The Spirit of Australia

Hervey Bay had a market on the Sunday morning, but it was really not very impressive. So we quickly moved on to Bundaberg. You could tell we were getting close to Bundaberg from the number of sugar cane fields along the highway. On the way we passed through Childers, which is a small historic town (not another one,) also involved in the sugar industry. It had some sculptures depicting its history.

Bundaberg's main claim to fame, obviously, is the rum distillery, the spirit of Australia. We spent a day touring this facility and learning everything about the process, from the idea of making rum to use molasses, which is a by-product of sugar production, to the fermentation process, and the flavoring using the timbers of the barrels. Very interesting. The highlight, of course, was the taste testing at the end.

The whole place is a very volatile environment, with all the alcohol fumes, and the factory has burnt to the ground twice before. Then last year they had a flood (from one extreme to the other.) This flood affected all of Bundaberg, and as a way to help rebuild after, the distillery put out a limited edition line of bottles called "Road to Recovery", with the names of all the streets that had been affected. Each resident was given one as a momento, and the rest were sold off to raise money for the recovery process. Very civic minded.

We then checked out the Bundaberg Ginger Beer factory, housed in a Big Barrel. All their drinks are made in the traditional way of using real ginger, or fruit, and fermenting it. Traditionally ginger beer could have develop an alcohol content of up to 10% from the fermentation process, and some people who made it in their backyards had the occasional explosions. Then government regulations came in and restricted the alcohol content to less and less. Now it is completely alcohol free. So the alcohol that develops naturally through fermentation is just boiled off at the end. (What a waste.)

The other thing which is big in this area is turtles. They have a turtle rookery on the beach near Bundy called Mon Repos, and at the right time of year you can sea mother turtles coming to lay their eggs, then a few months later, all the baby turtles making their dash for the open sea. We missed both these seasons. There really isn't anything going on with turtles at this time of year. So we just got a few photographs with The Big Turtle.

However we did see some live turtles at the Royal Botanic Gardens. They are breeding them in their artificial lake, and we went and fed them some old stale bread. They had to battle with the ducks and the eels, but we managed to get some good turtle feeding going. The Royal Botanic Gardens has a few other good activities going, including a steam train that runs every Sunday, and a couple of museums. One of them has some very interesting facts about the duties of teachers in the past.

We also spent some time exploring the beaches around Bundy. The town itself is on a river, but is only about 15 kms from the coast. There are a number of beaches not far from town, as well as the port of Bundaberg, where the river meets the sea. We were told Burgara was the best beach, so we checked it out. It had about 20 metres of sand, and the rest was all rocks. Same with all the other beaches down the coast. They were nicely developed, with cafes, restaurants, and holiday apartments, but really no decent beach to speak of.

Later on we discovered another beach to the north of Bundy, rather than the west where the others were, called Moore Park Beach. It is only 20 kms away, so not much further than Burgara, but it has 16 kms of continuous open sand and sea. It was absolutely glorious. The caravan park opened right on the beach, and apart from the caravan park there was really very little else. There was a small shopping centre about 2 kms away inland, but the beach could not boast even a cafe.

The caravan park was full, mostly of Victorians, who travel north every year to escape the winter and stay there for 2-3 months. Many of them have been doing this for 15 years or more, and have developed strong friendships with their fellow winter travelers. The caravan park puts them all together in Victoria Parade. They also have a Tasmania Terrace, and Barkers Rd at the back for people who bring their dogs.

I really don't understand how this place with such a gorgeous beach has remained virtually untouched since the 50s, whereas Bargara, with such a mediocre beach, has been so well developed. There was a building that belonged to the Surf Live Saving Club right on the shore which had been affected by the flood, and no-one had bothered to refurbish it since. (I don't think there is a lot of surfing going on here.) I just couldn't resist the idea of turning this into a small cafe / restaurant. With all those Victorians down there for months every winter, success is assured. A project for the future maybe (??)

GeorgeY's bit

Not far from the city, Bundaberg Port is a good place for fresh fish and factory fresh crabs (???) The well publicized lighthouse was unexpectedly small, and in the middle of a park. We went on a search for the real one, to be told this is it. It is bigger than most domestic lampshades but to be named the lighthouse takes a lot of stretching. Anyway, took a picture just for evidence. When I go home I will build a bigger one, or source one from a souvenir shop.

About 10 km from Bundaberg on Bundaberg-GinGin road there is Sharon Gorge, a rest area nicely tucked away from the highway with running water and clean BBQs and very modern picnic tables and chairs, well maintained by the council. It has the usual collection of European travelers and Aussie surfy dudes and chicks. Spent couple of nights there while exploring the region, then stumbled upon Moore Park Beach, a real hidden gem.

A northerly facing beach that does not get harsh surfing waves, but the gentle ones, allowing for easy swims or gentle body boarding. Lying on the beach you feel like a solar panel oriented to the correct angle for maximum efficiency.

Population on the beach is the closest (and cheapest ) thing to being on your own island, with an average of 0.027 person per km. If it was not for the deserted SLSC building you might feel you were a castaway and talk to your volleyball.

The caravan park facilities, and its residents, are a walk through well preserved history, mostly post war era and nudging the early 50s. Very warm and friendly lot, most have been coming regularly for the last 15 to 25 years since they retired. You do not need complex mathematics to work out the average age here.

After blowing a couple of fuses when connecting the TV antenna (amplified signal), decided to stop at Jaycar in Bundy and got a variety of slow blow fuses of different values just in case. Our parking spot was next to Battery Barn which was a lucky "barn find".

I was starting to suspect the house battery was not coping well with keeping the fridge overnight on unpowered nights like the Sharon rest area, with the voltage dropping, so we decided to investigate before we head out. The lady told us that Jeff will be back around 3 pm so we decided to have an extra day in Bundy. Jeff came with his instruments and tested the battery, but all seemed OK. But, that was in full sunshine. He asked us to monitor the voltage, and if it goes below 11.8V it is technically flat. At the rest area it went from 13.6V to 11.9V in 2 hours so I switched to gas. Then in the morning, running for 3 more hours, it dropped to 7.4V. So before 8 am we were at Jeff's and managed to fit a bigger one of 120Ah.

Bundaberg is a lovely place. The main road is a single lane going through a couple of bridges and few roundabouts and school crossings and the CBD. So in morning traffic it is going almost at a walking pace, but delay is not an issue because it is reasonably small. On the other hand, the shopping is great, specially at the distillery.

Bundaberg rum is not known internationally because 96% is consumed locally, so there is not enough to go around yet. They have entered their Premium Limited Release and won silver and bronze at an international competition, so we did the responsible thing and bought a bottle with the lucky serial number 4888, for patriotic and multicultural significance.

Also, people at Jaycar and Battery barn are genuinely trying to help out rather than make a quick sale.

We will be coming back to Bundaberg because we have a spiritual connection, literally.