Winter on the Granite Belt is fondly known as ‘Brass Monkey Season’.
Stanthorpe and the whole Granite Belt gets cold… really cold and this nickname originates from the phrase used on sailing ships… “cold enough to freeze the balls off the brass monkey”.
The brass monkey was the name given to a metal rack used to store cannon balls on the sailing ships.
“In long ago wars artillerymen had a brass plate called a monkey, which sat alongside the canon. The plate held 30 cannonballs stacked pyramid-like, until on freezing nights the monkey would shrink and the balls would fall off, hence the expression ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’.”
The Brass Monkey statue in Stanthorpe’s CBD is a famous little fellow that can be found opposite the Stanthorpe Post Office (outside the newsagency).
With the mercury plunging below the zero mark in Stanthorpe’s Brass Monkey Season, this is one part of Queensland you’ll be pulling out the woollies for and don’t be surprised to encounter a dusting of frost or even snow in Queensland’s own winter wonderland.
No winter trip to the region is complete without a photo with Stanthorpe’s Big Thermometer, found overlooking Quart Pot Creek next to the Stanthorpe Visitor Information Centre.
Don your ugliest Christmas jumper and see you in Stanthorpe for some Christmas in July fun! Stanthorpe is the coldest […]
Check out these cool tips on how to take a winter wine trip to Queensland’s Granite Belt Wine Country.