Bundaberg
Driving into this town for the first time it struck me as odd a little as it has quite a big population yet decidedly feels like a small country town.
It is very spread out in that it doesn’t seem extremely busy for the fact it has over 85,000 people and is the home to Bundaberg Sugar and Ginger Beer not to mention Bundaberg Rum.
It still showed signs of the after affects of the recent floods that hit the town as the Burnett River runs through Bundaberg.
We stayed only one night here but were able to cram in the Botanical Gardens which were well maintained and has a coal fired steam train that winds its way through the gardens.
We also saw the Hinkler Avaiation Museum which is at the same place. The museum was opened in 2008 and is to celebrate the pioneer solo career of aviator Bert Hinkler, hence the name. These are both a little out of the town centre and I didn’t find that they were that well sign posted.
In town we went to several parks, including Alexandra Park (thanks to a friendly tweet telling us about this park) which has the usual park playground equipment, but it also has a mini zoo for the kiddies and in the holidays (September this year) has the travelling McDonald animal farm that comes to add to this. From this park you can take the boardwalk walk over the river as it snakes around the edge of the river.
We of course went to see the Bunderberg Rum factory but since our girls are only young (4 + 6) we deicided not to take the tour this time but did put it on our own to do list for another time. You can also go to the Schmeiders Cooperage Complex and see glass blowing, wood turning, leatherwork and other crafts.
From Bundaberg:
Amazing as you would never guess by being in such a country type city that it also the gateway to the Mon Repos Conservation park which is only 15 kms from Bundaberg near Bagarra. From November to March you can witness the turtle egg laying cycle and you can see what wonderful work the Rangers and volunteers do to help preserve and care for the turtles. To experience this you must prebook and purchase your tickets to this attraction and you can do that and obtain more information from the Bundaberg Tourist Information Service.
Bundaberg is also the gateway to the Southern Great Barrier reef with snorkling, diving and all the water wonders. Just off shore there are great diving spots out at the beaches such as Burkitt’s Reef or Woongara Marine Park but it is also possible to pop over to islands like Lady Musgrave and Lady Elliott Islands.
