If I say Yanny or Laurel does that feel like it happened in 2018 or at least 100 years ago now? Guess what, it was in 2018 and so were all of these things: Meghan and Harry got married, the Golden State Killer got arrested and so did Chris Dawson from The Teacher’s Pet, 12 boys were rescued from a Thai cave, The Queer Eye guys went to Yass, people started eating tide pods, Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson got engaged and called it off, everyone lost their minds over having to take bags to the supermarket, strawberries were sabotaged, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin died, as did Stephen Hawking and Stan Lee, Australia changed Prime Ministers AGAIN, the Stefanovics fell from Channel 9’s grace, Hannah Gadsby dropped Nanette, Childish Gambino dropped This is America, Drake dropped In My Feelings and people got themselves run over trying to do the dance, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before introduced us to Noah Centineo, Chinchilla got itself a big watermelon, and Banksy did that shredded art stunt. Wow.
While all of that was happening, here’s what was going on in Toowoomba.
We like to start the year slow here, aside from a bunch of Instagrammers chasing sunflowers not much happened in January. February brought us the reopening of Quest after the fire at Amigos Bar and Grill, Blank Space debuted the popular Gin Sanity event (returning this year on 23 February) and the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans had their pre-season match up at Clive Berghofer Stadium.
In March the Commonwealth Games baton relay passed through Toowoomba (oh yeah, remember the Gold Coast hosted the Games this year?), and we got a real deal NRL game with the Titans playing the Dragons at Clive Berghofer Stadium.
In April the Bavarian Biergarten at Walton Stores opened its doors, later changing its name to Konig’s Biergarten to avoid confusion with The Bavarian, which opened in Grand Central in June. Also in April Centro Bar and Restaurant moved in to the old Tom Collins spot.
The Baker’s Duck had a big change in May. They moved to a new space in Campbell Street with room to sit, eat and chat, extended their opening hours and partnered up with Ground Up Espresso to serve coffee with your treats.
In late May the Barefoot Baker opened up a new restaurant at The Woods at Ravensbourne offering lunch and dinner during the week and adding brekky to the line up on the weekend. The Burke & Wills Hotel reopened after almost a year of being closed for a huge refurbishment. It’s a brand new place -with a new restaurant Zack’s to match. And this blog featured on The Great Day Out – watch me freak out on TV here.
Moving in to June and Nitrogenie left us for good, but we welcomed Charred, Kusina Asian Grill and The Farm Shop Toowoomba. In June the civic precinct transformed into a winter wonderland with ice skating and other frosty activities. And late this month The Office and The Chelsea suddenly shut up shop, before reopening as The Florence Public House and The Chelsea in August.
Breakfast kicked up a notch with the arrival of Burrow Café in August, while Red Bench Café had a name change, rebranding to Sage and Butler Neighbourhood Café. Goondiwindi fashion house Audrey moved to Toowoomba and country style continued with the arrival of Magnolia Home and Gift. Sadly, Little Seed Restaurant announced it would close – but the journey continues via Grassroots Chef, which offers catering, cooking lessons and market and event pop-ups. Also in August, posy delivery service Ruby Lane Flower Co. relocated to Toowoomba from Brisbane.
In September our love affair with all things German continued with the opening of dog-friendly Bar Wunder.
In October the city turned white for the debut of the Diner en Blanc event, and Florence and Marabel left the Australia Arcade for the bright lights of Grand Central. And speakers such as Ray Martin, Mia Freedman, Peter FitzSimons, Tick Everett, Jacinta Tynan and Samantha Heathwood descended on Toowoomba for the first Unleash the Beast Writing and Wellbeing Symposium.
The early days of November brought us the most highly anticipated opening of 2018: new rooftop bar George Banks. The dying days of December brought us a sad announcement from The Sauce Kitchen – they’ll be closing their doors on 6 January 2019. However, Toowoomba’s newest coffee joint popped up on 27 December in the new Longs Quarter in Margaret Street – welcome to town Sweet Talk Coffee.
In other things that happened in 2018 I got a job and moved to Brisbane. As I get settled into Brisbane life I’ll be taking a break from this blog for a while, but come visit me on Instagram @toowoombaliving where I’ll be sharing snaps occasionally. Thanks so much for reading, hope you all have an awesome 2019!
