders and grand colonial buildings and boasted a cathedral, leading fashion designers such as Helena Kaye and even a 49 room castle (Blackstone castle). After the closure of its mines in the latter 20th century it suffered a major economic downturn and high unemployment yet today it is on the verge of another renaissance.

With its well-preserved heritage buildings and gracious parks, a new wave of groovy cafes and boutiques, tapas and wine bars, an award-winning museum, art gallery, Walter Burley Griffin-designed theatre and a free mini wildlife zoo it has more than enough attractions to make it high on the must-visit list.

Here are some highlights that no trip to Ipswich should be without.

Top of Town

The funky little go-to precinct of cafes, boutiques, hotels and wine bar known as Top of Town occupies two blocks of Ipswich's oldest and best maintained heritage buildings just on the west side of the city centre along Brisbane St. The name Top of Town was coined after World War II and some of the area's landmark buildings reflect its prominence: one of Queensland's earliest newspapers The Queensland Times occupied the building on the corner of Ellenborough St and Brisbane St and the gorgeous old Flour Mill was the birthplace of the retro radio station 4IP that every hip teenager of the 1960s and 70s had their transistor radio permanently tuned to.

Eating & Drinking



Within Top of Town are a bevy of character filled cafes, coffee nooks and a wine and tapas bar. Stop here for coffee or brunch before heading off to the attractions and come back for lunch.
For coffee the best bets are Urban Pantry, a Byron bay style coffee bar and gourmet pantry that peddles delicious sweet treats and their own blend of beans Mudlark from a Byron bay roastery.

Otherwise head around the corner to Ellenborough St where a charming Euro style laneway contains the seating for Bon Laneway, a top notch espresso nook that also serves up delicious sandwiches and refreshments.



For an old-fashioned taste of 1950's Ipswich Deann's Coffee House is a vision of retro Nanna's kitchen, from the formica tables and vinyl chairs to the vintage window displays and the home-made food; otherwise the in-crowd all gather at Fourthchild, a chef-operated café come bistro in a rustic artsy space, where everything is locally sourced and fresh and prepared on premise and that would hold its own against anything Brisbane has to offer.



A few strides west and a bit away from the action (still on Brisbane St) the 150 year old Settler's Inn (now the Stump Hotel) is home to Tapas Tree, a boutique beer, wine and tapas bar that has district views out back to St Mary's cathedral.

Shopping



For the best eclectic shopping stick to the Top of the Town precinct – standouts here are The Vintage Advantage, a quirky trove of fashion, homewares and collectables, E.S. Traders, a gorgeous eclectic emporium of unique fashion, furniture, gifts, home wares and accessories in an old plumbers workshop down the laneway beside Bon Laneway coffee.



Otherwise back at the old Flour Mill, downstairs in a near deserted arcade of quaint shops, Cassandra's Closet is tucked away in a corner – a fab source of steam punk, Victoriana and alternative clothing, Inkuku peddles fair trade gifts and trinkets while upstairs on the street front Pimp My Closet delivers edgy street wear. Back on Ellenborough St Shady Lady is the place for handmade antique laces, accessories, finery and collectables and dotted throughout the precinct are a smattering of op shops.

Denmark Conservation Park



This bushland reserve just to the south and up the hill from the town centre sits atop a network of
abandoned mine tunnels. One of its walking paths encircles an old disused quarry and another leads to a crude Triassic discovery hut with replica dinosaur prints.

The main attraction however, are the water towers which can be climbed for the city's most stunning views – a 360 degree vista that takes in countryside, mountain ranges and the entire city.

Queens Park


The namesake of Queen Victoria and historical green heart of Ipswich was established in 1864 and as such still has some of the unique features of parks of this era such as the grandeur and terraced layout, the latter featuring the distinctive limestone walls peculiar to Ipswich.

Take a wander through and find dotted throughout are Victorian and Federation era rotundas, a caretakers cottage and glass houses. As well as a sensational children's playground it incorporates an enchanting Japanese garden – Nerima Gardens and in the heart of the park the Queens Park Café makes a great child-friendly casual dining option.

Ipswich Nature Centre


This delightful rambling mini wildlife zoo is free to visit and consists of a well maintained labyrinth of wheelchair and pram accessible pathways and boardwalks that pass close by enclosures of an extensive range of native Australian animals, reptiles and birds as well as a little barn of baby farm animals.

Ipswich Art Gallery


Housed in Ipswich's 150 year old town hall, the Ipswich Art Gallery is one of Queensland's best regional galleries, showing a constant flow of touring expos as well as its own private collection. It also has an excellent children's room with well curated themes and hands-on activities.

The Workshops Rail Museum



Whether a rail fan or not, child or adult, this fabulous state of the art museum set in the historical still operational railway workshops is well worth a visit. Well-preserved engines and carriages capture the romance of the vintage era of rail travel for general public and royalty and the interactive displays, films, simulated train driving and themed children's playground are but some of the attractions so set aside at least a couple of hours to really appreciate this one.

Lastly, if visiting on a Friday stick around Top of Town for the Sunset Market from 3-7pm along Ellenborough and Brisbane St, with stalls selling fresh produce, handmade items and more.

