A day in Tenterfield

 One of the places we had on the "places to visit" bucket list while we were staying in Stanthorpe was Tenterfield.  The McCowen family originated from here and Philips father grew up on Aberfeldie Station at Bonshaw, just outside Tenterfield.  Other distant members of the McCowen family still live in the area but we have lost contact with them over the years.  However ,we will endeavour to track them down when we leave Stanthorpe on Friday.

It's been terrific that our six member party can all fit in one car and travel to our destinations together so we all piled into the car on a wet and dreary Easter Sunday and drove the 70km to Tenterfield.  Half of our party love to go hunting around in second hand shops and Tenterfield has many of these shops.  Lex purchased some beautiful crystal glasses and a gorgeous teapot for next to no money.  We also purchased more winter items.  Philip bought a very warm overcoat and my purchase of a cap hat was perfect for keeping my head warm. We stumbled across the Tenterfield Saddler shop with and purchases of leather belts were made.  It is now more a museum than a shop and the manager was very chatty so we gleaned a lot of valuable information. Of course we had to have the obligatory photo.......

While we were hanging around on the Main Street waiting for all the group to re-unite we got talking to a couple who owned Bald Rock Tourist Park.  There were terrific ambassadors for their town and suggested that we head to the Rosenhof German Cafe for lunch.  They even went to the trouble of ringing ahead for us to organise a table. What a great recommendation!  The owner/host greeted us and showed us to an outside table where we waited until they cleared an inside table for us. This took no more than five minutes.

Inside the converted cottage it was warm and inviting.  The staff were friendly and efficient and also very patient with our group.  We started the meal with a bread basket full of a variety of home baked breads with both garlic and plain butter to slather on the top and we just couldn't resist ordering a serve of the Ricotta, Potato and Spinach slice on a bed of beetroot salsa. We washed this down with a variety of beverages but my Vodka and home made lemonade was a perfect aperitif.

It was hard to chose from the extensive list of mains.  Some of our group chose the steaks and pork that were fire grilled over an open spit while some decided on the German Sausages with Sauerkraut.  I went for the Parmesan Crumbed Pork Cutlet with German Potato Salad.  It was a huge meal that I gladly shared with Philip but halfway through I almost wished I hadn't shared as it was one of the tastiest cutlets I had ever eaten. 

The cherry waffle dessert that a couple of us ordered made me drool but sadly I could not fit in a single morsel after my main.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant.  The host took us for a guided tour around the building showing the renovation process and then stopped at our table often throughout our meal to relate some great stories from his home country, Germany. It was almost 3pm when we rose from our table and even then it was with reluctance.  We probably could have stayed there for hours enjoying the wine and German Beer.

No dinner for us tonight and we were snuggled down in bed by 6.30pm.  The weather is still very cold and miserable but we are looking forward to the next few days when we are hoping the sun will shine.

xx Judi