Bundaberg QLD

An early 4 am start this morning to watch Australia crash out of the knockout round of the Football World Cup in an agonising penalty shootout. A heartbreaking way to go, but on the plus side it meant we were all awake, packed and on the road bright and early for our next destination: Bundaberg.

We enjoyed the Bruce Highway fatigue-zone trivia signs as we headed further north - a great initiative and fun until one of the question signs had been knocked over (#ironic). The answer board a few kms down the road proudly declared “tie-row”, but without the question we’re still trying to reverse-engineer it like some bizarre road trip version of Jeopardy! So far we’ve got absolutely nothing - any ideas?

We rolled into Bundaberg just before midday and headed straight for the Bundaberg Rum Distillery where we perused the museum. It turns out the Bundy story started with ten minutes in the Royal Hotel where a room full of sugar growers agreed that pouring molasses down the drain was madness. Over 130 years later, Australians are still reaping the benefits of what may well be the nation’s most successful pub meeting.

A few tastings and a bunch of merch later, we headed for the other notable attraction in town - Bundaberg Brewed Drinks - where we’re now immortalised on our own ginger beer bottle 😁

From there, a quick drive through the main street was uninspiring so we promptly headed for our campsite for the night at the Discovery Park Bargara in the ‘fancy’ part of town.

This is definitely the place to be. It’s got a great relaxed vibe with spacious shady sites immediately opposite the Surf Club and beach. And even better, the host remembered my name from check in and personally wished me a lovely evening as she rode home along the beachfront. You don’t get that every day.

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll long the beachfront before joining fellow campers for dinner the camp kitchen.Read more