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Star Chef To Tantalise At The Ekka

BRILLIANT Ipswich chef David Manz will share his refreshing brand of cooking with Ekka-goers today.

Manz, head chef at Platform 9 Restaurant and Lounge Bar in the Metro Hotel Ipswich International, will demonstrate how to cook a mouth-watering burger at midday.

Aspiring cooks can learn the secrets to making the perfect burger.

Manz said he was looking forward to putting a fresh twist on an Ekka-season favourite.
"I decided to cook a dish in keeping with the Ekka theme, and also to bring a professional edge to a dish that can be cooked at home," he said.

"This burger's a bit different because it's Asian-inspired."

Manz said spices such as cardamom and cumin, combined with gourmet beef, made the dish a treat for tastebuds.

"The mince is made from eye fillet, and there's lettuce, tomato and bacon on the bun," he said.
Manz said today's demonstration would be his first.

"It's exciting, I've worked hard since I start my apprenticeship at 21 so it's great to be invited to do this nine years on," Manz said.

His experience includes working at Brisbane's Ecco Bistro, and a year at Platform 9.

Manz completed his apprenticeship in Ipswich and was happy to have returned.

"My future goal is to own and run my own restaurant, and I'd like to do it locally," he added.

Celebrity chef Dominique Rizzo will host Manz's demo, as well as others at the show.

GOURMET STYLE

• Manz will prepare a beef burger on a sourdough bun with sweet lychee chilli sauce, hand-cut chips and lime and ginger aioli.
• He said fresh ingredients, including meat minced at home and mixed with duck fat, made for a great burger.

Pisasale is Realistic on G-20 Meet (Ipswich to Host Pre-G20 Meeting)

MAYORS around Queensland are vying for the chance to host a major pre-G-20 Summit meeting in their city, but Ipswich's Paul Pisasale is playing it cool.

"We're talking about a very important meeting of leaders, and the cheapest and safest option would be Ipswich," Cr Pisasale said.

Cr Pisasale said he hoped the city would be considered alongside regional centres such as Townsville and Cairns as a possible site for the G-20 Finance Meeting in 2014.

"Our Safe City cameras would keep the finance ministers safe, and we've got the RAAF Base here, too."

"I believe we have the infrastructure; the ministers could use the plane and helicopter facilities at Amberley," he said.

"It's not a tourism thing, the city would have to be placed on red alert and we would keep the ministers completely safe.

"It's not our decision to make, but I'm happy to put up my hand."

Metro Hotel Ipswich International manager Ted Matthews said hosting the meeting in Ipswich would only add to the benefit of the summit.

"We're already very excited, and we certainly would see Ipswich benefiting from the summit," Mr Matthews said.

"I don't know that we have the infrastructure to host the pre-meeting, but I would like to see this hotel used as a base for a delegation or even a media group.

"The NBN should be up and running by then, so we could act as a great hub.

"We already have a close relationship with Brisbane Marketing, and we've already started looking to talk to people."
 
G-20 SUMMITS

• The G-20 a group of 19 countries and the European Union.
• It is aimed at "promoting international economic co-operation", the Australian Government states.
• Leaders, finance ministers and reserve banks from countries including China, Russia, the US, UK and India will attend.
• Australia will host the ninth annual G-20 Summit in 2014.
• Russia will host the 2013 Summit.

Camp Quality Ipswich to Newcastle Fundraiser Ride

This year 30 special riders are going to bush bike ride 1000 Kms from Ipswich to Newcastle in an endeavour to raise enough funds to be able to send the Camp Quality kids to their week long Junior and Senior Camps at the end of this year. These Camps are an amazing, fun filled, action packed journey of distraction from cancer where kids can just be kids, even if just for a while.

Of course there are lots of “easier” ways of raising the money for this, but the riders really wanted to do something that would encourage people to stop and think. As Volunteers, Mums and Dads and Friends of Camp Quality they see first hand how brave our special kids are and how they look every challenge they are faced with straight in the eye and keep on pushing on. For this reason, they wanted to do something very challenging and so eventuated the “Sylvania Camp Quality 1000 K’s 4 Kids”.

The Riders and their Support Crew are a powerful team of dedicated and caring people ready to help us achieve our dream. Together they are “the ordinary doing the extraordinary” for a courageous group of kids. The Ride will start in Ipswich on Friday, 7th September and finish in Newcastle on Sunday, 16th September. Over 100 Kms will be ridden each day and lots of Schools will be visited along the way so that the kids all get to learn what Camp Quality is all about and why we are doing the ride.

The Camp Quality Puppets will also be accompanying us along the Ride so they can educate the kids on Camp Quality and bring some fun and giggles along with them. All the Riders are working extremely hard getting sponsors and running fundraiser's as we all work together to try and reach our goal of raising $150,000.00. We will be hosting a Breakfast ( sausage sizzle and hot coffee) on forecourt on Friday 7th September starting from 7am - till their departure at 8.45 am all monies to be donate to Camp Quality .

Hopefully we will be entertained by the Camp Quality puppeteers . We are looking for the support of the local bike riding community to cheer them on plus if you can find your way to donate a prize/ gift for thier raffle to drawn on their arrival in newcastle. If you can assist in any way it would be much appreciated, this is too be a yearly event for a very good cause.