10 things to do in Ipswich this weekend

Climb a summit, walk a trail or grab an oar

EASY RIDER: Grab your bike and get out on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. Picture: Bicycle Queensland

Winter cent auction

Saturday, August 3, QCWA Hall, Limestone St, Ipswich

THE Queensland Country Women's Association of Ipswich annual Winter Warmer Cent Auction is a fun even with afternoon tea and raffle prizes. Bring your family and friends. Doors open at noon. Entry is $2. Cent auction tickets $5, $10 and $20. Raffles tickets $1 each. QCWA Hall, Limestone St, Ipswich

Trivia night

Saturday, Corporate Centre at North Ipswich Reserve

GET excited for the next Ipswich Hospice Trivia Night. A night of trivia, games, prizes, refreshments and a raffle. Doors open at 5pm with trivia starting at 6pm in the Corporate Centre at North Ipswich Reserve. $15 a person or $140 for a table of 10. There will be a prize for the best themed table so get your decorations and costumes ready. Beer, wine, soft drink and food will be available to buy.

Peak Organics Market

Saturday, Ivorys Rock, Saturday, Mount Flinders Rd, Peak Crossing QLD 4306

PEAK Organics is a small organic farm situated in rural Queensland. Currently they sell direct to the public from their farm gate. From 9am-2pm.

Arthur Boyd: Landscape

of the Soul

Saturday, Ipswich Art Gallery

THIS Bundanon Trust Touring Exhibition will consider the landscape in Arthur Boyd's work from youthful plein air subjects celebrating light, to the final phase of Boyd's career depicting the Shoalhaven on the south coast of New South Wales.

Between his beginning and end, weaving a peripatetic existence spanning Australia, England and Europe, there was also the landscape Boyd carried within himself not merely topographic, but a psychic sense of place. Time 10am-5pm.

Summit Flinders Peak

Saturday, 355 Ipswich-Boonah Rd, Purga

WITH the Teviot Range skirting the borders of Ipswich, it's no surprise the city has a peak or two to climb.

Start with Flinders Peak, which reaches 679m above sea-level.

This trail is rated as the hardest climb (Grade 5) on the Ipswich hiking circuit and promises to put your navigation skills to the test.

The reward for quad-burning scaling? Million dollar views across the Fassifern Valley and Lamington Plateau. Free.

Colleges Crossing

Saturday, 408-492 Mt Crosby Rd, Chuwar Queensland

GRAB an oar and explore Ipswich's water playground, Colleges Crossing.

On the banks of the Brisbane River, Colleges is the perfect spot to launch your canoe.

Downstream will take you to the junction of the Brisbane and Bremer River at Barellan Point (14km) or upstream towards Wivenhoe Dam.

If you don't want to venture too far, there's plenty of water to have a leisurely paddle in the safety of the crossing.

Ipswich Showplace Markets

Sunday, August 4, Ipswich Showgrounds, 81 Warwick Rd Ipswich 4305

THE Ipswich Showplace Markets are held every Sunday at the Ipswich Showgrounds. They are open to the public between 6am-11.30am.

Stallholders currently sell a range of items, both new and second hand. They range from toys, clothes, books, plants, household items, DVDs and CDs, art, craft, tools, hardware, services, fruit and vegetables, ice-cream, hot food, coffee and more.

The Rock

Sunday, School Rd, White Rock, Ipswich Queensland

HEAD to The Rock where you will find a bevy of trails ranging from 200m to 19km within the White Rock Spring Mountain Conservation Estate.

The trail starts at Paperbark Flats Picnic Area, at the end of School Rd at Redbank Plains and crosses over the multi-purpose track before winding down the single trail. Free.

Kholo Gardens

Sunday, 243 Riverside Drive, Ipswich

SPANNING across 40ha, Kholo Gardens is the perfect spot to claim a patch of grass, throw down your blanket and unwind with a picnic.

Just 12 minutes from the city centre, set on a heritage-listed coal mining site and old water pumping station, the grounds are now an oasis of subtropical rainforest, lily ponds and waterfalls.

To work up an appetite for your picnic, take to one of the tracks ranging from 170m to 560m return which will have you back in no time to pop the lid on your basket.

Brisbane Valley Rail Trail

Sunday, Brisbane Valley Highway, Brisbane Queensland 4313

CONSIDERING the longest multi-purpose trail in Australia starts in Ipswich, there is no better way to explore the old Brisbane Valley rail line than by grabbing a mountain bike and turning up the pedal power.

The 161km Brisbane Valley Rail Trail (BVRT), runs from Ipswich to Yarraman and passes through farmland, forests and small country towns.

If you prefer to go off road and get dirty, then you should head to Hidden Vale Adventure Park (HVAP) and explore Australia's largest dedicated mountain bike park.