The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The Granite Belt is centred on the town of Stanthorpe. The cool, high country of the granite belt is located on Queensland's southern border and north of the New England Tablelands.
The area gains its name from the predominantly granite rocks that distinguish it from other areas that make up much of South East Queensland. The Granite Belt is known for its spectacular flowers, and produces virtually all of Queensland's $40 million apple crop from one million trees grown by 55 orchardists.
The area is also known as the Southern Downs. Including the town of Warwick, the region has a population of 32,600 people. The area lies within the Southern Downs Region local government area. The major river in the region is the Condamine River, a tributary of the Murray River.
Read more about Granite Belt: Climate, Towns, Attractions, History
Famous quotes containing the words granite and/or belt:
“Paper is soft and ink is fluid; it might be better if some pages of this chronicle could be written on chips of granite at the point of steel.”
—E. M. Almedingen (b. 1898–?)
“The shore is composed of a belt of smooth rounded white stones like paving-stones, excepting one or two short sand beaches, and is so steep that in many places a single leap will carry you into water over your head; and were it not for its remarkable transparency, that would be the last to be seen of its bottom till it rose on the opposite side. Some think it is bottomless.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)