Australia - Bundaberg - Pictures
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Thu 22 Nov 2012 04:07
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We didn't know what to expect and Bundaberg was a lovely
surprise. The Marina was 14km out of town, but in a lovely setting in the
countryside on the river bank, not far from the river mouth. The
grounds were meticulously kept and it was a good introduction to
Australia and the wide open spaces. Late afternoon wild kangaroos could be
seen out in the open on the grassland behind the marina. We did venture out one
afternoon to see them and saw a group of 3 at the same time they saw
us. When the largest stood up and was clearly quite a bit bigger than
us, we decided that maybe we had gone close enough! With cockatoos in
the fields and ibis walking around the roadways and gardens, it was
very clear that this was quite a different place! Bundaberg itself is
a medium sized modern town with the whole range of shops that you would
expect - big supermarkets (Coles, Kmart, Woolworths - yes they're still
here, but quite different to the UK, with modern shops selling food, just like
Sainsburys), hardware superstores, the lot. In fact Australia seems to be
full of shops!
 The marina with lovely blue
skies. Apart from 1 day of rain, the weather was like this every
day
- clear skies, hot during the day and
cool at night.
 The marina buildings with restaurant,
chandlers and gift shop.
 A load of sugar! A large cargo vessel
heads down the river passed the marina having left
the
sugar mill
just up
stream.
 An Australian White Ibis. They are
everywhere - in fields. gardens and village
streets.
 Another making its way across the car
park.
 Galahs - pink and grey cockatoos - are
in the trees and fields close to the marina.
 An Australian style level crossing. They
have a good rail network here,
although we have yet to see a
train!
 The old lighthouse that stood at the
entrance to the Burnett River, to guide ships up to
Bundaberg,
or the sugar mill just a little way up
the river from the marina. Sugar cane is a major crop
in
the surrounding area and they have ships of
500ft or more calling at the mill to collect the
sugar.
 The new replacement lighthouse. More
functional, but not as pretty!
 The VMRs are the equivalent of the UK
Coastguard, except that they are a volunteer service,
like the RNLI in the UK. VMRs exist all the
way up and down the coast and you can log a
passage plan with them. However,
unlike the UK Coastguard, if you don't log off after a
passage
they will chase you. You have to give a
mobile number as well as all the boat and passage
details,
and if you're overdue, you will get a
call on VHF and the mobile. If they can't reach you, they
start
the search
procedures!
 Foreign imports! They had a local small-town
festival nearby over the weekend with local
crafts and produce for sale, music and
rides for the kids.
 This is looking good - real cream apple
turnovers in Bundaberg! New Zealand was a bit
poor
for it's cakes and
despite it's massive dairy
industry, you hardly ever saw cream cakes. Looks
like we won't have that problem in
Australia!
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