After leaving Ipswich, it's not long before you're passing through the Lockyer Valley. Your travels will take you close to or through the friendly villages of Rosewood, Marburg, Laidley, Forest Hill, Gatton, Grantham, and Helidon. Follow the highway as it winds steeply up the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. The road is two lanes through to Toowoomba, which makes for an easier journey. You'll be sharing with slow travelling trucks on the steep grade so be prepared to travel slowly up the range; they'll appreciate your courtesy too. Once at the top, you're in Toowoomba, Queensland's Garden City. The distinctive seasons and fertile soils have given rise to a city filled with over 150 wonderful gardens and parks. Many follow themes such as the Scented Garden and Japanese Garden. Toowoomba puts on a sensational show of colour in springtime. The city is blanketed in a kaleidoscope of blooms, with many private gardens open for viewing during the Carnival of Flowers Festival in September. Toowoomba offers the visitor everything - a wide range of accommodation for all budgets and many fine eateries, restaurants and shops. Time to continue along the Warrego: next stop Dalby.