Long the butt of big brother Brisbane’s jokes, Ipswich is coming into its own. The city that gave the world Pauline Hanson is now Queensland’s fastest-growing metropolis, home to 200,000 people from more than 100 ethnic backgrounds. (Today the One Nation senator’s old fish-and-chip shop in the suburbs is owned by a Vietnamese family who still batter their savs just as she used to.)

Ipswich’s warm demeanour, subtropical climate and abundance of green spaces and affordable housing are drawing families in droves. Proximity to the state capital doesn’t hurt: new motorways put it close to 30 minutes from central Brisbane and 45 from the airport.

Sure, some of the city’s heritage buildings are still awaiting a lick of paint, and faded murals of a Lethal Weapon-era Mel Gibson and Pierce Brosnan as 007 adorn the multiplex. But there’s a first-rate art gallery, excellent laneway cafes and a craft brewery that’s packing in the punters. It might be Queensland’s oldest provincial city but this feels like a sunny, friendly country town – and one worth exploring over a weekend.

Friday afternoon: check into Spicers Hidden Vale

Half an hour out of the city, at Grandchester in the Lockyer Valley, is Spicers Hidden Vale. It’s well worth the extra drive (I had to swerve to avoid an echidna on the last stretch of dirt). The hilltop property – a working station – is one of 10 luxury retreats in Queensland and New South Wales created by the couple who built Flight Centre. Around a homestead that claims a connection to James Bond are a series of 19th-century cottages that have been converted into guest rooms, with open fireplaces and verandas that offer sweeping views of the valleys below. Mobs of wallabies and kangaroos roam through the paddocks and relax on the lawn.

There are bushwalks, bike trails and a spa, but be back before sundown so you can pull up a seat at the firepit overlooking the market garden. I spent a gorgeous hour there chatting to fellow guests who had picked up marshmallows from staff at the reception desk and were roasting them in the flames.

Friday night: have dinner at Homage

Save room for dinner at the homestead, in the one-hatted restaurant Homage. Paddock-to-plate is the credo here: the kitchen crew spend their afternoons in the garden tending the greens and their evenings serving up dishes overseen by the head chef, Ash Martin (his wife, Andrea, is the retreat’s general manager). Homage’s tasting menu is deliciously demented – full of tricks and jokes and seriously good cooking. It would be wrong to spoil the fun by saying too much about it, except that – like me – you’ll long remember the “Grandchester truffles”.

Saturday morning: balloon ride or helicopter flight

For those who can handle a predawn start, a hot-air balloon flight with Graeme Day of Floating Images is a top way of learning the lie of the land. I gazed at fields caressed by fingers of fog, creeks and dams glinting silver, and the sunrise turning Brisbane’s high-rises gold. We skirted Amberley air force base and quietly drifted – all seven tonnes of balloon and basket – over an open-cut coalmine, in an emphatic display of wind power.

There are also adventures to be had with Pterodactyl Helicopters. Mike Jarvis and his team of tour guide pilots fly to more than 60 venues around south-east Queensland, offering wine tours, country pub crawls and flying food safaris. For one-way trips they can send a driver who will take your car on ahead. Pterodactyl has sexy, rock’n’roll choppers – gleaming gold and a glam metallic red – and Captain Mike is clearly a man who adores his job. “You know why I do that?” he asked me, seconds after surging skywards over Hidden Vale in an exhilarating takeoff. “Because I can.”

Saturday mid-morning: explore the city

There isn’t a heap in the way of retail left in Ipswich’s main strip, Brisbane Street – all the big stores migrated years ago to the mall across the river. So the shops that have opened in their place in the “Top of Town” precinct are one-of-a-kind and quirky. There are fashion boutiques, vintage goods and one of those pricey but fascinating kitchen/homewares/gift stores, Gemütlich.

Just off Brisbane Street is Ipswich Art Gallery, housing art and objects dating back to the city’s early years, Australia’s first dedicated children’s gallery and modern works by artists including Sam Jinks, Michael Cook, Jan Nelson, Ben Quilty, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Margaret Olley. I was thrilled to spy a quietly captivating still life by the master potter Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, whose last studio was in Ipswich.

When it’s time for a coffee fix, there are plenty of cracking cafes at hand. A local favourite in Ellenborough Street is Rafter & Rose. Its counter groans with sweet and savoury goodies all made on the premises, including lavish baked cheesecakes topped with fruit and flowers. For a treat that was sweet and savoury at the same time, I chose a cheesy muffin spread with hot bacon jam.

Around the corner in Brisbane Street is Cactus Espresso Bar, which has works by locals artists and photographers on the walls, and hosts regular music nights. And a newcomer is Ellen and Rod, at the corner of Ellenborough and Roderick streets, which grinds True Grit beans roasted in-house.

Saturday afternoon: parks and recreation

Queens Park, one of the state’s oldest reserves, is on the eastern edge of the city centre, and there’s plenty for visitors to enjoy including an adventure playground, a Japanese garden and a nature centre that’s home to Australian native animals.

Another popular picnic ground is Kholo Botanic Gardens, on the banks of the Brisbane river. Giant hoop and kauri pines tower over a lily pond. There’s also a cute little timber church and a splendidly restored old Queenslander that’s used as a function centre.

Saturday night: dinner in town

Saturday nights are pumping at Four Hearts Brewing’s Pumpyard Bar & Brewery. In the basement of Ipswich’s first technical college in Limestone Street, it serves up ales, Pilsner, stouts and barley wine. There’s live music and no one will go away hungry: the menu is laden with burgers, pizzas and sizeable mains. I couldn’t resist trying the frickles – beer-battered pickles with Louisiana-style hot sauce – and Pumpyard’s signature beer ice-cream. (Not together!)

Similarly hearty fare is on offer at Heisenberg Haus on Brisbane Street, a modern German beer hall cooking up schnitzel, spätzle, sauerkraut, enormous pork knuckles and Breaking Bad-themed cocktails. Blue crystal surprise, anyone?

Sunday morning: breakfast at Hidden Vale

Despite Saturday’s early start, I managed to be up in time to take a peek at Hidden Vale’s glorious dawn and watched enraptured as the paddocks and distant hills turned orange, pink and purple.

When it was time to eat, I chose a table on the veranda overlooking the infinity pool, then sat back and enjoyed the magic the Homage team bring to a breakfast menu. I started with watermelon with an apple mint granita, moved on to a staggeringly good scramble with a lean Hidden Vale beef sausage and finished with a maple-glazed croissant topped with espresso butter. The service was as warm as the food was enticing. It was hard to say farewell to this beautiful, friendly place.

Sunday afternoon: antiques and a lookout

The perfect venue for a spot of Sunday shopping is Ipswich Antique Centre in East Street, where dozens of dealers sell antiques and collectables in a magnificent old church hall. The centre is owned and run by Heather and John Mildwaters, who commute here from Paddington in Brisbane. “Thirty-three minutes and six traffic lights,” John says with a smile.

It’s worth a visit to see the building alone; if you love old things you’ll want to spend hours here. (I liked it so much, I came back twice in one weekend.)

For a final look at Ipswich, take a drive up Denmark Hill to its conservation reserve, a tract of bushland over closed-off mine tunnels. Park near the water tanks in Chelmsford Avenue and climb to the top for a 360-degree view of this rapidly changing city.

• Guardian Australia was a guest of Ipswich city council