Steve and I left Emerald early to head east to Bundaberg. We had planned to travel through central West Queensland and NSW but the rain and floods forced us to the coast. We were still getting excited though as we were getting close to home.
Bundaberg is a large port town near the coast and on the Burnett River. The town is surrounded by sugar cane crops.
We arrived late after another long drive (close to 600km) so the rest of the day was spent relaxing.
The next day we went for a drive to checkout the town. The main street was typical of a large Aussie country town with beautiful old buildings and of course a few pubs.
Bundaberg is well known for its production of Bundy rum and Bundaberg ginger beer.
Even though we’re not rum drinkers we had to visit the Bundy rum distillery.
It was established in 1888 the same year as our house.
Rum is made from sugarcane by a process of fermentation and distillation. You could smell the sugar coming from the stacks.
Next we visited the Bundaberg ginger beer processing plant. It was called The Barrel.
It had a heap of yummy different varieties that you don’t see in supermarkets.
We then went to check out the port which was disappointing and quite small.
Although we did try the locally made ice cream called Mammina. It was very yummy and very creamy. It was in a tub with a popstick coming out. Once melted a bit you take it out and eat it that way.
We drove along the coast which was beautiful and not far from Bundaberg city.
On the coast was the Mon Repos Regional Park. We went for a walk through the park before finally finding the turtle education centre (we went in the wrong entrance). It was a great centre and really informative. There were also great bike paths but unfortunately we didn’t have our bikes. The turtle centre would be great to visit from November to March as you can see and be involved in protecting the the annual migration of sea turtles. There are tours at night to help the hatchlings into the water.
In the afternoon we decided to visit the Brothers club across the road from the caravan park. It was air conditioned and we were told it had the best Chinese food in Australia! So we had Chinese for dinner. Was it the best? The prawn cutlets were the best!! The rest, I didn’t think so.
We had to miss Bundaberg on our way north so it was great that we could catch it on the way back.
Bundaberg was a sweet as sugarcane. 😜