Want a secret? The best sunflower field I’ve found wasn’t in Allora…

Our quest to find a sunflower field began around a year ago, when I learned that you can find sunflower fields in Australia. Not only that, but only a few hours away from where I lived! At the time, we got very excited but didn’t manage to line up everyone’s availability so we could go together. And summer ended, meaning the optimum time to see them at their finest was over.

We waited patiently but the same problem kept happening. Until a few nights ago, when I realised I didn’t have many days left of summer, and desperately messaged my friends Domi and Jane to see when they were free. By a fluke, we were all free the next day! So off we went!

Spontaneous plans sometimes become the best adventures. I packed a blanket and some frozen poppers (juice boxes), Jane brought her picnic basket, and we met at Domi’s place to start our journey early (by my standards, 9am is early…).

Now, our plan was based off the internet, which informed us to keep going past Allora to the town of Clifton. Clifton is based between Warwick and Toowoomba, but we followed the GPS as we rarely go west. I’m thinking we should find some adventures out there soon! The countryside is beautiful. We drove around windy hills and across flat paddocks, and at one point made a quick stop at the start of a hiking trail because we saw something carved from stone, seen from the road. We decided to see what it was, and got many an odd look, as we were in no way dressed to go on a serious hike! It turned out to be a monument to the person who discovered the area and explained a little of the history.

We continued on our way, singing along to some of the awesome songs on my awesome playlist… (They totally thought the ‘Beach Boys’ songs were as cool as I think they are). We almost went straight past a blur of yellow before it registered that there were sunflowers nearby and we screamed a little bit.

We were a bit excited.

But we stuck to the plan and finally reached the town of Clifton. One of those ‘blink and you miss it’ towns, we tried to follow the signs but got hopelessly confused. This is due to the fact that the tourist drive signs ended in front of an empty paddock. So we drove around in circles until we spotted a yellow haze across the farms and we drove in that direction. Pulling over, we quickly assembled our picnic and just sat on the side of the road enjoying the view, drinking our juice and enjoying our blueberries. And avoiding the bugs.

Then we went for a walk down the side of the paddock. There wasn’t a gate or fence, so we thought it was alright to walk around the edge of the flowers, as we weren’t damaging them. They are someone’s livelihood after all, so we were very careful to not disturb the plants. But we spent a good few hours taking silly photos and talking and just admiring the yellow countryside.

Once there, admire how the sunflowers tilt their heads towards the sun and how bright they are surrounded by the contrasting landscape. Van Gogh painted many sunflowers in his lifetime, and is said to eat yellow paint to combat his depression (a widespread ‘fact’ about the artist). A saying suggests taking a lesson from sunflowers; turning your thoughts towards the positives in your life like sunflowers turn their heads seeking the sun, rather than facing the darkness and negativity in your life.

Some people might think it silly to drive two hours to look at some flowers but damn, totally worth it. A long road trip with friends is not only about the destination, it’s about the journey there. Talking about boys, old friends, university and graduation plans, feminism and playing a fun little game called ‘My Cows’ means the 4 hours spent stuck in a little white car with each other is valued as much as the picnic on the side of the road with the pretty flowers.

Thoughts

Totally worth it, as mentioned in the last paragraph. The trip is a bit tiring, because it is a while away but the scenery is lovely. (But do go with friends you can talk with, because otherwise this will be a bit boring). Remember, this is someone’s property, and while they are probably used to people taking photos of their land, if you damage anything you are damaging their property. I know it looks like we are in among all the flowers, but we were very careful, and didn’t go more than a metre in, if that. (#theperksofphotoediting #notreallife).

It is definitely something I can tick off the bucket list now!

**~ Are their sunflower fields near where you live/have you visited any? Let me know! ~**

A/N: If you want to see some of our adventures over the next year, check out the youtube channel! This video will be going up shortly. Follow Explore With Us to, well, explore with us! 🙂