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Bundaberg is a dump
That was the first thing we thought when we pulled up at the bus station, with our hostel situated opposite. The bus driver had told me on the journey that it was crap, so prepaired me for the dissapointment. It reminded me of Dagaville in NZ; wide roads, ugly, service town for farms. At least in Dagaville there was a homley hostel. Bundaberg is really for people who want work fruit picking. We dont have a Auz work visa and i would work here if you paid me.haha.
The hostel was a dull and characterless brick building with a tiny kitchen to many rooms ratio. There were two toasters; one if which would only work if you stuffed card inbetween the handle to keep the toast down, the other didnt have a handle so was b*****ed. How much does a toaster cost? It also turns out that we have to pay a $25 deposit for the room key. The lady at reseption told us we prob wouldnt want to pay the deposit for two keys, but failed to inform us that our crockery (1set) is locked in cupboards with access from your room key only. This resulted in me eating salad with a spoon, drinking water from a shared mug and having un-toasted-hot-bread.
We were sharing our room with a canadian girl who was working in a watermelon orchard and a swiss girl called Rachel (how many of you are there?). Rachel was heading on a eveing tour to see the turtles hatch and go out to sea. Apparently this is what people come here to see/do along with diving courses and the Rum Distillery. It was a shame we didnt know about it but it was booked. We came here because we had heard about the snorkelling trips out too the Great Barrier Reef. As it happens the boat was not running tomorrow so we thought what the hell are we going to do till tomorow eve in this dump. Looking at the map, Bundaberg looks as if it is right by the sea but its actully 30 mins away. Arrrh. We were trapped in the hot swetty hell hole till tomorrow, with nothing to do!! You cant go wrong with tv, so we spent the rest of the eve sprawled out watching an american dance competition show presented by Cat Deeley - trust me i wouldnt have watched it unless she was there to say 'its ok, im cool and i host the show' - and Victorias Secrets Fashion Show. After that i thought i thought to myself 'its time to get thin' for the 6th time that day. This has happended every day we have been here, generally after a big meal or choclate bar.
Whist watching tv on of the guy who worked there was talking about the snakes that are out everwhere in the fields when you are potato picking. One day he turned round to find a deadly snake just meters away. The famer killed it and told him to go back to work. He siad he tought he deserved a rest a min to get over the fact that he could have nearly died! The people who are picking lychees apparedntly get loads of spiders fall on their heads. Im so glad we are not working here! Couldnt cope with that let alone the heat! We were offered to help ourselves to free lychees (perks of the job), and as i was eating them i kept thinking of all the spiders that may be hiding amongst them....
Bundaberg Rum Distillery
The next day we woke and decided to try and change our bus for the earlier one which was a success. We then took a trip to the famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery as it was the only decent thing left to do. In nz we drank lots of the Bundaberg ginger beer so i was curipous to see about that too. The walk there took ages in the heat.
When we arrived we felt well wierd and had to drink loads of water. They made us put these funny slip-on shoes on as we had flip-flops on. Health and Saftey. We took our phots by the GIANT RUM BOTTLE and set off on the tour. They were hot on security. I suppose you have to be when you have so much strong alcohol thats flammable and very profitable to steal.
First they showed us the molasses (liquid sugars) storage which at times smelt like yeast and baked beans. It tasted yuck, just like black treacle. We then got taken around to various bits where they add yeast, ferment, keep in barrels etc. I cant remember what it all was i just remember the words strong alcohol and some yeast called summat like sachermices seravisio that we had to remember. They then showed us the bottleling plant where they only bottle the pure rum. They also sell the rum in mixes, but that gets mixed elcewhere. We get to try two drinks at the bar at the end of the trip so they showed us our choices there. They also told us the Bundaberg company that is famously auzzie is actully owned by the british stock market. Since being away i have only just realised how small the uk is, but how developed and powerful it is too!
Fully hydrated on the revolting chlorine tasting water that is over here, we headed on the the bar for our tasting. We both chose the rum liquer that is made of rum, choclate, caramel and coffee. It was served with ice and cream and was just amazing. You can only buy it from the distellery shop. Tempted but put off by the thought of haveing to carry it around( but for how long!!??) we didnt get any. No sooner than we had finished that em was off to get her next drink. Dark & Stormy - a combination of run and ginger beer was the obvious next choice for the both of us. That was also great and Emma swiped that one too. As it was only lunch time emma was a bit worse for wear. She couldnt stop giggling and i thoguth it was hilarious. We sobered up on the walk back to the bus tho and decided that Bundaberg was not that bad after all.
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