Bundaberg (for Feb. 23)
On our Fraser Island tour yesterday, we spoke with a couple who had watched a nest of turtles hatch at nearby Bundaberg a few days previously. They were quite enthralled with the experience, so we thought we might give it a try. The fly in the ointment is that it is less than two hours away, but burns a whole day for us because they emerge in the evening. And, unlike the penguins, which you know will show up eventually, there is no assurance that any nest will emerge on any particular night. Last night I burned some midnight oil figuring out whether we could fit it in with all the remaining activities in the few days left to us. The conclusion was that we would go there, see what the track record had been over the last few days, and make our decision then. It helped that they also had a rum distillery to tour and that the hotel there had wireless internet so we could catch up on our communications.
On the way there, we drove through some open, but well-treed grazing land, but the biggest agricultural crop was sugar cane. Especially on the more open, flatter land around Bundaberg, it was sugar cane everywhere, much like Saskatchewan used to have wheat as far as the eye could see.
In Bundaberg, we checked at tourist info where they said they had had 8, 4, and 2 hatchings on the last three nights. We decided to chance it, bought our tickets, and headed for the hotel. They didn’t have any rooms left in the category of our vouchers, so we paid a little extra for an upgrade. We ended up with a full kitchen and sitting area with the bedroom in a second storey loft, and a great view of the river (and the sugar factory and rum distillery – but, hey, no view is perfect). There is a TV for each floor, although you couldn’t play them both at the same time anyway. It also has a Jacuzzi tub. 
We had a quick bite to eat and headed for the rum tour. Celeste had noticed a coupon for ‘buy one get one free’ in the local tourism guide. For $10 AU we got a tour and two free drinks each. We were tempted to find another guide and go back for another tour, but we went to the tropical fruit wine tasting instead. It was less satisfactory than the rum.
Bundaberg Rum is Australia’s favourite rum by far. I think I heard somewhere around 50-70% of the rum market. The tour guides had quite an entertaining comedy routine going. They took us through a molasses storage well holding 5 million litres. It smelled like baking Celeste’s gingerbread cookies with extra molasses. Mmmmm, good. The storage area where the rum cures for two years in giant oak casks smelled like a distillery. Mmmmm, good. The bottling line was surprisingly small, about one quarter the size of the one we saw in Cuba, but I am sure it had much more capacity, as it was totally automated. It wasn’t working today for some reason, so it was difficult to form an impression. The most surprising thing was that the whole facility only employs 58 people – 16 in promotions to run the tours, bar, and store; 10 in management; and only 32 in operations.
Back at the hotel, I fiddled with the wireless internet for a while before finally concluding I could only get it in the lobby where I had to run on battery power. Finally connected, we downloaded our email and posted the story of our last few days.
At 5:30 we rushed out to get a bite to eat and then head to the turtle rookery. In our haste, we both left our cameras behind! Bummer! They split people into manageable groups based on when they booked their tour, and then take the groups out one at a time as the park rangers observe nests coming to life. We are in group 3, having only booked this morning. Others may have booked days or weeks in advance. They said that last night the first hatch was at 8:15 with a second at 9:15. Tonight they called the first group at 9:45. It doesn’t look too encouraging. They have a good interpretive centre, a ranger gave a good talk, and they are showing slide shows and videos, so at least there is something going on. Fortunately, I brought the laptop along for just such an eventuality. So far, I have done a little accounting, read the email I downloaded, and written today’s blog. I wonder how much battery I have remaining?
On the way there, we drove through some open, but well-treed grazing land, but the biggest agricultural crop was sugar cane. Especially on the more open, flatter land around Bundaberg, it was sugar cane everywhere, much like Saskatchewan used to have wheat as far as the eye could see.
In Bundaberg, we checked at tourist info where they said they had had 8, 4, and 2 hatchings on the last three nights. We decided to chance it, bought our tickets, and headed for the hotel. They didn’t have any rooms left in the category of our vouchers, so we paid a little extra for an upgrade. We ended up with a full kitchen and sitting area with the bedroom in a second storey loft, and a great view of the river (and the sugar factory and rum distillery – but, hey, no view is perfect). There is a TV for each floor, although you couldn’t play them both at the same time anyway. It also has a Jacuzzi tub. 
We had a quick bite to eat and headed for the rum tour. Celeste had noticed a coupon for ‘buy one get one free’ in the local tourism guide. For $10 AU we got a tour and two free drinks each. We were tempted to find another guide and go back for another tour, but we went to the tropical fruit wine tasting instead. It was less satisfactory than the rum.
Bundaberg Rum is Australia’s favourite rum by far. I think I heard somewhere around 50-70% of the rum market. The tour guides had quite an entertaining comedy routine going. They took us through a molasses storage well holding 5 million litres. It smelled like baking Celeste’s gingerbread cookies with extra molasses. Mmmmm, good. The storage area where the rum cures for two years in giant oak casks smelled like a distillery. Mmmmm, good. The bottling line was surprisingly small, about one quarter the size of the one we saw in Cuba, but I am sure it had much more capacity, as it was totally automated. It wasn’t working today for some reason, so it was difficult to form an impression. The most surprising thing was that the whole facility only employs 58 people – 16 in promotions to run the tours, bar, and store; 10 in management; and only 32 in operations.
Back at the hotel, I fiddled with the wireless internet for a while before finally concluding I could only get it in the lobby where I had to run on battery power. Finally connected, we downloaded our email and posted the story of our last few days.
At 5:30 we rushed out to get a bite to eat and then head to the turtle rookery. In our haste, we both left our cameras behind! Bummer! They split people into manageable groups based on when they booked their tour, and then take the groups out one at a time as the park rangers observe nests coming to life. We are in group 3, having only booked this morning. Others may have booked days or weeks in advance. They said that last night the first hatch was at 8:15 with a second at 9:15. Tonight they called the first group at 9:45. It doesn’t look too encouraging. They have a good interpretive centre, a ranger gave a good talk, and they are showing slide shows and videos, so at least there is something going on. Fortunately, I brought the laptop along for just such an eventuality. So far, I have done a little accounting, read the email I downloaded, and written today’s blog. I wonder how much battery I have remaining?
posted by Celeste at
5:20 a.m.
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